KHARTOUM, Sudan / ISTANBUL

At least 12 civilians were killed and 17 others injured in artillery shelling by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in western Sudan, the army said on Wednesday.

A military statement said that all those injured were in serious condition in the attack that targeted El-Fasher, the capital city of North Darfur State.

There was no immediate comment from the rebel faction on the report.

The army and RSF have been fighting a war since April 2023 that has killed more than 20,000 people and displaced 15 million others, according to the UN and local authorities. Research from US scholars, however, estimates the death toll at around 130,000.

In recent weeks, the RSF’s control has shrunk rapidly across Sudan’s states, with the army gaining ground.

Since late March, army victories in the capital Khartoum have accelerated, including seizing the presidential palace, ministry headquarters, the airport, and key security and military sites for the first time since the war began two years ago.

Across Sudan’s 17 other states, the RSF now holds only portions of North and West Kordofan, pockets in South Kordofan and Blue Nile, and four of Darfur’s five states in the west. The army, however, controls El-Fasher in North Darfur, the region’s fifth state.