At least 39 people, including women and children, have been killed in violent clashes in Sudan’s western Darfur region, according to opposition reports.

Many of the victims had sought refuge under a bridge in the town of Njala and were killed in an airstrike “in one fell swoop,” the opposition Nasserist Social Justice Movement said on X on Tuesday.

The army and the paramilitary militia Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have been engaged in heavy fighting for more than four months.

The U.S. State Department expressed “deep concern” about the situation in Njala.

Tens of thousands of civilians are trapped in the town due to violence between the army and RSF, the department said in a statement.

On Monday, de facto president and army leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan again ruled out negotiations with the opposing paramilitaries.

An armed conflict erupted in Sudan in mid-April between the army and the rival paramilitary RSF militia.

Former Sudanese vice president Mohammed Hamdan Daglo’s RSF made up of tens of thousands of fighters that emerged from Arab militias in Darfur, is fighting the armed forces led by the de facto president, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.

The two generals originally seized power together in 2021 and are now fighting each other.

Neither side has been able to gain the upper hand so far.

Relief agencies warn that the country is heading for a humanitarian catastrophe, and millions of people have fled.

Along with the capital Khartoum, Darfur is particularly hard hit by the clashes.

The region has been the scene of fighting between various ethnic groups, militias, and the Sudanese government for decades.

According to experts, Njala is also home to fighters from former rebel groups who previously fought as mercenaries in neighbouring Libya.

(dpa/NAN)