Sudan has witnessed deadly war between rival forces that broke out in mid-April 2023. / Photo: AFP

More than two weeks of fighting between Sudan's military and the paramilitary group over a major city in the western Darfur region has killed at least 123 people, an international aid group said on Sunday.

The fighting in el-Fasher, the provincial capital of North Darfur province, also wounded more than 930 people in the same period, Doctors without Borders said.

"This is a sign of the violent intensity of the fighting," the group said.

"We urge the warring parties to do more to protect civilians."

More than 14,000 people killed in Sudan

Clashes between the military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces escalated earlier this month in the city, forcing thousands of people to flee their homes, according to the United Nations.

El-Fasher has become the centre of the conflict between the military and the RSF. The city is the last stronghold that is still held by the military in the sprawling Darfur region.

Sudan's conflict began in April last year when soaring tensions between the leaders of the military and the RSF exploded into open fighting in the capital, Khartoum, and elsewhere in the country.

The conflict killed more than 14,000 people and wounded thousands more amid reports of widespread sexual violence and other atrocities that rights groups say amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Famine

It also pushed the country's population to the brink of famine. The UN food agency warned the warring parties earlier this month that there is a serious risk of widespread starvation and death in Darfur and elsewhere in Sudan if they don't allow humanitarian aid into the vast western region.

The RSF has built up forces in recent months seeking to wrest control of el-Fasher. The RSF besieged the city and launched a major attack on its southern and eastern parts earlier this month.

The clashes renewed on Thursday in the Abu Shouk camp for displaced people in the Salam neighbourhood in the city's northern part, as well as its south-western parts, the UN's International Organization for Migration reported.

On Saturday, a shell hit the house of a Doctors Without Borders aid worker close to the city's main market, killing the worker, the charity said.

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AP