After a year of fierce fighting involving more than 260 battles, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) announced on Sunday morning, October 26, 2025, that they had taken full control of El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur State. The development marks one of the most significant turning points in Sudan’s ongoing war and has raised growing concerns about the fate of tens of thousands of civilians trapped inside the besieged city, despite repeated local and international appeals and UN Security Council resolutions demanding the lifting of the siege.
El Fasher had long stood as the Sudanese army’s last stronghold in the Darfur region. Its fall marks the RSF’s complete control over all five Darfur states, signaling a possible de facto division of Sudan—an east held by the army and a west dominated by the RSF.
Due to ongoing clashes and communication blackouts, verifying details of the situation on the ground remains difficult. Footage released by RSF media channels showed fighters celebrating beside a sign reading “Headquarters of the Sixth Infantry Division,” while other videos depicted army convoys withdrawing from the site. Additional footage also showed RSF fighters celebrating in Nyala, the South Darfur capital that has been under RSF control for months.
The Sixth Infantry Division in El Fasher holds exceptional strategic importance—it was the army’s last remaining base in Darfur since the RSF seized control of four other states following the outbreak of war in April 2023. For nearly 600 days, the army and allied joint forces maintained their positions within the base and surrounding neighborhoods despite repeated RSF assaults. Thousands of civilians had also sought refuge there, according to emergency committees and aid workers, fleeing shelling by forces loyal to General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (Hemetti).
In recent days, RSF units intensified their assault, reportedly storming the division headquarters at dawn on Sunday and declaring full control. However, government sources said army forces had pulled back toward Al-Darajah neighborhood in what they described as a “tactical repositioning,” not a complete withdrawal.
Meanwhile, El Fasher’s resistance committees denied the RSF’s claims, insisting that fighting continues inside the city and that the division headquarters has not served as an active operations center for some time. They dismissed the RSF statement as a “propaganda campaign aimed at spreading fear among residents and undermining the morale of defenders.”
Multiple corroborating sources told Al-Yurae that RSF fighters now occupy the Sixth Division compound, though clashes persist in other parts of the city between the army and joint forces.
By Sunday evening, neither the Sudanese government nor the army command had issued an official response, while RSF spokespersons declared “complete control of El Fasher,” calling it a “decisive victory” given the city’s symbolic and strategic importance in western Sudan.
Civilians at the Brink
El Fasher faces catastrophic humanitarian conditions. Aid workers say thousands of civilians are trapped inside the city amid the absence of safe corridors and shortages of food and fuel. Residents are reportedly trekking long distances on foot in desperate attempts to flee through areas controlled by the RSF, exposing themselves to grave danger. Reports suggest many have survived for months without food, and any movement without full protection could lead to large-scale tragedy.
According to Sudan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, about 260,000 civilians remain under “total siege” imposed by the RSF, with humanitarian aid deliveries blocked for months.
Warnings of Atrocities
Human rights activists have long warned that RSF control of El Fasher could unleash retaliatory and ethnically targeted violence, similar to earlier incidents in Zamzam displacement camp south of the city.
Despite RSF statements claiming to facilitate the evacuation of civilians and surrendered soldiers, those who managed to flee report looting, sexual assaults, and killings by RSF fighters along the routes out of El Fasher.
In a video released by an official in the RSF-backed “Tasis Government,” soldiers appeared escorting a convoy of mostly men leaving the city, claiming they were offering protection. The footage’s date and location could not be verified.
Last month, a United Nations mission documented multiple acts by the RSF amounting to “crimes against humanity” during the siege of El Fasher, while the Sudanese army faces accusations of committing war crimes.
UN Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Tom Fletcher urged the creation of an immediate humanitarian corridor, stating:
“With fighters advancing inside the city and escape routes cut off, hundreds of thousands of civilians remain trapped—bombarded, starving, and deprived of food, healthcare, and safety.”
Satellite imagery analyzed by Yale University’s Humanitarian Research Lab revealed that the RSF built extensive earth barriers encircling about 68 kilometers around El Fasher, leaving only a narrow passage roughly three to four kilometers long. Witnesses and reports indicate civilians attempting to pass through are subjected to extortion and harassment. UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Sudan, Denise Brown, and other eyewitnesses confirmed that civilians fleeing the city were killed, abducted, or sexually assaulted.
A Severe Military and Moral Blow
The fall of the Sixth Infantry Division signals the end of the army’s organized military presence in Darfur and deals a serious symbolic blow—erasing its final foothold in the region. North Darfur’s strategic position, linking western Sudan to Chad, Libya, and Egypt, gives whoever controls it substantial regional leverage and potential access to cross-border supply routes, triggering fears of renewed external support for the RSF.
Observers warn that RSF dominance over El Fasher could accelerate the formation of the group’s proposed “Tasis Government” in its territories—effectively cementing Sudan’s partition. Analysts also believe that full control over Darfur grants Hemetti powerful leverage in any future peace negotiations.
Diplomatic Efforts Falter
On the diplomatic front, Washington recently hosted a meeting of the “Sudan Quad”—comprising Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and the United States—to push for peace and a humanitarian truce. Yet talks have yielded no progress despite strong UN appeals for ceasefires, particularly in El Fasher, where famine is spreading and disease outbreaks are worsening.
Since the war’s outbreak in April 2023, El Fasher has become a refuge for tens of thousands of displaced people fleeing violence across Darfur. Today, those same camps are under siege and bombardment. Multiple rounds of shelling have killed hundreds of civilians and obliterated neighborhoods.
The United Nations estimates that children make up roughly half of the 260,000 civilians trapped in the city, which has been almost completely cut off from outside aid.
