26 October-1 November Sudan News Summary: the fall of El Fasher

3 Nov

Arabic news roundup

By William Greenwood

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said on Saturday that the RSF are preventing people fleeing El Fasher from reaching safe areas, and that some have been killed and tortured during their displacement.
Sixty-two thousand people have been displaced from El Fasher since the RSF seized control of the city on October 26, out of 260,000 who were living there; their fate remains unknown due to the attacking forces cutting off communication networks and mounting evidence of mass killings.
In a statement, Doctors Without Borders reiterated its concerns that large numbers of people in El Fasher remain in grave danger and that the RSF and its allies are preventing them from reaching safer areas, such as Tawila.
The organization indicated that its teams in Tawila, located 60 kilometers from El Fasher, are dealing with a mass influx of displaced people and wounded individuals following the RSF's takeover of El Fasher, with the town witnessing waves of displaced people in recent months.
It reported that the town received more than 5,000 displaced people in the past five days, these individuals describing massacres, people trapped and subjected to torture, kidnapping for ransom, sexual violence, and summary executions in El Fasher, surrounding areas, and along the roads they are using to flee.
It added that all arriving children under the age of five are suffering from acute malnutrition, with 57% suffering from severe acute malnutrition.

A tense calm prevails in El Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan state, amidst limited displacement towards the White Nile, following threats by the RSF to overrun the city.
Sources in the city confirmed that government institutions are operating normally.
The RSF had seized the towns of Bara and Umm Dam Haj Ahmed in North Kordofan earlier this week, while the army repelled their attacks on Al-Rahad and Jabal Al-Hashaba from the south and southeast of El Obeid.
Residents said that a wave of displacement has already begun from El Obeid to the central states, as well as to rural areas surrounding the city, in anticipation of an attack on the threatened city, after the RSF entered Bara, located near El Obeid from the northeast.

By Samuel Hunt

Satellite images analysed by Yale’s Humanitarian Research Lab show clusters of bodies and blood-stained ground in El Fasher after its fall to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), pointing to large-scale, door-to-door executions.
The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) reports that the RSF’s takeover involved mass killings, summary executions, rapes of displaced women, and attacks on humanitarian personnel.
Survivors describe streets littered with bodies, civilians fleeing under fire, and neighbourhoods emptied as families attempt to escape targeted violence, highlighting the terror imposed on the population.
Tens of thousands of civilians remain trapped under siege, with aid delivery cut off, widespread destruction of homes, and urgent risk of famine and displacement, especially among children and women.
The OHCHR states the alleged atrocities in El Fasher may amount to numerous crimes under international law and calls for independent, prompt investigations and accountability.

The Saudi Maternity Hospital in El Fasher was attacked on 28 October, resulting in the deaths of over 460 patients and companions, and the abduction of six health workers, effectively shutting down one of the city’s main healthcare facilities.
Many other hospitals and clinics in El Fasher have ceased operations after repeated attacks, leaving pregnant women, children, and the sick with no access to emergency care.
Tens of thousands of residents are fleeing El Fasher, moving toward nearby towns and makeshift displacement sites, often on foot, with little access to food, water, or medical care.
Reports from satellite imagery and on-the-ground witnesses show widespread destruction of homes and displacement sites, making it extremely difficult for aid agencies to reach the displaced with medical supplies, food, and clean water.
The UN and WHO stress that children and pregnant women are at the highest risk, facing both malnutrition and disease, as the breakdown of healthcare infrastructure coincides with escalating violence and limited humanitarian access.

Bill Greenwood