Tens of thousands of people have fled their homes in rural al-Fashir, activists said, following an attack by paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (PAF) fighting to seize the army's last stronghold in western Darfur.
PAF troops attacked and looted the vast Abu Shouk camp on Wednesday, killing an unknown number of people and wounding at least 13, locals said, more than a year after the war in Sudan began.
Around 60% of the more than 100,000 inhabitants fled on Thursday (23), according to the Coordinating Committee for Refugees and Displaced Persons from Sudan, which oversees the camps in the region. Fighting continued in other parts of al-Fashir on Friday, local residents said.
The FAP and its allies swept four other Darfur state capitals last year and were blamed for a campaign of ethnically motivated killings against non-Arab groups and other abuses in western Darfur – charges they denied.
There was no immediate comment from the FAP or the Sudanese army on the latest clashes in al-Fashir, a historic center of power.
The UN special adviser on the prevention of genocide said this week that there was a risk of genocide and allegations that it was already occurring.
Civilians in al-Fashir and other parts of Darfur were spared or not from attacks based on their identity and skin color, Alice Wairimu Nderitu told the UN Security Council on Tuesday (21).
Abu Shouk is home to survivors of violence in Darfur two decades ago, where the Janjaweed militias, precursors to the PAF, fought alongside the Sudanese army and were accused of genocide.
Around half a million people moved to al-Fashir during the ongoing war that broke out between the army and the PAF in the capital Khartoum in April 2023, as simmering tensions over the integration of the two forces came to a head .
At least 85 people have died in the only operating hospital in southern al-Fashir since May 10, according to Doctors Without Borders (MSF).
The total number of victims is much higher, as civilians affected by the fighting in the north, east and south of the city were unable to reach doctors, MSF and residents of the region say.
MSF accused military forces of using human shields as well as carrying out extensive airstrikes, including the destruction of the al-Fashir power station.
Source: CNN Brasil
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