By Matik Kueth
The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) said Monday that they have seized full control of El-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, ending months of fierce battles and a year-long siege that left the city on the brink of collapse.
The paramilitary group announced on social media that its fighters had “liberated” El-Fasher from “mercenaries and militias allied to the terrorist army,” declaring victory after overrunning the Sudanese army’s 6th Division Headquarters.
It claimed to have captured heavy weapons, destroyed several armored vehicles, and secured major parts of the city.
BBC Verify confirmed the authenticity of videos showing RSF fighters celebrating inside the captured military base.
The Sudanese army, however, has remained silent, neither confirming nor denying the loss of its final stronghold in Darfur.
For over a year, El-Fasher has been at the heart of a humanitarian catastrophe, cut off from aid and encircled by RSF forces who built an earth wall around the city.
More than 250,000 civilians have been trapped inside, facing hunger, disease, and relentless bombardments.
UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher described the situation as “catastrophic,” warning that “airstrikes, looting, and continuous shelling have made aid delivery impossible”, adding that famine and cholera are spreading rapidly as supplies vanish.
Witnesses reported chaotic scenes during the RSF’s final assault over the weekend.
Explosions rocked neighborhoods near the governor’s residence and the city’s main hospital, while warehouses belonging to aid agencies were looted amid the fighting.
The Sudan Founding Alliance (Tasis), a political bloc aligned with the RSF, hailed the operation as “the complete liberation of El-Fasher,” praising RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (Hemedti) for his “heroic leadership.”
The conflict, which erupted in April 2023 after a power struggle between army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and RSF leader Hemedti, has already claimed more than 150,000 lives and displaced over 12 million people, one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises in decades.