Thousands of innocent civilians are believed to be trapped and facing severe danger in El-Fasher, Sudan, following its capture by paramilitary forces, according to Doctors Without Borders. Germany’s top diplomat has described the situation in the city as “apocalyptic.”
The Rapid Support Forces, engaged in conflict with the regular army since April 2023, took control of El-Fasher on Sunday, driving out the military from its final stronghold in Darfur after an 18-month siege characterized by hunger and airstrikes.
After the fall of the city, disturbing reports have surfaced of extrajudicial killings, sexual assaults, assaults on humanitarian workers, looting, and kidnappings, with communication lines largely cut off.
Survivors who managed to escape to the nearby town of Tawila have recounted to AFP accounts of widespread massacres, children being shot in front of their parents, and civilians being assaulted and robbed during their escape.
The United Nations has reported that over 65,000 individuals have fled El-Fasher since the takeover, but tens of thousands are still trapped. The city had a population of around 260,000 before the final assault by the Rapid Support Forces.
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) stated that a significant number of people remain in grave danger and are being prevented from reaching safety by the Rapid Support Forces and their allies. Only 5,000 individuals have managed to reach Tawila, approximately 70 kilometers away.
Eyewitnesses informed MSF that a group of 500 civilians, accompanied by soldiers from the military and the army-allied Joint Forces, attempted to flee on Sunday, but most were either killed or captured by the Rapid Support Forces and their associates.
Reports from survivors indicated that individuals were segregated based on gender, age, or perceived ethnicity, with many still being held for ransom.
The UN disclosed that the death toll from the assault by the Rapid Support Forces on the city could be in the hundreds, while military allies accused the paramilitary group of killing more than 2,000 civilians.
Yale University’s Humanitarian Research Lab suggested that mass killings were likely ongoing in and around El-Fasher. The lab, utilizing satellite imagery and publicly available data, pointed out that recent images showed no significant movement of civilians fleeing the city, raising concerns that much of the population may be deceased, captured, or in hiding.
The lab identified at least 31 clusters of objects resembling human bodies between Sunday and Friday, spanning various neighborhoods, university premises, and military installations.
During a conference in Bahrain, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul characterized the situation in Sudan as “undoubtedly apocalyptic, representing the world’s most significant humanitarian crisis.” British Foreign Minister Yvette Cooper, also speaking at the event, condemned the reported atrocities as “truly appalling,” highlighting mass executions, starvation, and the horrific use of rape as a weapon of war disproportionately affecting women and children amid what she termed as the most significant humanitarian crisis of the 21st century.