The RSF, locked in a brutal conflict with the army since April 2023, pounded North Darfur's capital El-Fasher with more than 750 mortars, tank shells and heavy artillery rounds, said the local resistance committee, one of hundreds of volunteer groups coordinating aid across Sudan.

The activists said the death toll was confirmed by health facilities following what they described as a "bloody massacre" that targeted residential neighbourhoods, markets and displacement camps.

They added that the real toll was likely higher, with many victims reportedly dying at the scene of the bombardments before they could be taken to hospitals.

El-Fasher is the last major city in the Darfur region still under army control.

The battle for it has intensified in recent weeks, with the UN and international observers warning of a possible large-scale atrocity.

The RSF ratcheted up its assaults on El-Fasher and its surrounding famine-hit displacement camps after the army regained control of Sudan's capital Khartoum last month.

The war, now in its third year, has killed tens of thousands, displaced 13 million and created what the United Nations describes as the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

The conflict has effectively divided the country in two, with the army holding the centre, east and north, and the RSF controlling nearly all of Darfur and parts of the south.

Famine has officially been declared in five areas across Sudan, including three displacement camps near El-Fasher, according to a UN-backed assessment.