PORT SUDAN, Sudan

The Sudanese army said Saturday it suppressed a "major" attack by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary on the city of El Fasher, the center of North Darfur state in the west.

The army said its forces suppressed the major attack and inflicted heavy casualties.

The Sudan Liberation Movement, which fought alongside the army, also said the RSF tried to "occupy" El Fasher by attacking from all directions -- north, south, west and east -- with thousands of militants.

The civil war in Sudan broke out in April 2023 between Army Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo because of disagreements about integrating the group into the army.

*Writing by Serdar Dincel in Istanbul