Sudan’s battles intensify as RSF claims new advance
Shafaq News – Khartoum
On Saturday, heavy fighting broke out between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in El Fasher, capital of North Darfur, as the paramilitary group said it had seized the strategic town of Bara in neighboring North Kordofan.
Local media reported clashes on the northern, northwestern, and southern outskirts of El Fasher involving heavy artillery and drones. The RSF claimed it was chasing army units retreating toward al-Obeid.
The army has yet to comment on those claims.
El Fasher, the army’s last major foothold in Darfur, has been under partial siege for more than 16 months, trapping about 250,000 civilians, half of them children. The United Nations says the city is “on the brink of famine” after hospitals collapsed and supplies of food and medicine ran out.
The conflict, which erupted in April 2023 between army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (Hemedti), has killed tens of thousands and displaced over 14 million people.
UN agencies and aid groups continue to press both sides to allow humanitarian access, warning that using starvation or targeting civilians could amount to war crimes.
Sudan Doctors Network (SDN) have called the famine a “full-blown genocide."
#Sudan: The UN and local partners are working together to help families rebuild — with food, nutrition, school meals, and other essential services.Today, four UN agencies urge swift global action to address Sudan’s growing humanitarian crisis: https://t.co/Yzdka1zZVt pic.twitter.com/pVVW1nGRF1
— World Food Programme (@WFP) October 23, 2025
