At least 460 fighters from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces were killed in an ambush by the Sudanese army and allied joint forces in the state of North Darfur in western Sudan, according to a military communique.
In the statement issued on Sunday, Joint Forces military spokesman Ahmed Mustafa said the army and its allied militias ambushed three RSF convoys north of the town of Malit on Saturday afternoon.
"The fighting resulted in the death of more than 460 members of the (RSF) militia, including prominent commanders... notably Taha Mudalal, the nephew of militia leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (alias Hemedti)," Mustafa said in the statement.
He also claimed that the army and joint forces destroyed more than a hundred RSF military vehicles and seized 60 others that were "in excellent condition."
"We report that three convoys of the (RSF) militia have been completely wiped out, causing them heavy human and material losses, while security control in the liberated areas has been strengthened and secured," the statement added.
Malit is about 60km north of Al Fasher, the capital of North Darfur and the only army stronghold in western Sudan.
The FAR controls four of the five states that make up the Darfur region and has intensified its attacks on North Darfur, which is home to the army's main headquarters and several displacement camps that house tens of thousands of people.
The war in Sudan began on April 15, 2023, and has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths and made the country the site of the world's worst displacement crisis, with more than 14 million people forced to flee their homes, including more than three million who have fled to neighbouring countries.
The Sudanese Armed Forces - under Abdel Fattah al-Burhan - and General Hemedti's RSF were part of the military government that seized power in 2021 and began a political process to return the country to a democratic path that included integrating the RSF into the regular army when tensions flared and all-out war broke out between the two.
Several human rights organisations and countries such as the United States have accused both the army and the FAR of committing crimes against humanity and even ethnic cleansing during the war, which both sides have denied.
The atrocities are reminiscent of the Darfur genocide when an estimated 200,000 people were killed between 2003 and 2005
