EL FASHER–The El Fasher crisis has taken a gruesome turn in the western Sudanese region of El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state, where the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) seized control on 26 October 2025. According to a senior Sudanese minister, more than 300 women were killed in just the first two days of the RSF‘s occupation.

Witnesses and human-rights groups report that the RSF fighters entered El Fasher and launched systematic attacks on homes, hospitals and shelters, targeting civilians, particularly women and children. In a statement, the minister insisted that the El Fasher crisis is not merely collateral but a “systematic act of ethnic cleansing.”

Targeting of Women, Children and Escape Routes

In the unfolding El Fasher crisis, survivors describe horrifying scenes: women raped, tortured or executed; men rounded up and shot; families hunted as they attempted flight. Human-rights monitors say the RSF separated people by gender, ethnicity or perceived affiliation and assaulted them.

The road from El Fasher to the nearby town of Tawila is being referred to by local residents as the “road of death”. Many who tried to flee were stopped by the RSF, kidnapped, killed or forced to pay ransom.

Humanitarian Fallout and Displacement

With the escalation of violence central to the El Fasher crisis, the humanitarian situation has rapidly deteriorated. The United Nations reports tens of thousands of people displaced from El Fasher and surrounding areas, with widespread reports of starvation, blocked aid and mass malnutrition.

Hospitals and medical shelters have themselves become attack sites. One maternity hospital in El Fasher reportedly suffered the killing of at least 460 patients, visitors and healthcare workers as part of RSF operations.

Legal and Political Implications

The El Fasher crisis is drawing international attention as a possible war-crime zone. The RSF has been accused of extrajudicial killings, torture, rape and ethnic cleansing of non-Arab populations in Darfur over years; this latest offensive may add to allegations of genocide.

The Sudanese interim government has requested help from the UN to investigate alleged RSF crimes. Meanwhile, humanitarian organizations are pleading with the international community to impose sanctions, freeze assets and push for immediate protection of civilians in the ongoing El Fasher crisis.

What This Means for Darfur and Beyond

The El Fasher crisis may signal a broader expansion of conflict and atrocities in Darfur and neighboring regions. Analysts warn that if the RSF actions in El Fasher are left unchecked, the pattern of violence could spread to other vulnerable towns in Darfur and beyond.

Given the scale and nature of the violence, the El Fasher crisis underscores the urgent need for safe corridors, humanitarian access, accountability mechanisms and immediate cessation of hostilities.