22 dead in shelling of Sudan’s besieged city

Besieging Sudanese paramilitary forces pounded El-Fasher on Saturday, witnesses said, killing 22 people in Darfur’s last city outside their control, according to a hospital source.

El-Fasher has become a key battleground in the 15-month-long war pitting the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, against the regular army.

The battle for the North Darfur state capital, seen as crucial for humanitarian aid in a region on the brink of famine, has raged for more than two months.

Witnesses said El-Fasher had come under heavy artillery bombardment by the RSF on Saturday. “The shelling destroyed some houses,” one witness said.

A doctor at a city’s hospital said that “bombardment of the livestock market and the Redayef neighborhood killed 22 people and wounded 17.”

It was the deadliest reported bombardment since the start of the month when 15 civilians were killed in the shelling of another city market.

Intense fighting for El-Fasher erupted on May 10, prompting a siege by the RSF that has trapped hundreds of thousands of civilians.

Last month, the UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an end to the siege.

US mediators are to make a new attempt in Switzerland next month to broker an end to the fighting.

The talks are due to open on Aug. 14.

Previous negotiations have failed to put an end to the fighting, which has displaced millions, sparked warnings of famine, and left swaths of the capital Khartoum in ruins.

Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, head of the Rapid Support Forces, has announced plans to attend the talks in Switzerland.

He expressed hope on social media that the talks would become “a major step” toward peace and stability in Sudan and create a new state based on “justice, equality and federal rule.”

“We share with the international community the goal of achieving a full ceasefire across the country and facilitating humanitarian access to everyone in need,” he said on the social media platform X.

The US State Department said the talks will aim to build on discussions between the two sides that broke down late last year.

“The talks in Switzerland aim to reach a nationwide cessation of violence, enabling humanitarian access to all those in need, and develop a robust monitoring and verification mechanism to ensure implementation of any agreement,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement on Tuesday announcing the talks.

Sudan plunged into conflict in mid-April 2023 when long-simmering tensions between its military and paramilitary leaders broke out in Khartoum, and spread to other regions, including Darfur.

The UN says over 14,000 people have been killed and 33,000 injured. Rights activists say the toll could be much higher.

The war has also created the world’s largest displacement crisis, with over 11 million people forced to flee their homes, as well as allegations of rampant sexual violence and possible crimes against humanity.

International experts recently warned that 755,000 people are facing famine in the coming months.

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said the invitation for the talks went out on Tuesday.

He decried the ongoing “horrific human tragedy” and “humanitarian crisis” in Sudan that has put civilians at risk.

“I can’t give you any assessment on the likelihood of a deal, but we just want to get the parties back to the table,” he said in Washington.

Last week, the UN secretary-general’s envoy for Sudan hosted a series of indirect talks in Geneva between the two sides centering on issues of humanitarian aid and the protection of civilians across Sudan.