Sudanese paramilitary forces have encircled the city of El Fasher in North Darfur and established what survivors and analysts describe as “kill zones,” an independent U.N. fact-finding mission reported, intensifying a siege that has trapped hundreds of thousands of civilians and exacerbated one of the world’s worst displacement crises.
The Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan told the U.N. Human Rights Council that during the 500-day siege the Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, committed a range of crimes against humanity, including murder, torture, enslavement, rape and other sexual violence, forced displacement and persecution on ethnic, gender and political grounds. The mission said the RSF and allied forces used starvation as a method of warfare and deliberately blocked life-saving aid from reaching the city.
The United Nations and humanitarian partners said supplies were pre-positioned near El Fasher but that efforts to move them into the city were being hampered, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres’ spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said on Aug. 29. Aid workers and analysts say El Fasher is the last major city in western Darfur held by forces loyal to the Sudanese Armed Forces, or SAF, and that its fall would give the RSF near-total control of Darfur.
The siege has compounded a national catastrophe. Between 13 million and 15 million Sudanese have been displaced from their homes since fighting erupted in April 2023, and U.N. and independent estimates put the death toll from the conflict in the tens of thousands. The fact-finding mission cited an estimated 150,000 killed since the conflict began; U.N. experts have said thousands have died in concentrated incidents, including an estimated 10,000 to 15,000 in a single western Darfur city.
Humanitarian conditions around El Fasher have deteriorated sharply. Aid distribution points have been shelled, supply routes cut, and satellite imagery reviewed by analysts shows what appears to be fortifications and barriers intended to prevent civilian movement out of besieged areas, Mariam Wahba, research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Fox News Digital. She said reports of a wall-like obstruction around parts of El Fasher were consistent with RSF tactics used elsewhere in the country.
Clashes have continued in and around population centers. On Aug. 11, the RSF attacked a refugee camp in North Darfur, killing at least 40 civilians and injuring 19 others, according to local rescuers. The fighting has also allowed disease and environmental disasters to compound the humanitarian toll. Cholera outbreaks have swept through displacement camps, and international and local health officials warn of rising malnutrition and preventable deaths.
The crisis carries strategic implications beyond immediate humanitarian concerns. Analysts and the fact-finding mission have highlighted the RSF’s interest in Darfur’s economic resources, particularly gold, and cited the group’s efforts to consolidate territorial control. Wahba and others have also pointed to the involvement of regional and international actors, saying Iran has provided drones and technical support to the SAF, Russia has sought strategic access to the Red Sea while profiting from illicit trade networks, and Gulf states have aligned with opposing parties in the conflict.
These foreign ties have complicated diplomatic efforts. Egypt and Saudi Arabia have publicly backed the SAF and its leader, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, while the United Arab Emirates has been linked to support for RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti. U.S. officials have signaled concern about the worsening situation; a State Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital that since the outbreak of fighting in April 2023 there has been significant backsliding in Sudan’s respect for fundamental freedoms, including religious freedom, and that U.S. policy seeks to limit negative Islamist influence and curtail Iranian activity that fuels regional instability.
Diplomatic engagement has been intermittent. Last month, Massad Boulos, a U.S. adviser on Africa to former President Donald Trump, met with al-Burhan in Switzerland. U.S. officials say engagement with Sudan’s military leadership could provide openings for conditional diplomacy, but they stress that support would depend on concrete actions to curb abuses by allied militias.
The siege of El Fasher has added urgency to calls from humanitarian agencies and rights investigators for unfettered access and accountability. The fact-finding mission urged international bodies to press for immediate, sustained humanitarian corridors, protection of civilians and an end to tactics that deliberately starve populations. The mission said it had documented widespread, systematic abuses consistent with crimes against humanity and recommended referral to international mechanisms for further investigation and possible prosecutions.
The humanitarian emergency has been exacerbated by natural disasters. Local reports say a landslide in central Darfur recently killed more than 1,000 people and leveled a village, complicating relief efforts already strained by insecurity and logistics. Aid groups say an escalation in hostilities would further hinder efforts to reach displaced families and prevent the spread of disease.
International responses have so far failed to halt the fighting or restore access to besieged areas, and U.N. and humanitarian officials say that without immediate and sustained access, civilians in El Fasher and other besieged towns face growing risks of starvation, disease and mass displacement. The fact-finding mission’s report to the Human Rights Council has placed renewed pressure on the international community to act, even as regional rivalries and on-the-ground realities limit the options for a swift resolution to the conflict.
As the fighting enters a third year, humanitarians warn that time is running out for those trapped in besieged cities. They call for an urgent international response to ensure aid reaches civilians, for steps to protect those at risk of targeted abuses, and for mechanisms to hold perpetrators accountable for alleged crimes under international law.