Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) said Sunday it had seized full control of El-Fasher, the last major city in the expansive Darfur region not in its hands, in a potential turning point in the country’s unrelenting civil war.
The announcement came just hours after it claimed to have captured the army’s main base in the city, which it has besieged since May 2024.
In a statement, the group said it had “extended control over the city of El-Fasher from the grip of mercenaries and militias,” referring to the Sudanese army, with which it has been in a brutal war since April 2023.
AFP could not independently verify the claim, and the army and its allies did not respond to requests for comment.
Tom Fletcher, head of the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), called for safe passage for civilians trapped in the fighting.
Access to the region remains extremely limited due to the intense fighting.
– ‘Disinformation’ –
Local pro-army fighters called the Popular Resistance accused the RSF earlier on Sunday of running a “media disinformation campaign” to weaken morale.
They insisted that residents were still “resisting in the face of terrorist militias”.
AFP was unable to reach civilians in El-Fasher due to a telecommunications blackout and disrupted Starlink satellite connections.
The local resistance group said the targeted infantry division, the Sixth Division, was “just empty buildings,” with the army now based in “more fortified positions”.
Since August, the RSF has intensified artillery and drone attacks on El-Fasher, eroding the army’s last defensive lines after about 18 months of siege.
RSF videos on Sunday appeared to show fighters celebrating beside a sign marked “Sixth Infantry Division”, while footage from across Darfur purportedly showed crowds celebrating alongside RSF fighters.
If confirmed, the capture of the city would mark a major turning point in Sudan’s two-year war, which has killed tens of thousands and displaced nearly 12 million people.
It would bring all five state capitals in Sudan’s western Darfur region under RSF control, consolidating its recently established parallel administration in Nyala.
Analysts have warned this could effectively partition Sudan, with the army holding the north, east and centre, and the RSF dominating Darfur and parts of the south.
Cameron Hudson of the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies told AFP that if the RSF had won territorial control in Darfur that would strengthen its claims of being a credible government.
– Humanitarian disaster –
The RSF said in a statement it was committed to providing “safe corridors for all those who wish to move to other locations, as well as the necessary protection for all those in the city”.
Later Sunday, UN aid chief Fletcher said in a statement: “With fighters pushing further into the city and escape routes cut off, hundreds of thousands of civilians are trapped and terrified — shelled, starving, and without access to food, healthcare, or safety,” said Fletcher.
“Civilians must be allowed safe passage and be able to access aid,” he added.
He also called for an immediate ceasefire in El-Fasher, across Darfur and throughout Sudan.
US senior advisor for Africa Massad Boulos also called on the paramilitary group to open “humanitarian corridors” to allow civilians to evacuate.
Around 260,000 civilians, half of them children, remain trapped in El-Fasher without aid or food.
Four UN agencies warned on Thursday that thousands of malnourished children were at “imminent risk of death” amid the collapse of health services.
Reports of killings, sexual violence and forced recruitment were mounting daily, they added.
The UN last month voiced alarm over potential massacres targeting non-Arab communities in El-Fasher, similar to those reported after the RSF captured the nearby Zamzam camp in April.
“This is the worst-case scenario for civilians,” Hudson said, warning that the RSF was likely to keep abusing civilians and targeting anyone seen as loyal to the army.
Despite repeated international appeals, the two sides, both of whom have been accused of committing atrocities, have ignored calls for a ceasefire.
Representatives from the United States, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates met in Washington Friday to try to plan a path towards “peace and stability in Sudan” and a transition to civilian rule, according to an earlier statement by Boulos.
The four countries reaffirmed their support for a September peace proposal calling for a three-month truce, followed by a permanent ceasefire and civilian governance.
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