Sudanese army airstrikes inflict heavy losses on RSF in Darfur, official says

KHARTOUM — Sudanese army airstrikes on the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Nyala, the capital of South Darfur state, have inflicted heavy losses in personnel and military equipment, a regional government official said Sunday.Ahmed Ishaq Shanab, information minister and spokesman for the Darfur regional government, described the latest strikes as “painful” for the RSF, saying they had significantly weakened the group’s military capabilities, according to Sudan’s state news agency SUNA.His remarks followed an announcement by the Sudanese army on Friday that its forces had conducted airstrikes against RSF command centers and military positions in Nyala, a key administrative and military stronghold of the paramilitary group.The army claimed that the strikes killed dozens of RSF fighters and destroyed several command centers.Shanab warned that the RSF was “not safe” in Nyala or elsewhere, saying the army would continue pursuing its forces as far as Um Dafuq, near Sudan’s border with the Central African Republic.He said military operations against the RSF were continuing and that additional areas were coming under army control, although he did not identify the locations.The RSF, meanwhile, accused the army on Friday of carrying out a drone strike on a livestock market in Nyala, claiming that the attack had caused civilian casualties.It remains unclear whether the strike described by the RSF was part of the same operation announced by the army.Nyala serves as a major administrative and military center for the RSF and its allied forces operating under the Sudan Founding Alliance, known as Tasis.The RSF controls most of Sudan’s five Darfur states, except for parts of North and West Darfur that remain under army control.The Sudanese army, meanwhile, controls most areas of the country’s other 13 states across the north, east, center and south, including the capital, Khartoum.Sudan has been engulfed in conflict since April 2023, when fighting erupted between the army and the RSF.The war has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced millions and deepened one of the world’s most severe humanitarian crises.KHARTOUM — Sudanese army airstrikes on the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Nyala, the capital of South Darfur state, have inflicted heavy losses in personnel and military equipment, a regional government official said Sunday.Ahmed Ishaq Shanab, information minister and spokesman for the Darfur regional government, described the latest strikes as “painful” for the RSF, saying they had significantly weakened the group’s military capabilities, according to Sudan’s state news agency SUNA.His remarks followed an announcement by the Sudanese army on Friday that its forces had conducted airstrikes against RSF command centers and military positions in Nyala, a key administrative and military stronghold of the paramilitary group.The army claimed that the strikes killed dozens of RSF fighters and destroyed several command centers.Shanab warned that the RSF was “not safe” in Nyala or elsewhere, saying the army would continue pursuing its forces as far as Um Dafuq, near Sudan’s border with the Central African Republic.He said military operations against the RSF were continuing and that additional areas were coming under army control, although he did not identify the locations.The RSF, meanwhile, accused the army on Friday of carrying out a drone strike on a livestock market in Nyala, claiming that the attack had caused civilian casualties.It remains unclear whether the strike described by the RSF was part of the same operation announced by the army.Nyala serves as a major administrative and military center for the RSF and its allied forces operating under the Sudan Founding Alliance, known as Tasis.The RSF controls most of Sudan’s five Darfur states, except for parts of North and West Darfur that remain under army control.The Sudanese army, meanwhile, controls most areas of the country’s other 13 states across the north, east, center and south, including the capital, Khartoum.Sudan has been engulfed in conflict since April 2023, when fighting erupted between the army and the RSF.The war has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced millions and deepened one of the world’s most severe humanitarian crises.