In a statement, the RSF claimed it had “extended control over the city of El-Fasher from the grip of mercenaries and militias,” referring to the Sudanese army, which it has been fighting since April 2023. AFP could not independently verify the claim and the army and its allies did not respond to requests for comment.

After a punishing 18-month siege, a powerful Sudanese militia has captured the main army headquarters in the Darfur city of El Fasher, provoking fears of new atrocities in a city already suffering from famine and bombings.

The Sudan Doctors Network said in a statement that the RSF shelling of the El-Fasher Teaching Hospital left a nurse dead and injured three medical staff members. It denounced the attack as a “war crime, a clear violation of international humanitarian law, and part of ongoing RSF assaults on civilians and the healthcare sector in Darfur.”

The International Criminal Court in The Hague handed down its first-ever Darfur war crimes conviction, finding Janjaweed leader Ali Kushayb, guilty of atrocities committed more than two decades ago.

The International Criminal Court has convicted a leader of the feared Janjaweed militia of playing a leading role in atrocities in Sudan's Darfur region over 20 years ago.

Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces said on Sunday it had seized full control of El-Fasher, the last major

If confirmed, the capture of the city would mark a major turning point in Sudan's two-year war, which has killed tens of thousands and displaced nearly 12 million people.

The governor of the Darfur region, Minni Arko Minawi, has rejected a peace roadmap submitted by the Sudanese government itself to the United Nations, labelling it a “recipe for the division of Sudan” and directly accusing the United Arab Emirates of simultaneously mediating and “fiercely managing the battle.