More than a million people in Sudan’s el-Fasher are pleading for protection after the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) advanced on the city, killing hundreds of people while on its way.
Multiple sources in and around el-Fasher told Middle East Eye that the RSF is preparing to invade the city, which is the capital of North Darfur state and the only place in western Sudan still held by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and its allies.
The latest attacks, which began on 11 April, saw Rapid Support Forces (RSF)-affiliated forces launch coordinated assaults on Zamzam and Abu Shouk – two of the largest camps for internally displaced people (IDPs) in Darfur – as well as the regional capital, El Fasher.
Among those killed were 23 children as well as nine humanitarian workers who were operating one of the last remaining health posts.
(January 14, 2025)
Sudan’s ruinous civil war is approaching its third year, leaving a legacy of malnutrition, massive population displacement and chronic insecurity. As the UN system prepares to launch a call for record funding of $4.2 billion to support aid operations in the country, here are some of the main things to know about what has been described as the largest and most devasting displacement, humanitarian and protection crisis in the world today.
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Over 18,800 civilians have been reported killed since the beginning of the conflict, and the levels of violence in Sudan are getting worse. At the beginning of February, at least 275 people were killed in just one week, a threefold increase on the previous week’s death toll.
The latest massacre comes as senior RSF leaders and allied figures arrived in the Kenyan capital to set the wheels in motion for the formation of a parallel government in areas the paramilitary group controls.
Abdul Rahim Hamdan Dagalo, the deputy commander of the RSF and brother of its leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (commonly known as Hemeti), arrived in Nairobi on Tuesday for the two-day conference.
A political charter “for the government of peace and unity”, as it’s being dubbed, is set to be signed on Wednesday.