Sudan's Rapid Support Forces (RSF [7]) have fired on fleeing civilians, plundered hospitals, and carried out over a dozen "field executions" in El Fasher [7] in the days since the paramilitary army took the city Oct. 26, local observers report. The day after the city fell, the Sudan Doctors Network issued a statement [8] saying the RSF had carried out a "heinous massacre [of] unarmed civilians on ethnic grounds in what amounts to an act of ethnic cleansing." Among those slain in targeted summary executions was reportedly Siham Hassan, a longtime activist and former member of parliament. She was known for running a community kitchen to feed the hungry in El Fasher, and as an outspoken advocate for women's rights. (TNA [10], AA [11], TRT [12], Albawaba [13])
In a statement [14] released in response to reports [15] of the city's fall, UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher called [16] for an immediate ceasefire in El Fasher. He urged:
Safe, rapid, and unimpeded humanitarian access must be allowed to reach all civilians in need. We have lifesaving supplies ready, but intensified attacks have made it impossible for us to get aid in... Attacks on civilians, hospitals and humanitarian operations must stop immediately.
Fletcher invoked Resolution 2736 [17], adopted [18] by the UN Security Council in June 2024, which demanded an end to the siege of El Fasher, protection of civilians, and unhindered humanitarian access across Sudan. He recalled that at least 20 people were killed in drone strikes on a mosque and hospital earlier this month [19], following nearly 100 civilian deaths in El Fasher in September. Fletcher demanded accountability for violative parties.
El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state, had been under siege [20] for over a year. The RSF website [21] claimed control of the city after its forces seized the army's Sixth Division headquarters, although the Sudanese Armed Forces have not yet confirmed this.
The city's apparent fall represents a significant setback for government forces in the civil war that has devastated Sudan since April 2023. The conflict has resulted in one of the largest humanitarian crises on record, with more than 11.7 million people displaced according to UN estimates. (Jurist [22])
