RSF attack kills at least 11 displaced people in West Darfur, official says

October 18, 2026 (EL GENEINA) – Paramilitary Rapid Support Forces killed at least 11 internally displaced people and wounded dozens more in an attack on a border settlement in West Darfur state, a regional official said on Sunday.

The attack took place on Saturday in the Hajar Sanakeet area, located in the Sirba locality near the border with Chad, Babiker Hamdeen, the health and social welfare minister in the Darfur Regional Government, said in a statement.

Hamdeen said most of the casualties were women and children, describing the assault as a grave violation of international humanitarian law.

The RSF could not immediately be reached for comment.

Hamdeen said the victims had fled to Sanakeet over the past year after RSF fighters burned their original villages of Narouma, Karmaliya, and Gagrumba, looting property and forcing residents toward the frontier.

The border area between Sudan and Chad across North and West Darfur has seen recurrent clashes between the Sudanese Armed Forces and allied joint forces and the RSF, as the paramilitary group tries to consolidate control over the entire western region.

The fighting has driven thousands of civilians across the border into Chad, deepening a severe humanitarian crisis.

Hamdeen called on the international community and rights groups to condemn the attack, hold RSF leaders accountable, and designate the force as a terrorist organisation.