In Sudan tonight, a major turning point in the country’s brutal civil war. The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, have taken control of El-Fasher, the army’s last major stronghold in the Darfur region — ending an 18-month siege marked by relentless violence and civilian suffering.
Sudan’s military leader, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, confirmed the withdrawal in a televised address, saying he had ordered the pullout to protect remaining civilians from “systematic destruction and killing.”
Burhan said the army agreed with local leaders to evacuate to safer areas, hoping to prevent the city’s complete devastation.
Burhan speaking on state television : “We can turn the tables every time, and we can return every land desecrated by these traitors to the nation’s fold.”
The United Nations has raised alarms over reports of mass atrocities in the days following the RSF takeover.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was “gravely concerned” by credible accounts of civilian killings and violations of international humanitarian law.
António Guterres speaking at UN press conference: “The people of El-Fasher have endured unimaginable suffering. Reports of atrocities and human rights abuses must be investigated, and those responsible held accountable.”
The UN Human Rights Office warned that ethnically motivated attacks and mass killings were escalating across North Darfur, urging nations with influence to intervene and prevent further atrocities. In a statement, the office said, “Accountability is key to stopping these crimes.”
El-Fasher’s fall marks the end of the army’s presence in Darfur, a region already scarred by two decades of conflict and displacement. Since April 2023, Sudan’s war between the RSF and the national army has killed tens of thousands and forced nearly 12 million people from their homes — one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
The siege of El-Fasher left civilians trapped with little food, medicine, or clean water. The UN says malnutrition, disease, and violence have claimed countless lives since last year.
The RSF’s capture of El-Fasher now gives the group control over all five state capitals in Darfur — effectively cementing its dominance in western Sudan and strengthening its rival administration in Nyala, the capital of South Darfur.
With the army pushed from its final stronghold, the balance of power in Sudan’s war has shifted decisively.
As international calls for accountability grow louder, the question now is whether the fall of El-Fasher will bring an end to the bloodshed — or mark the beginning of an even darker chapter in Sudan’s conflict.
Reporting by Ehud Jones.
