KHARTOUM, June 27 (Xinhua) -- At least 13 civilians were killed and 21 others injured on Friday as a result of artillery shelling by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state in western Sudan, volunteer groups said.

"Thirteen people, including 3 children, were killed and 21 others injured due to a deliberate artillery shelling by the RSF on El Fasher this Friday morning," the Sudanese Doctors Network, a volunteer group, said in a statement.

"The shelling and tightening siege on the city directly target thousands of children, women, and the elderly, in clear defiance of all international calls to de-escalate and lift the siege," it said, calling on both the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the RSF to implement a humanitarian truce.

Meanwhile, the Coordination of Resistance Committees in El Fasher said in a statement that "El Fasher woke up this morning to the sound of explosions and intense artillery shelling by the RSF, which shook residential neighborhoods."

The statement added that the shelling resulted in the deaths of several unarmed civilians, including women and children, and left dozens injured with varying degrees of severity.

Some of the wounded were taken to the city's main hospital, which is currently facing a severe shortage of medicines and medical supplies, it noted.

The shelling of El Fasher coincided with a phone call earlier on Friday between UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the Chairman of Sudan's Transitional Sovereignty Council, Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, during which Al-Burhan agreed to a UN-proposed one-week humanitarian truce in the city.

The RSF has been imposing a blockage on El Fasher since May 2024, including daily shelling and intense urban battles involving both the RSF and the SAF. The blockage has led to critical shortages of essential goods and medical supplies.

El Fasher serves as a major administrative hub for the Darfur region. It is the only state capital in Darfur that remains outside RSF control.

The city, which hosts three camps for displaced persons including Abu Shouk, Zamzam and Al-Salam, is home to around 1.5 million people, with 800,000 internally displaced, according to UN figures.

Sudan has been engulfed in a brutal conflict between the SAF and the RSF since April 2023. The war has killed tens of thousands and forced millions to flee their homes, both within Sudan and across its borders. Enditem