KHARTOUM, March 16 (Xinhua) -- At least 16 civilians were killed following attacks by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on villages around El Fasher in western Sudan, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) announced on Sunday.

"The RSF launched aggressive and indiscriminate attacks on 37 villages around El Fasher on Friday and Saturday, leading to the deaths of 16 civilians and injuries to others," the SAF's 6th Infantry Division said in a statement.

"These attacks, aimed at plundering citizens' property, led to the burning of homes, looting of agricultural crops, livestock, and others, and forced the remaining citizens to flee," it said, adding that damage assessment is still ongoing.

The statement added that the RSF also launched heavy artillery shelling on the Abu Shouk displacement camp in El Fasher, causing limited material damage but no reported casualties.

There was no immediate comment from the RSF regarding the attack in El Fasher.

El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state, has been the site of fierce clashes between the SAF and the RSF since May 10 last year.

Sudan has been gripped by a devastating conflict between the SAF and the RSF since mid-April 2023, which has claimed at least 29,683 lives by the end of November 2024, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data, a crisis monitoring group cited by the United Nations.

The conflict has also displaced over 15 million people, both inside and outside Sudan, according to estimates by the International Organization for Migration. Enditem

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