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<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\nThe city of El Fasher, in North Darfur, has become the epicentre of one of the world\u2019s worst humanitarian disasters after falling to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) from the national Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF). The takeover follows an 18-month siege and has led to mass killings, widespread starvation and mass displacement, according to the United Nations.<\/p>\n The conflict began in April 2023, when the SAF and the RSF \u2014 once allies \u2014 turned on each other in a struggle for control of Sudan\u2019s military and political future. The RSF, which evolved from the Janjaweed militias implicated in earlier Darfur atrocities, laid siege to El Fasher and gradually tightened control over the Darfur region\u2019s urban centres.<\/p>\n After the RSF took the city, the UN\u2019s relief coordinator Tom Fletcher warned of \u201ccredible reports of widespread executions\u201d and house-to-house violence. \u201cWomen and girls are being raped, people being mutilated and killed \u2013 with utter impunity,\u201d he told the Security Council. The latest satellite imagery and investigations show clusters of bodies in El Fasher and indicate a pattern of deliberate, ethnically-targeted violence.<\/p>\n The scale of suffering is staggering. The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) reported that El Fasher\u2019s population has dropped by 62 per cent this year as civilians flee violence and hunger. An estimated 24 million people face acute food insecurity across Sudan, with some areas already in famine. The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has described the situation in Darfur and Kordofan as a \u201cworst-in-class\u201d displacement crisis.<\/p>\n Martha Pobee, Assistant Secretary-General for Africa, called the capture of El Fasher a \u201csignificant shift in the security dynamics\u201d and warned of ethnic violence, mass atrocities and a broadening war zone across Sudan including Kordofan and Blue Nile.<\/p>\n The UN Security Council has expressed \u201cgrave concern\u201d about escalating violence in and around the city, but implementation of aid and protection remains weak. Fletcher urged \u201cimmediate and robust action\u201d to stop the flow of weapons into the conflict and ensure humanitarian access. \u201cBlood on the sand \u2026 blood on the hands,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The fall of El Fasher signals that the RSF now controls all major urban centres in Darfur, raising the possibility of a de facto partition and prolonged conflict in Sudan. The international community faces a crucial test of whether it will act to protect civilians and uphold human rights \u2014 or allow a full-scale humanitarian collapse.<\/div>\nHow did we get here?
<\/h2>\n<\/p>\nWhat\u2019s happened in El Fasher?
<\/h2>\n<\/p>\nHumanitarian toll and displacement
<\/h2>\n<\/p>\nRegional implications
<\/h2>\n<\/p>\nWhat\u2019s the international response?
<\/h2>\n<\/p>\nWhy it matters
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