Intense fighting in Sudan claims at least 65 lives
Fierce clashes in southern and western Sudan on February 3, resulted in at least 65 deaths and over 130 injuries, according to medical sources, as the ongoing conflict between the army and paramilitary forces continues.
In South Kordofan, artillery fire on the state capital Kadugli killed at least 40 people and wounded 70, according to two medical sources, News.Az reports, citing AFP.
The city, controlled by the Sudanese army, was targeted in an attack that Governor Mohamed Ibrahim blamed on a faction of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), led by Abdel Aziz al-Hilu, which also maintains a foothold in the state.
"Hilu's attack on civilians in Kadugli aims to destabilise" the area, Ibrahim said in a statement to AFP, vowing to "clear the mountains around Kadugli" of rebel forces.
The governor said that the shelling targeted a local market. SPLM-N has clashed with both the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in different parts of South Kordofan throughout their war. Sudan has been mired in conflict since April 2023, with battles between the regular army and RSF escalating in recent weeks.
In the vast western region of Darfur, a military air strike on South Darfur's capital, Nyala, killed 25 people and wounded 63 on Monday, a medical source told AFP. The attack hit "the Cinema District in Nyala," an area under RSF control, the source told AFP, on condition of anonymity over safety concerns. In a statement on Monday, the RSF accused the army of using "barrel bombs" against civilians in several neighborhoods in Nyala.
The RSF holds sway over much of Darfur, including Nyala, which lies 195 kilometres (121 miles) from El-Fasher, the besieged capital of North Darfur which is the only state in the region still under army control.
El-Fasher is home to some two million people who have been under RSF siege since May. The city has seen some of the worst fighting of the war as the army battles to keep its last foothold in the region. The UN's migration agency said on Monday that more than 600,000 people have been displaced from North Darfur only between April 2024 and January 2025.
The International Organisation for Migration reported 95 incidents across North Darfur, more than half occurring in El-Fasher, during this period. "These incidents displaced an estimated 605,257 individuals (121,179 households)," the IOM report said.
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