MILLIONS of people in Sudan are struggling to find daily food and protection as fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces enters its 14th month.
El-Fasher, the historic capital of Darfur in western Sudan and the last stronghold of the Sudanese Armed Forces has become the latest flashpoint in the ongoing civil war as the two warring sides fight for control in the country.
El-Fasher remains the last major city in the Darfur region of Sudan that the paramilitary group does not control.
The Sudanese army announced on Friday that its forces killed Ali Yagoub Gibril, a senior commander for the paramilitary during a battle in the city of El-Fasher.
The RSF has been trying to seize control from the military of El-Fasher, a city of 1.8 million people, for weeks now.
The army announced the senior rebel commander’s death a day after the United Nations passed a resolution proposed by the United Kingdom, demanding the paramilitary to end their siege on the city.
The resolution which also called for an immediate ceasefire and de-escalation of violence in El-Fasher received 14 votes in favor of it while Russia abstained.
Hundreds of towns and villages across Sudan have been burned to the ground since the civil war started on April 15, 2023.
The war also created one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, with ongoing violence to have killed about 14,000 people and displaced more than 10 million others, according to UN estimates.
The paramilitary said the death of one of their senior commanders would not affect their group’s morale or their determination to fight.
