Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have killed more than 30 people in another deadly attack in the war-torn nation’s Darfur region, according to activists.

The RSF and allied militias launched an offensive on el-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur province, on Sunday, said the Resistance Committees, an activist group.

Dozens of others were wounded in the attack, said the group, which tracks the war.

The violence continued on Monday, with residential buildings and open markets shelled in the city, according to the group. The RSF has not publicly commented on the attacks.

El-Fasher is the last big city in the region still under the control of the Sudanese army, which has been fighting the RSF since Sudan descended into civil war two years ago.

The RSF has been attempting to seize the city for a year to complete its control of the entire Darfur region.

Sunday’s violence came less than a week after a multi-day attack by the RSF and its allied militias on el-Fasher and the nearby Zamzam and Abu Shouk camps for displaced people killed more than 400 people, according to the UN humanitarian office.

That offensive forced up to 400,000 people to flee Zamzam, the largest such camp in Sudan, which is now under RSF control and inaccessible to aid workers, the UN said.

The RSF has suffered multiple battlefield setbacks, losing the capital of Khartoum and other cities in recent months, but has since regrouped in its stronghold in Darfur.

Rival government announced

RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, who is better known as Hemedti, said last week the group was forming a rival government that will rule parts of the country under its control.

That raises concerns that Sudan is heading towards partition, or a prolonged conflict like in neighbouring Libya, where two rival administrations have been fighting for power for over a decade.

Dagalo’s announcement, which was delivered on the two-year anniversary of Sudan’s civil war, was swiftly condemned by the UN.

“The formation of a parallel government would not bring Sudan any closer to a resolution of the conflict,” UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. Many nations including the US have previously rejected RSF efforts to establish an administration in areas they control.

Sudan was plunged into chaos on 15 April, 2023 when simmering tensions between the military and the RSF exploded into open warfare across the country.

Since then, at least 24,000 people have been killed and about 13 million have been driven from their homes, including four million who have crossed into neighbouring countries.

The fighting has been marked by atrocities, including mass rape and ethnically motivated killings that amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, especially in Darfur, according to the UN and international rights groups.

The respective leaders of the army and the RSF have been sanctioned by the US over the abuses. Washington has also accused the RSF of committing genocide.

Both the military and the RSF have strongly denied the accusations.