KHARTOUM, Sudan/ ISTANBUL

An armed group allied with the Sudanese army stated Thursday that it repelled attacks by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in several northern areas of North Darfur state in western Sudan.

The Joint Force of Armed Movements in Darfur said in a statement that it confronted assaults by the RSF in parts of North Darfur, particularly in and around Abu Qumra, accusing the paramilitary group of escalating attacks against unarmed civilians.

The force said the RSF was seeking to impose control “by force through killing, forced displacement and terrorizing civilians and displaced people who fled the city of El-Fasher,” the state capital, the statement added.

Local sources said the RSF attacked the Abu Qamra and Ambro areas on Wednesday, while the paramilitary group claimed it had taken control of both locations.

The joint force said that since the attacks began, the RSF has burned entire villages, looted livestock and civilian property, and committed grave violations against residents.

The force, the Sudanese army, and popular resistance fighters confronted the assaults and engaged in direct clashes, thwarting what it described as “a plan to destabilize the area” and preventing the RSF from achieving its objectives, the statement said.

The RSF renewed their attacks early Thursday in the same regions, but defending troops repelled them again, inflicting heavy losses on personnel, vehicles and equipment and forcing the attackers to retreat, the joint force said.

The renewed attacks came as the RSF sought to take complete control of North Darfur. The Sudanese army and allied armed movements control three localities in the state — Ambro, Karnoi and Tina — while the Sudan Liberation Movement led by Abdel Wahid al-Nur controls the Tawila area.

The clashes followed the RSF takeover of El-Fasher on Oct. 26, during which local and international organizations reported massacres of civilians, prompting warnings about the risk of deepening geographic division in Sudan.

The three Kordofan states—North, West, and South—have seen weeks of fierce fighting between the army and the RSF, forcing tens of thousands of people to flee.

Of Sudan’s 18 states, the RSF controls all five states of the Darfur region in the west, except for some northern parts of North Darfur that remain under army control. The army, in turn, holds most areas of the remaining 13 states in the south, north, east, and center, including the capital Khartoum.

The conflict between the Sudanese army and the RSF, which began in April 2023, has since killed thousands of people and displaced millions of others.