Khartoum, Dec 13 (IANS): At least 45 civilians were killed and 28 others injured in an artillery shelling by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on residential neighbourhoods and displacement camps in western Sudan, the Sudanese army said on Friday.

"Neighbourhoods and camps in El Fasher city witnessed a significant massacre yesterday, as a result of deliberate shelling by the rebel militia, killing 45 citizens, including children and women, and injuring 28 others who were transferred to health centres," the command of the 6th Infantry Division of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) said in a statement.

According to the statement, the shelling targeted residential neighbourhoods in the southern sector of El Fasher, the Zamzam displacement camp south of the city, and the Abu Shouk camp to the north.

The RSF has not yet issued any comment on the attacks.

Earlier on Wednesday, at least 15 people were killed and 64 others wounded in an artillery attack by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on a displacement camp and a market south of El Fasher, the capital city of Sudan's North Darfur State, a local health official said.

"So far, 15 people were killed and 64 others injured, while the RSF militia's shelling on Zamzam camp and the livestock market is still continuing," Ibrahim Khatir, director-general of North Darfur State's health ministry, said.

He added that most of the casualties were children and women. The Coordination of Resistance Committees in El Fasher, a local non-governmental group, confirmed in a statement that the RSF attack on the market and Zamzam camp had resulted in more than 60 injuries and 15 deaths, including children, women, and elderly people.

An eyewitness described Wednesday's shelling, which took place at 6:00 a.m. local time, as "the most violent" since the RSF began besieging El Fasher on May 10.

"About six shells fell in the middle of the Zamzam camp, which is crowded with displaced people, while four others fell in the livestock market south of El Fasher," the eyewitness said.

Since May 10, fierce clashes have raged in El Fasher, the capital city of North Darfur State in western Sudan, between the SAF and the RSF.

Sudan has been gripped by a devastating conflict between the SAF and the RSF since mid-April 2023.

Sudan has been embroiled in a conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the RSF since mid-April 2023, resulting in more than 27,000 deaths and the displacement of over 14 million people, according to international organisations' estimates.