El Fasher, August 24(Darfur 24)
Eyewitnesses and local sources in El Fasher, North Darfur, said that the fighting that took place in the city last week between the army and its allies and the Rapid Support Forces led to the latter’s penetration into the city and the tightening of the noose around the 6th Infantry Division from several directions.
Videos verified by Darfur 24 showed Rapid Support Forces fighters claiming to have taken control of some neighborhoods and sites within the city.
A video posted on Wednesday also showed Rapid Support Forces fighters claiming to have reached Al-Najah School in El Fasher. Darfur 24 verified the school’s location via Google Maps, revealing it to be Al-Najah Model Primary School, located in the Al-Nasr neighborhood, north of El Fasher’s Grand Market and northeast of the army headquarters.
The Rapid Support Forces also claimed in video posted on social media that they had reached El Fasher’s Grand Mosque (the Old Mosque), southeast of the Grand Market, with the help of foreign fighters. After analyzing the video, it was found to be authentic and clearly shows the mosque.
The mosque is only about 800 meters from the army headquarters, which the Rapid Support Forces are seeking to reach and declare control of the city, the last military stronghold of the Sudanese army in the Darfur region, following the Rapid Support Forces’ control of military divisions in Nyala, Zalingei, El Geneina, and El Daein in 2023.
Eyewitnesses and local sources confirmed this. It is consistent that the Rapid Support Forces actually penetrated some of the city’s neighborhoods, including storming the northern part of the Abu Shouk camp for displaced persons, reaching blocks (27 and 28) in the Naivasha neighborhood, in addition to penetrating the camp before withdrawing from it after back-and-forth battles with the army and the joint force.
An eyewitness from the Abu Shouk camp, who preferred to be identified only as “Abu Al-Qasim,” said that the Rapid Support Forces actually penetrated the camp, while the army, the joint force, and the mobilized forces withdrew to the south of the camp.
He indicated that the army and its allies, as well as the Rapid Support Forces, looted citizens’ property, each in its areas of control, forcing more residents to flee the city.
Eyewitnesses and local sources said that the Rapid Support Forces took complete control of the Shala National Prison and the Central Reserve Headquarters in the southwestern part of the city, near El Fasher International Airport.
Another eyewitness, who requested anonymity for “security reasons,” said that the Rapid Support Forces were able to The airport’s defenses were breached from the south, reaching the barbed wire near the airport, posing a direct threat to the armored, air defense, and artillery headquarters, as well as the headquarters of the 154th Infantry Brigade.
He stated that the Rapid Support Forces’ arrival at the airport threatens the Saudi Hospital, the Reserve Forces headquarters, government facilities, and the headquarters of national and international organizations in the First Class neighborhood. This also threatens the headquarters of the joint force affiliated with the armed movements allied with the army, which is based at the former UNAMID headquarters northwest of the city.
In the same context, Amuna, an eyewitness from the Wadi neighborhood, south of El Fasher, said that the Rapid Support Forces penetrated the neighborhood and reached the livestock market on Tuesday and Wednesday, after the final withdrawal of the army and joint force defenses towards the Al-Mashtal area in the Awlad Al-Reef neighborhood.
For his part, a military source in the Sudanese army in El Fasher denied to Darfur 24 that any Rapid Support Forces incursion had taken place towards the livestock market or El Fasher airport, confirming that the defenses remain in their previous positions. The outcome of the recent battles remained unchanged.
The source explained that the army and its allies were able to repel several attacks by the Rapid Support Forces on several fronts, including the southwest of the livestock market, the southeast adjacent to the Grand Market, the north toward Abshok camp, the northeast, and the western side of the city. They also repelled an attack on El Fasher Airport.
Meanwhile, a military source in the Rapid Support Forces revealed extensive advances by its forces in El Fasher, particularly eastward from the Sixth Division headquarters toward the Grand Market and Azhari Building.
The source indicated that the Rapid Support Forces also penetrated the southern neighborhoods of the city, reaching the Wadi neighborhood near the livestock market, and regained control of the entire Al Wahda and Al Salam neighborhoods and the strategic Takro Laflat neighborhood. He confirmed that attacks continue daily in successive waves, with artillery shelling targeting military targets inside the city, until the division’s headquarters in El Fasher is captured.