Khartoum, July 16: Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) stormed the besieged city of el-Fasher on Friday in a major offensive that left parts of the city in ruins and deepened what aid groups have described as a humanitarian disaster.
The RSF seized control of a cattle market, a prison, and a military base after a seven-hour battle, witnesses told the BBC. The assault marked the first large-scale RSF incursion into the western Darfur city since the siege began 15 months ago.
Sudanese army forces pushed the RSF back beyond city limits early Saturday, the military said, claiming to have inflicted “heavy losses” on the paramilitary group. But shelling continued throughout the day, including drone strikes that reportedly killed five civilians traveling in a car near a residential area.
“We are hearing stories of horror and terror,” said Mathilde Vu, advocacy manager at the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC). “There are local volunteers risking their lives to deliver tiny amounts of food to starving civilians.”
El-Fasher, the last major city in Darfur under government control, has become the focal point of Sudan’s civil war, which erupted in April 2023 amid a power struggle between the army and the RSF. The conflict has claimed more than 150,000 lives and displaced some 12 million people, making it the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, according to the United Nations.
Witnesses said the RSF entered el-Fasher from the south and southwest, advancing from trenches dug around the city. This was reportedly their 220th assault on the city, though the first in which they temporarily captured key infrastructure, including the headquarters of the Central Reserve Forces.
Videos shared online showed RSF fighters walking through abandoned stockyards at the livestock market, which has been closed for months.
Residents described el-Fasher as a “death trap,” crippled by a communications blackout and acute shortages of food, medicine, and other essentials. “There is no bread, no food, and no work,” said one man, who spoke anonymously to BBC Arabic. “Even if you have money, there is nothing to buy.”
Another resident said people had been surviving on ombaz — the waste product from peanut oil extraction — which is now also unavailable due to halted factory operations.
The RSF assault came three months after the group overran the Zamzam displacement camp on the outskirts of el-Fasher. Thousands fled to Tawila, 60km away, where nearly 379,000 people are now sheltering amid a cholera outbreak and the threat of floods.
“People are arriving hungry, thirsty, and terrified,” Vu said. “They speak of fleeing at night, on foot or on donkeys, escaping armed men, and some report rape.”
The Sudanese army has accused the United Arab Emirates (UAE) of funding the RSF, an allegation the UAE denies.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) said last week it has “reasonable grounds” to believe war crimes and crimes against humanity are being committed in Darfur. In January 2025, the United States declared that the RSF and its allied militias had committed genocide against non-Arab populations in the region.
Vu criticized the international community’s muted response, citing declining humanitarian funding and weak diplomatic engagement. “People are surviving only through the solidarity of others,” she said. “If someone has a little food, they share it.”
