Paramilitaries press offensive in North Darfur as army launches drone strikes in Nyala.

On Wednesday, Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) claimed control of the town of Abu Qumra, near the border with Chad, following an offensive aimed at expelling armed groups allied with the regular army from their last remaining positions in the Darfur region.

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The RSF said troops from their allied Sudanese Founding Alliance, known as Tasis, “have taken full control of the Abu Qumra area” in North Darfur state. They added that the forces “have continued their successful advance toward the Um Buru area” and had “fully liberated” it.

They also claimed that “these areas had witnessed systematic attacks and acts of revenge” carried out by members of the army and its allied forces, accusing them of having “directly attacked local administration leaders and several innocent civilians.”

The RSF offensive seeks to take control of the towns of Abu Qumra, Al Tina, Um Buru and Karnoi, all located along the border with Chad in North Darfur state. The state capital, Al Fasher, was seized last October.

“The Rapid Support Forces attacked the outskirts of Abu Qumra in the Karnoi area early Wednesday and clashed with joint forces and popular resistance,” news agency EFE stated.

No casualties were reported, although the clashes displaced hundreds of residents to other regions. The RSF said their troops “guarantee citizens in these areas that they are not subject to any kind of attack.”

The paramilitaries said they had deployed “military units to protect the civilian population and secure roads and public spaces in and around Karnoi, with the aim of restoring normalcy.”

The rebels have mobilized thousands of fighters to attack three towns in northern Darfur inhabited by members of the African Zaghawa tribe. Massacres motivated by ethnic violence are feared in the area if it falls into the hands of the Rapid Support Forces.

Darfur Gov. Mini Minawi, an ally of the Sudanese army, called on residents of those towns to “defend their lands” and “not allow them to be looted or their homes handed over to the invaders.”

Attacks Continue Elsewhere

Al Fasher had been the military’s last stronghold across the vast Darfur region, which consists of five states and borders Chad and Libya. That stronghold fell to the Rapid Support Forces in late October.

Since then, the paramilitaries have intensified their offensive, advancing into neighboring Kordofan, a strategic region rich in oil and a key link to central and eastern Sudan, where they already control most western and southern towns.

The new paramilitary offensive on Wednesday coincided with a drone attack carried out the same day by the Sudanese army against several RSF positions in the city of Nyala, the capital of South Darfur, including the airport and weapons depots at the city’s university.

Those airstrikes destroyed weapons storage facilities, drone and missile launch platforms at Nyala airport, air defense systems and jamming devices, and also neutralized RSF fighters.

Since April 20234, the war in Sudan has killed tens of thousands of people and devastated the country, while triggering one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, with more than 13 million people displaced, according to United Nations figures.

teleSUR/ JF

Source: EFE

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