RSF Overruns El‑Fasher; Mass Killings Reported

Sudan’s civil war, fought since April 15, 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces under Gen. Abdel Fattah al‑Burhan and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), has produced a fast-moving humanitarian catastrophe and the world’s largest displacement crisis. In late October the RSF overran el‑Fasher, North Darfur’s provincial capital, after the army withdrew, leaving hundreds of thousands vulnerable and many civilians trapped or hiding. Survivors, local monitors and the World Health Organization report mass killings in the days after the fall, with multiple verifications citing at least 1,500 dead, including roughly 460 patients, relatives and medical staff killed at a hospital. More than 36,000 people have fled largely on foot to towns such as Tawila, arriving exhausted, dehydrated, looted and injured, while aid groups warn far fewer have escaped than hoped. Eyewitnesses describe roads littered with corpses, abuses by fighters, repeated bombing, starvation and looting, and humanitarian organisations warn of worsening needs for protection, medical aid and shelter.