CAIRO: Notorious paramilitaries said they had seized a headquarters in the center of the besieged provincial capital of North Darfur, the Sudanese military’s last stronghold in Darfur.
As fighting continued to rage on Monday in el-Fasher, a medical group said the Rapid Support Forces had killed dozens of civilians and destroyed health care infrastructure the previous day in the city, where hundreds of thousands of people have been trapped for more than a year.
Losing the 6th Division base is a major setback to the military and its allies. Fighting was continuing Monday morning around the airfield of the base, as well as on the western side of the city, according to Resistance Committees in el-Fasher, a grassroots group tracking the war. The group criticized the military for what it said lack of air support to troops trying to fend off the RSF attacks.
The military has yet to comment on the RSF capture of the base. However military officials confirmed that troops vacated the base on Sunday and retreated to another defense line under heavy shelling and artillery attacks from the paramilitaries.
Satellite images analyzed by The Associated Press showed the headquarters of the military’s 6th Division on Sunday with multiple buildings around the compound bearing damage to their roofs. One building in particular looked to have taken serious damage.
