Cairo - Cairo (AP) - Sudan's infamous paramilitary group won a "victory" Friday, saying it controlled the main town of Al Nahud in Western Cordofin, a battle intensified a day ago.

The victory of the Rapid Support Force or RSF there will mark a strategic loss in the war between Sudan and the paramilitary forces, as the territory is home to the headquarters of the 18th Infantry Brigade.

The Sudanese army did not immediately comment on its social media channels whether it lost Nahud's competitor.

Sultan's Culture and Information Minister Khalid Ali Aleisir said on his Facebook account on Friday that the RSF had committed crimes against citizens of the town who had no defense, plundered its property and destroyed public facilities.

RSF said on its Telegram channel Friday that it destroyed vehicles belonging to the army and captured weapons and ammunition in the battle for Al Nahud. The paramilitary group also claimed that after defeating the army, it managed to secure the facilities and markets of the city.

The war broke out on April 15, 2023, and a challenge was carried out between the military and the RSF on the streets of the capital Khartoum, spreading rapidly to other parts of the country.

The Preliminary Committee of the Sudan Doctors Union said on Facebook that the RSF's attack on Al Nahud has killed more than 300 unarmed civilians. The Associated Press cannot independently verify the number.

Al Nahud's resistance committee condemned the RSF attack, which began Thursday morning.

"They invaded the city, stormed into residential areas, terrorized unarmed civilians and committed cold-blooded murders against innocent civilians whose only crime was to uphold their dignity and refuse to leave their homes to killing and horror machines," the Resistance Commission said on Facebook Thursday.

According to Sudan War Monitor, the Army's loss of Al Nahud will affect its operational capabilities in the state of North Codofan, an open source collaboration project documenting two years of war. Al Nahud is a strategic town as it is located on a major road the Army can use to advance to the Dafur region, and the RSF mainly controls the RSF.

According to support groups for Darfur victims, Al Nahud also avoided those who fled from Al-Obeid, Umm Kadada, Khartoum and El-Fasher, the capital of the northern Darfur province.

Meanwhile, in North Darfur, the fight killed at least 542 people in the past three weeks, and although the actual death toll may be higher, according to UN Human Rights Director Volker Türk. The figure includes the recent RSF attacks on El Fasher and Abu Shouk displaced camps that killed at least 40 civilians.

"The horror incident in Sudan has nothing to do with it," Türk Ina said on Thursday.

Türk also mentioned the "extremely disturbing" report of extrajudicial killings committed by the RSF, which was executed by paramilitary fighters from Al Salha in Omdurman in the south, who had at least 30 men in civilian costumes.

"I personally reminded the RSF and SAF to both leaders of the catastrophic human rights consequences of this war. These painful consequences are the daily reality of millions of Sudanese. This conflict has passed and has stopped it," Türk said.

The war in Sudan killed at least 20,000 people, but the real losses could be much higher. Nearly 13 million people fled their homes, of which 4 million fled to neighboring countries.

Half of the population is 50 million facing hunger. The World Food Program has confirmed the famine at 10 locations and warned it could spread further, putting millions of risks into starvation.