The escalation of fighting comes amid concern about the enormous humanitarian toll of the conflict.
Fighting has intensified across Sudan as the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group launched attacks on El-Fasher town in North Darfur and North Kordofan town in Bara.
The RSF launched a multi-pronged attack on the city, 350 km (215 miles) southwest of the capital Khartoum, on Saturday morning and drew artillery fire from the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), a military source told Al Jazeera.
The city is one Largest urban areas Near the RSF’s western front line is under army control, but surrounded by paramilitary forces.
Communications networks were cut after the attack on North Kordofan’s second largest city. Clashes continued in El-Fashar in the early hours of the morning, with smoke billowing over the provincial capital as gunfire and shelling continued into the early hours.
The paramilitary force released a video on Friday claiming that its soldiers have captured the residence of the governor of North Darfur in al-Fashar and are now near the headquarters of the SAF’s 6th Infantry Division, according to the Sudan Tribune.
The RSF soldiers in the footage said they would advance towards the city centre.
Humanitarian Crisis ‘Beyond All Comprehension’
The Sudan Tribune quoted a source in the 6th Infantry Division as saying that a “careful calm” had settled over al-Fashar by Friday morning after what he described as a major attack the day before.
However, residents trapped in the besieged city remained under fire. “It’s happening everywhere, even near me. An artillery shell landed about 100 meters (110 yards) away,” a resident of al-Fashar told Al Jazeera.
The increase comes as medical workers warn that the humanitarian situation has reached catastrophic levels. Sudan Doctors Network Spokesperson Dr. Razan al-Mahdi said in a statement on Thursday that the crisis in al-Fashar “has surpassed all comprehension”.
“We are losing less than three children every day to malnutrition, disease and a severe lack of medical and humanitarian resources,” she said.
Four United Nations agencies warned this week that tens of thousands of children face death as more than 250,000 civilians – half of them children – are cut off from food and health care. 16 months of victory of El-Fasher.
Agencies said health facilities had collapsed and children with severe malnutrition were now without treatment.
Save the Children said on Tuesday that at least 17 children were killed and 22 others injured in Al-Fashar in October alone, based on casualty statistics from the Sudan Doctors Network.
Fighting in El-Fasher on Thursday saw the RSF launch what the SAF described as a significant attack from five directions. The army said it had repelled the attack.
The war has also led to a sharp increase in drone strikes targeting civilian infrastructure.
UN expert Radhaune Neusser expressed concern this week about the escalation of drone strikes by both sides. RSF attacks on power infrastructure on Tuesday caused power outages in several cities and injured six workers.
A for Fourth day in a row On Friday, RSF drones targeted Khartoum International Airport, which the army had hoped to reopen after retaking the capital in March. As a result the reopening has been postponed.
The conflict, which began in April 2023, has killed thousands, displaced 12 million and left 30 million in need of aid, making it the world’s largest humanitarian crisis.
Foreign Minister Mohildeen Salem visited Washington, DC this weekend for talks on peace and humanitarian cooperation. Following reports of indirect talks between the SAF and the RSF, Sudan’s Foreign Ministry denied them.
In recent months, United States President Donald Trump has repeatedly promised to intensify efforts to end the war in Sudan. But his foreign policy has zeroed in on finding a way to reach any kind of ceasefire in the currently fragile Gaza ceasefire and Russia’s war in Ukraine, with Sudan not a priority.