KHARTOUM, Sudan/ ISTANBUL 

A Sudanese medics group said Wednesday that it is deeply concerned about the unknown fate of dozens of children and women in Babnousa, West Kordofan, after clashes between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

Babnousa saw heavy fighting, and the violence threatens families who previously sought shelter at the army’s 22nd Infantry Division headquarters after RSF forces overran the city, the Sudan Doctors Network said in a statement.

Videos posted by RSF members showed large numbers of women and children at the base in severe humanitarian conditions, the group added.

The network called for ensuring “their safety, protecting them, and transferring them to a safe location without harming them or detaining them arbitrarily on accusations of having relatives in the army.”

It also called for safe corridors to evacuate them and for humanitarian aid.

The organization urged the international community to provide assistance and pressure the RSF leadership to evacuate the families from areas close to the clashes.

On Tuesday, the Sudanese army said its forces repelled a new RSF attack on Babnousa, a day after the RSF claimed it had seized the city and captured the 22nd Division’s headquarters.

RSF fighters launched repeated attacks on Babnousa last week under a tight siege, undermining leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo’s claim last month that he accepted a unilateral three-month humanitarian truce.

In recent days, the army airdropped supplies to its forces inside the city, which lost most of its population after 177,000 people fled, according to local relief committees.

The government says it remains open to negotiations with the RSF but insists the group must withdraw from all cities and civilian sites so displaced families can return home. ​​​​​​​

The bloody conflict between the Sudanese army and the RSF, which began in April 2023, has killed at least 40,000 people and displaced some 12 million, according to the World Health Organization.