The large city of Al-Fashir is practically cut off from the outside world, but satellite images are possible.Image: AP Airbus DS 2025
The RSF militia has taken over the large city of Al-Fashir in Sudan. Now there are fears of a massacre of civilians. An overview of the situation.
Oct 29, 2025, 4:27 p.mOct 29, 2025, 4:27 p.m
What just happened in Sudan?
The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) had besieged the army-controlled city of Al-Fashir in Darfur for over 500 days. On Monday their capture was confirmed by the RSF. This causes horror among the approximately 300,000 civilians in the city who had already been starving. It is said to have been a means of war: the RSF prevented relief supplies from reaching the people. According to that Mirror There weren’t even any bandages available. Diseases also spread.
Now there are fears of a massacre of the population. Refugees had reported arbitrary violence and brutal murders to the UN refugee agency. The South Sudanese medical network reports at least 1,500 unarmed civilians killed in just three days in the city. The WHO also writes of over 460 people killed in the maternity hospital in Al-Fashir.
.@WHO is appalled and deeply shocked by reports of the tragic killing of more than 460 patients and companions at Saudi Maternity Hospital in El Fasher, #Sudanfollowing recent attacks and the abduction of health workers.
Prior to this latest attack, WHO has verified 185… pic.twitter.com/CbAjtqYUAh
— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) October 29, 2025
Who are the RSF?
The Rapid Support Forces were launched in 2013. They have their origins in the Janjaweed militia, which is known for its brutal fight against Sudanese rebels in the Darfur region in the 2000s and originally consisted of nomadic tribes. As early as 2013, there was a decades-long conflict in South Sudan, which was preceded by a civil war and cost the lives of almost 2 million civilians. The tensions were triggered by drought and famine.
When a military coup ended President Omar Al-Bashir’s 30-year reign in 2019, the population demanded democracy. The path was actually paved and elections were to take place three years later.
However, the temporary government was overthrown again in 2021 and General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan came to power. His deputy is General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, head of the RSF.
Army chief General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan in 2022.Image: keystone
The plan was for the approximately 100,000-strong RSF to be integrated into the army. But according to BBC Apparently both generals did not want to lose their power and wealth, which is why there have been repeated bloody clashes since 2023. It is difficult to judge who started it. But the dispute between the two generals led to starvation, death and expulsion.
RSF chief General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo in 2019.Image: keystone
Which states support whom
Libya is said to be one of the RSF’s supporters and helps with arms smuggling. The United Arab Emirates is also said to be involved, as the most important supporter: RSF boss Dagalo, who controls some Sudanese gold mines, is said to be smuggling the gold into the neighboring country. At the same time, the Gulf state is accused of supporting the RSF with drone attacks in Sudan and weapons. This accusation is officially denied.
According to media reports, the Sudanese army, in turn, is receiving support from Egypt, Iran, Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. It is believed that the Gulf states have self-interest: power, gold, land, trade.
The divided country
There are fears that Sudan could be divided again. The RSF want to set up their own government. South Sudan had already seceded in 2011 and took many oil fields with it. Now there is a threat of another split. There were peace talks from time to time, but they led nowhere.
Now the RSF controls virtually all of western Sudan, while the army has the upper hand in the east. Experts fear that the fighting will simply continue because the paramilitia will not be satisfied. At least as long as she gets supplies.
Genocide, hunger and war crimes
According to the BBC, the RSF is accused of carrying out genocide and ethnic cleansing against non-Arab people in the Darfur region. Many people in the Darfur region also fear this. There are Unicef reports from 2024 that even one-year-old children are said to have been raped. Suicide attempts by children are also known. There are also reports of mass rape of underage girls. A UN investigation has shown that both sides committed war crimes.
A girl cooks in the Al-Fashir refugee camp in July 2025.Image: www.imago-images.de
The USA confirmed the suspicion of genocide in January 2025. The RSF systematically murdered men and boys on an ethnic basis and inflicted brutal sexual violence on women and girls from some ethnic groups, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at the time.
Now that Al-Fashir has been taken, the RSF controls virtually the entire Darfur region. The city’s civilians cannot escape. “There is probably no worse place in the world than Al-Fashir at the moment,” says Sudan expert Roman Deckert to SRF. Unicef described Al-Fashir as the “epicenter of child suffering”. According to a UN report, around 12 million people are on the run and over 24 million are suffering from hunger.
International reactions
The USA has imposed sanctions against Dagalo, but also against Burhan. However, the situation continued to deteriorate for the population, especially after US President Donald Trump froze funds for humanitarian work. As a result, around 80 percent of emergency food banks had to close.
Britain expressed dismay in a statement following the capture of El-Fascher on Monday. “Hundreds of thousands of civilians are stuck in the city – many of them affected by forced displacement and arbitrary violence. The humanitarian consequences are catastrophic.” Women are brutally raped as a means of war, “their suffering cannot be ignored.” All parties involved must cooperate immediately with the UN, after all both sides have publicly declared that they will protect civilians and allow humanitarian aid.
However, the UN Security Council also has reports about British arms deliveries to the United Arab Emirates, which were passed on to the RSF. The government defended itself by saying that there is always a risk that exports could end up with “undesirable” end users.
And Switzerland? In August, she put four million francs into the UN aid fund to provide aid to those affected in Sudan. In addition, it imposed a ban on the export of weapons to Sudan in 2005. Various people are also on Switzerland’s sanctions list.
Regarding the latest developments, the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (EDA) is “deeply concerned about the violence in and around Al-Fashir”. It calls on all parties to comply with international humanitarian law.
#Sudan | The #Switzerland is deeply concerned about the violence in and around El-Fasher. The lives of many civilians and the safety of humanitarian workers are threatened.
It calls on all parties to the conflict to comply with international humanitarian law and the Jeddah Declaration in order to…
— EDA – DFAE (@EDA_DFAE) October 28, 2025
At the same time, the West is accused of simply standing by instead of adopting solid sanctions and putting an end to the suffering. Many countries have cut their aid funds, Sheldon Yett from Unicef told Watson in June. In addition, there is hardly any international reporting on the crisis. “The suffering of the Sudanese should not matter to anyone. Just given the extent of it.” (front)