On the event date, Sudan's war delivered another mass-casualty blow to civilians in Darfur as an attack by the Rapid Support Forces on the town of Misteriha killed at least 28 people and wounded 39 others, according to a doctors group cited by The Associated Press.
AP says the assault happened in North Darfur province and targeted a stronghold of Arab tribal leader Musa Hilal. Misteriha is politically important because Hilal comes from the same Rizeigat Arab tribe as many RSF members, making the attack notable not only for its violence but also for the strains it may reveal within Darfur's armed and tribal landscape.
The Sudan Doctors Network, which tracks the war, said at least 39 people were wounded, including 10 women. It also said RSF shelling struck the town's health care center and that fighters later assaulted medical staff and detained at least one worker. If confirmed, those actions would add to a pattern of attacks on medical and humanitarian infrastructure that has repeatedly worsened civilian suffering during Sudan's conflict.
According to AP, the offensive began over the weekend with drone strikes that hit Hilal's guesthouse. On Monday, RSF fighters launched a major ground assault and took over the town. Emergency Lawyers, an independent group documenting atrocities in Sudan, said the fighters burned many homes and forced residents to flee to nearby villages.
The RSF did not immediately comment, and the motive for the attack was not immediately known. But AP says taking Misteriha would likely strengthen RSF control across Darfur, even as it risks inflaming tribal tensions in a region with a long history of mass violence.
The broader context is bleak. Sudan's war began in 2023 after tensions between the national army and the RSF exploded into open fighting in Khartoum and spread nationwide. The conflict has since killed thousands, displaced millions and triggered disease outbreaks, hunger and repeated failures in peace diplomacy. AP notes that the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday again called for an immediate halt to the fighting, condemning atrocities in North Darfur and continued destabilization in the Kordofans.
The attack on Misteriha came four months after the RSF overran el-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, following an 18-month siege. AP says more than 6,000 people were killed there over three days in late October and that U.N.-backed experts said the assault bore the hallmarks of genocide.
Against that backdrop, Misteriha is not an isolated outrage but part of a war that keeps widening its human cost while narrowing the space for civilian safety. On the verified facts available, at least 28 people were killed, dozens were wounded and yet another Darfur town was consumed by a conflict that still has no credible path to resolution.
