Sudanese army repels RSF attack on Qaisan near Ethiopian border

Sudanese army forces repelled an attack by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the allied Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) on Qaisan city in Blue Nile state near the border with Ethiopia, authorities said on Tuesday.

In a statement, the Qaisan governorate said the attack targeted farmers during harvest, calling it "a full-fledged war crime."

"We condemn in the strongest terms this criminal aggression that targets citizens' livelihoods, security and stability," it added.

No information was yet available about casualties and there was no immediate comment from the RSF on the report.

On July 10, the Sudanese army said that its forces had repelled an attack on the areas of Deim Saad and Yara in Qaisan governorate.

The Sudanese army controls large parts of Blue Nile state, while the SPLM has fought the government since 2011, demanding autonomy for South Kordofan and Blue Nile regions.

Since April 2023, the RSF has been fighting the Sudanese army over a dispute about its integration into the military, a conflict that has killed tens of thousands, displaced 13 million people and triggered famine in one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.