At least 24 people have been killed and dozens of others were wounded in a paramilitary attack on the besieged city of el-Fasher in Sudan’s western Darfur region, according to a medical group.

The Rapid Support Forces, a paramilitary group fighting against Sudan’s military, shelled the densely populated areas of the central market and Awlad al-Reef neighbourhood in el-Fasher, the Sudan Doctors Network, which tracks the country’s civil war, said on Thursday.

The attack wounded 55 people, including five women, it said.

There was no immediate comment from the RSF on the report.

El-Fasher, the provincial capital of North Darfur province, has been at the epicentre of fighting for more than a year between the Sudanese military and the RSF. It is the military’s last stronghold in the Darfur region.