El Fasher — Several people were killed and others were injured yesterday after a Rapid Support Forces (RSF) shell struck a market in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur. The governor of North Darfur dismissed 11 native administration leaders for allegedly colluding with the RSF.
Witnesses told Radio Dabanga that the RSF attacked the livestock market in El Fasher on Thursday, as well as the southwestern part of city, killing at least 7 people and frightening residents.
There were also reports of ground battles between the RSF on one side, and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Sudanese Joint Force (formerly the Darfur Joint Force)* on the other, in the eastern and northeastern parts of the city. SAF airplanes also carried out two airstrikes in these areas.
Sources close to the Joint Forces told Radio Dabanga that the incursion was "repelled" following a three-hour battle.
Meanwhile, Zamzam camp for displaced people, located southwest of El Fasher, experienced cautious calm on Thursday after four consecutive days of artillery shelling.
The RSF, which holds most of North Darfur, has been battling the SAF to control the state capital since May.
Native administration
The acting governor of North Darfur, Hafez Bakhit, dismissed 11 native administration** members on Wednesday, citing allegations they were mobilising tribesmen to fight alongside the RSF. The decision targeted native administrations leaders and their deputies. Mayors were instructed to facilitate the implementation of the dismissals.
The RSF took control of four of the five Darfur states (as well as a part of North Darfur) in the end of last year, and have set up governments in these states with the cooperation of native administration leaders.
* The Darfur Joint Force was formed in June 2022, as agreed on in the 2020 Juba Peace Agreement (JPA), to protect the people in the region. The force was made up of fighters of the Sudan Liberation Movement faction headed by Darfur Governor Minni Minawi (SLM-MM), the JEM faction led by Finance Minister Gibril Ibrahim (JEM-GI), and several small rebel groups that signed the JPA. These movements renounced their neutrality in November last year and are now fighting the RSF alongside the Sudanese army. Since then, Sudanese media speak about the Joint Force of Armed Struggle Movements, while the group's logo on their X and Facebook accounts says Sudanese Joint Force (and in Arabic Sudanese Joint Forces).
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** The Native Administration was instituted by British colonial authorities seeking a pragmatic system of governance that allowed for effective control with limited oversight by the state. The state-appointed tribal leaders were also responsible for executing policies, collecting taxes, and mobilising labour on behalf of the central government. According to the Darfur Bar Association (DBA), the Native Administration during the 30-year rule of dictator Omar Al Bashir did not represent the real community leaders.
