Local eyewitnesses confirm Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have entered major IDP camp in El Fasher, North Darfur
**Avaaz can help media arrange interviews with civilians in El Fasher**
FRI 13 SEP -- Reports from sources on the ground indicate that the final battle for El Fasher has seemingly begun. Civilians in El Fasher told Avaaz that the RSF yesterday entered Al Salam IDP camp which borders Abu Shouk IDP camp in the northeast of the city. RSF troops were supported with a contingent on the eastern flank, however the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Joint Forces successfully repelled yesterday’s attack. Eyewitnesses told Avaaz that the RSF used weaponized drones in the attacks and civilians were injured in the cross-fire.
As Nonviolent Peaceforce warned only weeks ago, Darfur's biggest city, El Fasher and its surrounding areas, are home to over 2.8 million people who are directly at risk of atrocities by the RSF. Over the past 18 months over 1 million people from other areas of Sudan sought refuge in and around El Fasher, escaping the RSF’s acts of genocide, rapes of women, girls, boys, and men, looting, and ethnic massacres. The RSF has besieged the city since May 2024 and today there are no safe evacuation routes for civilians after the RSF and allied militias razed at least 8 surrounding villages, causing further mass displacement into the city and a humanitarian catastrophe with civilians on the verge of famine.
Fighting in El Fasher decreased with the onset of the rainy season in July. But civilians in El Fasher told Avaaz that the seasonal rains have now stopped. In the coming days, observers should look out for further attacks from the RSF on the city with support on the eastern and southern flanks, recalling that the RSF has the advantage in terms of force resupply routes via Mellit in North Darfur and others.
Mohamed*, a human rights defender and member of the Abu Shouk Emergency Response Room, said: “El Fasher has been shelled since morning and the shelling is still ongoing, especially in the southern side of the town and in the western side. There have been bombings in the western side of the town and in the east side very close to Al Salam camp. We have seen many RSF troops riding their cars, we have seen them around Abu Shouk camp[…] In general the city today is not safe. Until now, the bombing is still going on and we hear the sounds of airstrikes...the condition is very serious."
Commenting on the humanitarian situation, Ahmed*, a human rights monitor from El Fasher reported that “No one is bringing any goods to El Fasher city and that is why it has become a city under siege - an isolated city. There is also the cash crisis in El Fasher, it’s worse than Tawila and Mellit and even Zamzam because everyday there are clashes, gunshots, crossfire...every day people are dying.”
Nic Pyatt from Nonviolent Peaceforce, said: “The only way to prevent this crisis is for leaders and decision makers around the world to take immediate and decisive action — to name these violations, to cease weapons exports to conflict parties, and to use every available entry point to pressure the conflict parties and their allies to stop this violence.”
*Names have been changed due to safety concerns.
The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) is building an earthen wall around El Fasher to create a “kill box” and prevent civilians fleeing the besieged city, satellite imagery suggests.
People caught trying to smuggle food into the besieged city of El Fasher are being “executed on sight” by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), according to one civilian.
Avaaz Foundation
110 Golden Lane | London, England, EC1Y 0TG
1330 6th Avenue, Suite 23A | New York, NY 10019, USA
.svg)
