(AFP) — Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces launched a sweeping assault on a town in North Darfur, killing at least 28 people and injuring dozens more, a medical monitoring group said, in the latest surge of violence in a region already scarred by genocide allegations and deepening tribal rivalries.
The Sudan Doctors Network, which tracks casualties in the nearly three-year conflict between Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the regular army, said fighters stormed the town of Misteriha, leaving 39 others wounded, including 10 women. The group indicated that the attack destroyed the community’s only health center and targeted medical personnel. One health worker was detained and remains unaccounted for, the network said.
“These attacks constitute a fully fledged crime and a blatant violation of all humanitarian and international laws that criminalise attacks against civilians,” the Sudan Doctors Network said in a statement describing the aftermath of the assault.
Emergency Lawyers, an independent organization documenting abuses in Sudan, said RSF fighters set fire to homes across Misteriha, prompting residents to flee toward nearby villages. The group characterized the raid as part of a broader campaign to cement RSF authority in Darfur.
The Rapid Support Forces did not immediately issue a public statement addressing the allegations.
Misteriha holds symbolic and strategic significance. The town is home to Musa Hilal, an Arab tribal leader historically linked to the Janjaweed militias that ravaged Darfur in the early 2000s. Although Hilal hails from the Arab Rizeigat community — the tribal base from which the RSF draws substantial support — he has in recent years aligned himself with Sudan’s military-led government.
Hilal once commanded the Janjaweed, the militia widely accused of orchestrating atrocities during the Darfur conflict. The United Nations sanctioned him over alleged ethnic crimes committed during that period. The RSF later evolved from those militias, becoming a powerful paramilitary force under the command of Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, widely known as Hemedti.
According to accounts from rights monitors, RSF fighters targeted Hilal’s guesthouse with a drone strike over the weekend before mounting the ground offensive. The move underscores the increasingly complex web of alliances and rivalries shaping the war in Darfur, where loyalties often shift along tribal and political lines.
The assault on Misteriha unfolded amid rising tensions across western Sudan. A United Nations investigation released last week concluded that RSF forces committed acts of genocide against non-Arab ethnic groups in Darfur. UN-backed experts said patterns of killings and forced displacement bore “the hallmarks of genocide,” intensifying international scrutiny of the paramilitary group.
Monday’s attack followed the RSF’s capture of el-Fasher, the provincial capital of North Darfur, four months ago after an 18-month siege. During a concentrated burst of violence between Oct. 25 and 27, more than 6,000 people were killed in the city, authorities and rights monitors have said. The RSF’s advance into el-Fasher marked a decisive moment in the struggle for dominance in Darfur.
Darfur, a vast region roughly the size of France, has long been fractured by ethnic divisions and armed movements. Some factions have sided with the RSF, others with Sudan’s military, while several armed groups have attempted to maintain neutrality through informal agreements to safeguard their territories. The latest assault threatens to unravel those precarious arrangements.
The war between the RSF and Sudan’s army erupted in April 2023 following a power struggle between the country’s top generals. What began as a contest for control in the capital, Khartoum, rapidly expanded into a nationwide conflict, with Darfur emerging as one of the hardest-hit regions.
Since the fighting began, tens of thousands of people have been killed, and approximately 11 million have been displaced, according to international humanitarian agencies. Aid organizations describe Sudan as the epicenter of the world’s largest displacement and hunger crisis.
The attack on Misteriha may further entrench RSF control over North Darfur, analysts say, but it also risks inflaming tribal tensions in a region where grievances run deep. Hilal’s complex relationship with both Arab militias and Sudan’s central authorities makes the town a flashpoint. By targeting an area associated with a former Janjaweed commander who now backs the government, the RSF appears to be signaling intolerance for dissent within its own traditional base.
Humanitarian groups warn that the destruction of Misteriha’s only health facility will have long-term consequences. With infrastructure across Darfur already devastated, the loss of medical services compounds the suffering of civilians caught between warring factions. Health workers have increasingly become targets, despite protections under international humanitarian law.
The broader trajectory of the war suggests little immediate relief. The RSF has consolidated significant territory in Darfur, while Sudan’s army retains pockets of resistance. Diplomatic initiatives aimed at brokering a ceasefire have repeatedly faltered, and regional actors remain divided in their support.
As the conflict drags on, the social fabric of Darfur continues to fray. The latest violence in Misteriha highlights how personal rivalries, tribal politics and national power struggles intersect in ways that magnify civilian harm. With international attention often diverted elsewhere, aid groups caution that Sudan’s crisis risks deepening further, leaving millions vulnerable to famine, disease and displacement.
For residents of Misteriha and surrounding communities, the immediate concern is survival. Smoke from torched homes and the absence of medical care signal another chapter in a war that has reshaped Darfur yet again — and shows few signs of abating.
