Fighting flares in South Darfur amid fears of new civil war

(Reuters) – Violence erupted in the city of Nyala located in western Sudan and other parts of South Darfur on Sunday, according to witnesses. The escalation in violence raises concerns of a further escalation of the prolonged war in the region.

The ongoing conflict has resulted in daily street battles in the capital city of Khartoum, as well as ethnically targeted attacks in West Darfur. As a result, more than 4 million people have been displaced within Sudan and to neighboring countries such as Chad, Egypt, and South Sudan.

Witnesses have reported periodic clashes between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Nyala, which is the second largest city in Sudan and a critical hub for the vulnerable Darfur region.

According to witnesses, the current flare-up has been ongoing for three days, with both the army and RSF firing artillery rounds into residential neighborhoods. The fighting has caused significant damage to electricity, water, and telecom networks.

The Darfur Bar Association, a national human rights monitor, reported that at least eight people were killed on Saturday alone. Witnesses also stated that fighting has spread 100 kilometers (60 miles) to the west of Nyala in the Kubum area, resulting in dozens of deaths.

The bar association accused Arab tribesmen, equipped with RSF vehicles, of initiating the attack in the area, including burning the market and raiding the police station. The attack targeted a rival Arab tribe and resulted in the death of 24 people.

Several Arab tribes have pledged their support to the RSF. The Darfur Bar Association called on all parties to refrain from participating in the conflict, highlighting the aim of those involved to gain power in the central region of the country.

Last Friday, social media platform Meta took down official Facebook pages affiliated with the RSF for violating its policy on “dangerous organizations and individuals”.

The extensive fighting in the region raises concerns of a return to the bloody attacks witnessed in the early 2000s when “Janjaweed” militias, from which the RSF originated, aided the army in crushing a rebellion by predominantly non-Arab groups. The violence resulted in an estimated 300,000 deaths, according to the United Nations (U.N.), and Sudanese leaders are currently wanted by the International Criminal Court for genocide and crimes against humanity.

In July, the U.N.’s special representative to Sudan, Volker Perthes, warned that the conflict was unlikely to be resolved quickly and raised the risk of it evolving into an ethnicized civil war.

Diplomatic mediation efforts have so far been unsuccessful, and both sides have utilized ceasefires to regroup. Reporting by Khalid Abdelaziz in Dubai and Nafisa Eltahir in Cairo; Editing by Nick Macfie.