In a dramatic escalation of Sudan’s ongoing civil war, the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) seized control of El Fasher, the last government stronghold in western Darfur, on Sunday, October 26, 2025. The RSF’s capture of the city, which has been under siege for more than a year, marks a turning point in a conflict that has already claimed more than 150,000 lives and displaced 14 million people, according to CNN and DW. The humanitarian crisis in El Fasher is now among the world’s most severe, with approximately 260,000 civilians—half of them children—trapped amid escalating violence and famine.
For months, El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur and located about 200 kilometers from the Chadian border, has been cut off from the outside world. As reported by DW, food supplies have not reached the city for a long time, leaving many residents to survive on animal feed. Arjan Hehenkamp of the International Rescue Committee described the city as “a hellscape, a city torn apart by conflict, destruction, and despair.”
UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Monday called the suffering in El Fasher “unbearable.” His statement followed the RSF’s announcement that it had gained complete control of the city. The Sudanese Journalists’ Union reported that all communications, including satellite networks, have been blocked since the RSF takeover, further isolating the city’s desperate population.
The RSF, led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as “Hemeti,” and numbering around 100,000 fighters, has a notorious history rooted in the Janjaweed militia, which was responsible for the Darfur genocide in the early 2000s. The group’s latest actions in El Fasher have drawn comparisons to those earlier atrocities. According to the United Nations Human Rights Office, there have been “multiple, alarming reports” of RSF fighters committing summary executions of civilians. Videos have surfaced showing dozens of unarmed men being shot or lying dead, surrounded by RSF fighters. The UN also cited “indications of ethnic motivations for killings,” with non-Arab groups particularly at risk.
Jalale Getachew Birru, a senior analyst at the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED), told CNN that from April 2023 to mid-October 2025, there were 390 documented incidents of violence against civilians in El Fasher and its surroundings, resulting in over 1,300 fatalities. Additionally, 180 attacks on internally displaced persons (IDPs) caused at least 830 deaths. Birru warned, “There is a high risk of ethnically targeted attacks, particularly against non-Arab groups.”
The RSF’s siege tactics have been brutal. According to eyewitnesses cited by DW, the militia surrounded El Fasher with trenches, preventing escape and systematically starving the city. Marina Peter, chairwoman of the German Sudan and South Sudan Forum, told DW, “For weeks, trapped civilians have been trying to leave the city. Since it became apparent that the RSF could take over the city completely, attempts to flee have increased once again.” However, she added, “Until recently, some people were able to flee while others were shot while trying to escape. Many more have been arrested. We now fear mass shootings, rapes and a further worsening of the famine. According to our contacts in the city, on average three children are dying every hour.”
Tom Fletcher, the United Nations humanitarian chief, reported that hundreds of thousands of civilians remain trapped in El Fasher, lacking food and health care. Escape routes have been blocked by “intense shelling and ground assaults” that “have engulfed the city.” Despite RSF claims that it is committed to protecting civilians and providing safe corridors for those seeking to leave, the UN and human rights groups have documented widespread atrocities.
This latest violence is rooted in Sudan’s recent political history. After the ouster of longtime dictator Omar al-Bashir in 2019, army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and RSF leader Dagalo—once allies—became bitter rivals. They staged a joint coup in October 2021, but disagreements over the structure of a unified army soon erupted into open warfare in April 2023. Both men have faced Western sanctions for alleged war crimes, but the United States has specifically accused the RSF and its allied Arab militias of committing genocide in the current civil war. In January, the US government declared that the RSF had carried out “direct attacks against civilians,” including the systematic murder of “men and boys—even infants—on an ethnic basis,” and had “deliberately targeted women and girls from certain ethnic groups for rape and other forms of brutal sexual violence.”
While the RSF’s actions have drawn the most condemnation, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) are not blameless. According to Human Rights Watch, the SAF has also committed “cruel attacks on the civilian population.” The HRW report notes, “The list of their atrocities is growing almost daily.”
The RSF’s capture of El Fasher strengthens its grip on Darfur and positions the group for negotiations as international calls for a ceasefire intensify. Justin Lynch, managing director of Conflict Insights Group, told CNN, “The RSF’s capture of El Fasher marks the beginning of what we fear to be a massacre of civilians.” Birru added that the outcome of battles in El Fasher and neighboring Kordofan will likely determine the future trajectory of Sudan’s conflict and its political future.
Indeed, fighting is now expected to shift to the central and oil-rich Kordofan region, which borders Darfur. The RSF announced on Saturday, October 25, that it had taken Bara, a crucial transport hub in North Kordofan, further consolidating its power. Birru explained, “In Kordofan, the SAF and its allies are seeking to secure key routes connecting central Sudan to the Darfur region, while the RSF is working to consolidate control across both regions to rein in its alternative government in western Sudan.”
The Sudanese military government has accused the United Arab Emirates of supplying weapons to the RSF, though the UAE denies this charge. Such allegations highlight the conflict’s regional implications and the complex web of alliances and rivalries fueling Sudan’s descent into chaos.
International human rights advocates are now sounding the alarm. Yonah Diamond, a human rights lawyer, told CNN that the world must act to prevent another genocide in Darfur: “The time for emergency action is right now—to end the bloodshed, open humanitarian corridors, and protect the people of El Fasher and what’s left of any global conscience.”
For the people of El Fasher and the wider Darfur region, the coming days and weeks are critical. As the RSF tightens its hold and the SAF regroups for further battles, the fate of hundreds of thousands hangs in the balance, with the specter of another mass atrocity looming over a region already scarred by decades of violence.
