Darfur’s El-Fasher Under Siege: Famine, foreign fighters, and failing state

At least 91 civilians were killed in September in the besieged Darfur city of El-Fasher, where hunger and violence have converged into what medical groups warn is a “full-blown humanitarian disaster.”

According to the Sudan Doctors Network, 23 people — including children and pregnant women — died of severe malnutrition last month alone. UNICEF reports over 10,000 children have been treated for acute malnutrition this year, with 6,000 losing access to care after RSF forces cut off supply routes. The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have surrounded El-Fasher, the military’s last stronghold in Darfur, choking off food, water, and medicine. The siege, said the medical group, constitutes a “systematic crime” and a possible “silent genocide.” The United Nations has echoed concern, noting the closure of community kitchens and warning that famine is spreading across Sudan. However, officials in Port Sudan continue to deny any famine, calling the reports politically motivated attempts to invite foreign intervention.

Meanwhile, the Sudanese army claims it killed several foreign fighters — allegedly Colombians and Ukrainians — fighting alongside RSF units in El-Fasher. The military says the mercenaries were drone engineers and snipers operating from high-rise buildings in Al-Karama Square. The claims remain unverified, and neither the RSF nor the foreign governments allegedly involved have responded publicly. As international aid stalls and political leadership remains in denial, over 24 million Sudanese face acute food insecurity. Rights groups warn that unless urgent action is taken, El-Fasher could become the epicenter of an even deadlier chapter in Sudan’s spiraling civil war.