KHARTOUM, Aug. 11 (Xinhua) -- Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) killed more than 40 civilians and wounded dozens in an attack on a displacement camp in the North Darfur city of El Fasher on Monday, local activist groups said.

The assault on the Abu Shouk camp included shelling and the execution of people in their homes, the El Fasher Resistance Committees, an anti-war activist group, said in a statement. Another volunteer group, the Abu Shouk Camp Emergency Room, reported at least 40 dead and 19 injured.

The attack came as the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and allied factions said they had repelled a major, multi-pronged ground assault by the RSF on the city. The army and its allies claimed to have inflicted heavy losses on the RSF, killing more than 200 fighters and destroying or capturing dozens of combat vehicles.

Residents said the fighting began early on Monday with intense RSF shelling on several areas, including the army headquarters and the Abu Shouk camp, before ground assaults began from the city's east, southeast, and north.

The RSF did not immediately comment on the allegations.

El Fasher, the last major city in the vast Darfur region not under RSF control, has been the epicentre of the conflict since May. The war in Sudan erupted in April 2023 over a power struggle between the SAF and the RSF, devastating the country's infrastructure, killing tens of thousands, displacing millions, and creating a severe humanitarian crisis. ■