Sudan's El-Fasher Faces Dire Humanitarian Crisis Amid Claims of War Crimes

Wed Oct 15 2025 23:27:05 GMT+0300 (Eastern European Summer Time)

El-Fasher, Sudan, is increasingly isolated and suffering from severe food shortages as the Rapid Support Forces openly target civilians, prompting warnings of possible war crimes. Satellite imagery reveals alarming patterns of violence and mass burials.

The humanitarian crisis in Sudan's El-Fasher city escalates as food supplies run out and military forces allegedly commit war crimes against civilians. Yale researchers identify a spike in burials and severe bomb damage impacting shelters, while residents call for international intervention. Desperation mounts among the trapped population of 300,000 individuals.

Satellite images show how Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) is flouting international law by intentionally targeting civilians in the besieged city of el-Fasher - actions that should be considered war crimes, a research team from Yale University says.

We're looking at the growth of an entire new burial area with over 60 new mounds that have been built in just a two-week period, Caitlin Howarth, from the university's Humanitarian Research Lab (HRL), told the BBC.

People are now completely trapped with no hope of escape as the RSF recently completed a 57km (35-mile) earthen wall around the city.

Desperate residents in the army's last stronghold in Darfur say food has run out.

There is nothing left to eat today - all food supplies have run out, the resistance committee for el-Fasher, made up of local citizens and activists, said in a statement on Tuesday.

Even the alternatives that people clung to for survival have disappeared, it said, referring to ambaz, a residue of peanuts after oil has been extracted, which is normally fed to animals.

Sudan plunged into a civil war in April 2023 after a vicious struggle for power broke out between the military and the RSF. Since then, RSF fighters and allied Arab militia in Darfur have been accused of targeting people from non-Arab ethnic groups.

El-Fasher came under siege 18 months ago, and a communications blackout makes it difficult to confirm information from the city as only those with satellite internet connections are contactable.

The resistance committee warned that time was running out for the estimated 300,000 people who still live in the city.

We write, we scream, we plead; but it seems our words fall into a void, it said. There are no aid planes, no humanitarian airlifts, no real international movement and no ground efforts to break the siege.

Community kitchens have had to stop providing meals to people seeking refuge in shelters, traders inside the city told the Sudan Tribune news website. They added that all food goods had completely disappeared even from shops, which used to get smuggled stock to sell at exorbitant prices.

Satellite images showed burn scars where specific buildings had been targeted with horrific results, according to Ms. Howarth.

These actions are prima facie war crimes and may rise to the level of crimes against humanity, she added, highlighting the urgent need for international intervention and humanitarian access.