Thousands at risk as RSF seizes El-Fasher

Thousands of civilians are feared trapped and in imminent danger in the Sudanese city of El-Fasher after its fall to paramilitaries, Doctors Without Borders said Saturday, as Germany’s top diplomat described the situation there as “apocalyptic”. At war with the regular army since April 2023, the Rapid Support Forces seized El-Fasher on Sunday, pushing the military out of its last stronghold in Darfur after a grinding 18-month siege marked by starvation and bombardment. Since the city’s fall,reports have emerged of summary executions, sexual violence, attacks on aid workers, looting and abductions, while communications remain largely cut off. Survivors from El-Fasher who reached the nearby town of Tawila have told AFP of mass killings, children shot before their parents, and civilians beaten and robbed as they fled. The UN says more than 65,000 people have fled El-Fasher since Sunday but tens of thousands remain trapped. Around 260,000 people were in the city before the RSF’s final assault.