Humanitarian crisis
Sudan’s army loses last major city in Darfur region
Updated 10/27/2025 – 11:03 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
The last bastion of the Sudanese government in the western Darfur region has fallen. In El Fasher, the 300,000 residents are threatened with torture and expulsion.
In Sudan, the paramilitary group RSF has taken over the last government-controlled city in the southwest of the country. The army confirmed on Monday that it had withdrawn from the city of El Fasher with around 300,000 civilians. The militia had already announced the capture of the army post and then the entire city on Sunday.
The army said it had repelled two serious attacks on Saturday morning. The sixth infantry division stationed in El Fascher said that numerous militia fighters were killed and injured. None of the information could initially be independently confirmed.
El Fasher was the last town under government control in the Darfur region, which has been almost completely taken over by the militia in the two-and-a-half-year conflict. According to UN estimates, up to 300,000 people still live in the city under conditions that aid workers describe as a humanitarian catastrophe.
It is feared that the paramilitia’s capture of the city could result in serious acts of violence, killings, torture and rape, as well as ethnic cleansing like in the previously captured parts of Darfur.
According to the aid organizations International Rescue Committee (IRC) and Doctors Without Borders (MSF), thousands of people have fled from El Fasher to the town of Tawila, about 80 kilometers away, in recent weeks. These would have joined the approximately 400,000 displaced people who already live there. The high number of people in need of help puts an enormous strain on the already limited resources and services. In view of the escalating fighting, the UN, IRC and MSF urgently call for the protection of the civilian population.
Since April 2023, there has been a bloody power struggle in Sudan between the de facto ruler Abdel-Fattah al-Burhan and his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the RSF. The militia emerged from Arab cavalry militias, which – at the time together with the Sudanese army – were accused of genocide against the ethnic African population in Darfur with up to 300,000 deaths.
While the army has since been able to recapture the capital Khartoum, the RSF has consolidated its control over the Darfur region on the border with Chad. Observers fear a permanent division in the country.
There are no reliable numbers of victims. According to an estimate cited by the US, up to 150,000 people may have died. The UN describes the situation in the country as the largest humanitarian crisis in the world. More than twelve million people are on the run. More than 26 million people, around half of the population, are at risk of hunger.
