On August 27, 2025, the besieged city of El Fasher in North Darfur, Sudan, was rocked by a deadly artillery attack that left at least 24 civilians dead and 55 others wounded, including five women, according to the Sudan Doctors Network. The shelling, attributed to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), struck the central market and the Awlad Al Reef neighborhood, turning the city’s bustling heart into a scene of devastation and panic. For the people of El Fasher, it was yet another grim episode in a war that has already exacted a staggering toll on lives and livelihoods.
The Sudan Doctors Network did not mince words in its condemnation. In a statement published on Thursday, the group called the incident “another massacre,” accusing the RSF of “war crimes and genocide against civilians.” The Network’s message was unflinching: “This heinous crime adds to a series of war crimes and acts of genocide targeting unarmed civilians in El Fasher for more than a year, amidst a tight siege and a severe shortage of food, medicine, and essential services.” They demanded urgent international action, urging the United Nations Security Council, the African Union, and the international community at large to intervene and halt the violence, lift the siege, and pressure the RSF leadership to stop what they described as “systematic genocide and deliberate starvation.”
El Fasher’s ordeal is not new. Since May 10, 2024, the city has been under siege by the RSF, and the consequences have been catastrophic. According to UNICEF, some 260,000 civilians—including 130,000 children—are trapped inside the city, cut off from aid for more than 16 months. The United Nations children’s agency described El Fasher as “an epicentre of child suffering, with malnutrition, disease, and violence claiming young lives daily.” The siege has created acute shortages of food, medicine, and fuel. An estimated 6,000 children are suffering from severe acute malnutrition and face imminent risk of death, UNICEF warned in a statement released Wednesday.
The shelling on August 27 was just the latest in a series of attacks on El Fasher and its outlying camps. The United Nations reports that at least 89 civilians were killed in RSF attacks in and around the city over a ten-day period in August, including 16 people who were summarily executed. The RSF has not commented publicly on the most recent accusations, but local authorities and popular committees in El Fasher have repeatedly blamed the group for artillery strikes and ongoing assaults on civilian areas. Despite international calls to protect humanitarian corridors and warnings from aid organizations, the violence has continued unabated.
El Fasher is not just any city; it is the military’s last stronghold in the Darfur region and a vital hub for humanitarian operations across all five Darfur states. The ongoing siege and shelling have turned the city into what international organizations have called a “death trap.” The Sudan Doctors Network emphasized the deliberate targeting of densely populated residential areas, calling it “a blatant violation of all international and humanitarian laws, exposing the widespread violations committed by the RSF against citizens who have held on to their homes and land.”
The roots of this tragedy stretch back to April 2023, when simmering tensions between Sudan’s military and the RSF exploded into open conflict. Fighting began in the capital, Khartoum, and quickly spread across the northeastern African country. Since then, the war has killed more than 20,000 people and displaced or forced nearly 15 million to flee, according to United Nations estimates. Some studies, including research from American universities, put the death toll much higher, at around 130,000. The conflict has been marked by gross atrocities, including ethnically motivated killings and rape, as documented by the UN and human rights groups. The International Criminal Court is currently investigating alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity related to the conflict.
The RSF, once a powerful force in the country’s capital, Khartoum, has lost significant territory in recent months. In March 2025, the group lost all areas it once controlled in Khartoum to the Sudanese army and its allied militias. Today, the most intense fighting is concentrated in Sudan’s central and western regions, with El Fasher remaining a flashpoint for both military and humanitarian crises. The city’s strategic importance has made it a focal point for both sides, but it is the civilian population that continues to bear the brunt of the violence.
The Sudan Doctors Network and other local organizations have repeatedly called on the world to act. “We hold the international community, the UN Security Council, and the African Union fully responsible for their silence and failure to confront these crimes,” the Network said. Their appeal for immediate action—to stop the shelling, lift the siege, and increase pressure on RSF leaders—echoes the growing frustration and despair felt by many Sudanese. The sense of abandonment is palpable. As the Network put it, “the targeting of unarmed civilians and the deliberate starvation of a population cannot be allowed to continue while the world watches in silence.”
The humanitarian situation in El Fasher is dire. The siege has left families eating grass in a desperate attempt to survive as famine sweeps parts of the city and surrounding region. Fuel shortages have crippled hospitals and clinics, making it nearly impossible to treat the wounded or provide basic care for the sick. The lack of clean water and sanitation has led to outbreaks of disease, compounding the suffering of an already traumatized population.
International organizations, including the United Nations and the African Union, have issued repeated warnings about the deteriorating situation. The UN high commissioner for human rights has condemned the attacks on El Fasher and the nearby Abu Shouk camp, where hundreds were killed in April during a major RSF offensive. The International Criminal Court’s investigation into alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity underscores the gravity of the crisis. Yet, for many in El Fasher, these statements ring hollow without concrete action to stop the violence and deliver desperately needed aid.
As the war grinds on, the people of El Fasher remain trapped—caught between warring factions, beset by hunger and disease, and largely forgotten by the outside world. The shelling on August 27 is a stark reminder of the human cost of this conflict, and a call to the international community to break its silence and act before more lives are lost.
For now, the city waits—under siege, under fire, and under the shadow of a war that shows no sign of ending.
