Politics Sudan's army loses last major city in Darfur region
In Sudan, the paramilitary group RSF has captured the last major city controlled by the government in the south-west of the country.
27.10.2025, 23:07
SDA
The army confirmed on Monday that it had withdrawn from the city of El Fascher with around 300,000 civilians. The militia had already announced the capture of the army post and then the entire city on Sunday.
On Saturday morning, the army said it had repelled two heavy attacks. Numerous militia fighters were killed and injured, according to the sixth infantry division stationed in El Fascher. None of the information could initially be independently confirmed.
El Fascher was the last town under government control in the Darfur region to be almost completely captured by the militia in the conflict that has been going on for two and a half years. According to UN estimates, up to 300,000 people are still living in the city under conditions that aid workers have described as a humanitarian catastrophe.
Killings, torture and rape feared
It is feared that the capture of the city by the paramilitaries could lead to serious acts of violence, killings, torture and rape as well as ethnic cleansing, as in the previously captured parts of Darfur.
According to the aid organizations International Rescue Committee (IRC) and Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), thousands of people have fled from El Fascher to the village of Tawila, around 80 kilometers away, in recent weeks. They have joined the 400,000 or so displaced people already living there. The high number of people in need of help is putting an enormous strain on the already limited resources and services. In view of the escalating fighting, the UN, IRC and MSF are urgently calling for the protection of the civilian population.
A bloody power struggle has been raging in Sudan since April 2023 between de facto ruler Abdel-Fattah al-Burhan and his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the RSF. The militia emerged from Arab cavalry militias, which - together with the Sudanese army at the time - are accused of committing genocide against the ethnic-African population in Darfur with up to 300,000 dead.
While the army has since been able to recapture the capital Khartoum, the RSF have consolidated their control over the Darfur region on the border with Chad. Observers fear a permanent division of the country.
There are no reliable casualty figures. According to an estimate quoted by the USA, up to 150,000 people could have lost their lives. The UN describes the situation in the country as the biggest humanitarian crisis in the world. More than twelve million people are on the run. More than 26 million people, around half the population, are threatened by hunger.
