Fierce battles around the strategic city of Babanousa, home to the largest garrison in the Kordofan region, continued between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) for a third day amid conflicting information posted by both sides on social media.
On Tuesday, the city witnessed a major attack from several axes by the Rapid Support Forces, after which they announced their incursion into the city and their control of a number of police stations.
Witnesses told local news that two civilians were killed and dozens wounded as air and artillery shelling continued on Babanousa in West Kordofan state since dawn on Tuesday.
They stated the RSF surrounded the headquarters of the 22nd Division in the city from all directions.
The United Nations announced in a report also on Wednesday a wide displacement movement from the city, amid continued clashes between Sudanese army forces and rapid support elements without hope for a breakthrough near crisis.
According to the report issued by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, there is a wave of large-scale displacement from the neighborhoods and towns of Babanusa in West Kordofan as fighting continues.
The report stated that clashes between the army and the Rapid Support took place at the army’s main military headquarters and in the neighborhoods of “Al-Nasr” and “Abu Ismail” in Babanousa in West Kordofan.
Sudan’s military said later on Wednesday it had repelled the RSF offensive on the city, with videos posted by pro-army activists on social media accounts showing the garrison commander inspecting his soldiers.
While other clips showed the deaths of the Rapid Support Forces whose publishers claimed that they were individuals who appeared earlier in one of the clips claiming to have seized the military base, we unable to completely verify these clips and photos
The army and the RSF share control of Kordofan province, which has an estimated population of more than 8 million and is the country’s main livestock and petroleum hub.
Since fighting broke out between the two sides in mid-April, several areas of the region have been witnessing constant fighting, especially around the region’s largest city, El Obeid.
