• Public figures call on international community to act immediately to protect civilians

ISTANBUL

Global outrage and online solidarity are building around El-Fasher city, the capital of North Darfur state in western Sudan, amid reports of atrocities by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

Slogans such as “El-Fasher drenched in blood” and “Save El-Fasher” have dominated media coverage and social media platforms across the Arab world, as public figures and rights groups joined mounting calls demanding an end to the RSF-led siege on the city.

Chairman of Sudan’s Transitional Sovereignty Council Abdel Fattah al-Burhan confirmed Monday that army forces had withdrawn from the city to prevent further “systematic destruction and killing” of civilians by the RSF.

The city, which serves as a hub for humanitarian operations for all five Darfur states, has already been under siege by the rebel group since May 2024.
The Sudanese Foreign Ministry strongly denounced “the horrific terrorist crimes committed by the RSF militia” in El-Fasher.

“The militia has carried out, and continues to carry out, acts of ethnically motivated killing and systematic terror against unarmed civilians, including women, children, and the elderly, in shocking scenes proudly and shamelessly documented by the perpetrators themselves, revealing their criminal nature that thrives on bloodshed and terrorism,” the ministry said in a statement.

It blamed the international community’s silence, and inaction toward the RSF atrocities for the escalating crisis, despite repeated appeals by the Sudanese government.

“The politicization of the Sudanese crisis and the bias of certain states in pursuit of their narrow political and economic interests – rather than adopting a moral and humanitarian stance – has directly contributed to the massacre in El-Fasher,” the ministry added.

Ethnic killings

The Sudan Doctors Network, a local medical group, said on Tuesday that six medical personnel have been kidnapped by the paramilitary group.

"The RSF reportedly extorted their families, demanding a ransom of 100 million Sudanese pounds for each doctor in exchange for their release," it said in a statement.

The group stressed that “targeting doctors is a crime that cannot be tolerated,” holding the RSF fully responsible for the lives of kidnapped medics and for the “organized criminal act aimed at destroying what remains of the healthcare system in Darfur and intimidating humanitarian workers.”

“The abduction and forced disappearance of medical personnel by the RSF, along with the demand for ransom, is a grave violation of all international and humanitarian laws that protect medical workers in conflict zones, safeguard their rights, and criminalize any harm inflicted upon them,” it added.

On Monday, the network accused the RSF of ethnic cleansing by killing unarmed civilians on ethnic grounds.

The Joint Force of Armed Struggle Movements (JSAMF), a coalition of various groups from the Darfur region, accused the RSF of killing over 2,000 besieged citizens, mostly women, children, and the elderly in El-Fasher on Oct. 26 and 27.

The coalition condemned “heinous crimes against civilians” and called on the international community, the UN Security Council, and international legal organizations to designate the RSF as a terrorist organization and hold its members accountable.

Idris Laqma, a leader in the Justice and Equality Movement, told the Saudi TV channel Al-Hadath that “more than 1,500 people have been killed in identity-based killings carried out by RSF forces in El-Fasher."

Solidarity

Relief appeals have surged online across Arabic-speaking platforms via hashtags highlighting the scale of the crisis and posts describing the dire conditions of civilians in El-Fasher amid attacks by the rebel group.

Several Egyptian actors have issued messages of solidarity over social media for saving civilians in the Sudanese city.

Ahmed Maher, an Egyptian actor, expressed his full solidarity with the people of El-Fasher and Sudan, who are facing “a grave tragedy at the hands of the RSF militia, which is depriving people of water and medicine.”

“May God preserve Sudan, its people, leadership, and government. Our hearts, and the hearts of all honorable and free people around the world, are with Sudan,” Maher said in a video message.

Fotouh Ahmed, another Egyptian actor, described El-Fasher as “facing the world’s biggest humanitarian tragedy today,” urging people to raise awareness about it, “as we did about Gaza’s tragedy.”

Actors Diaa El-Merghani and Mohamed El-Sawy also appealed for urgent support for El-Fasher.

Sudanese blogger Yasin Ahmed denounced “the violations by RSF militias against unarmed Sudanese civilians,” praying for the protection of the people.

“As horrific crimes – killings, looting, assaults, and terrorizing civilians – are committed in El-Fasher by a terrorist militia, the international community remains in suspicious silence, as if innocent blood isn’t even worth a cold condemnation,” Haitham Mustafa Karrar, a prominent Sudanese football player, wrote on Facebook.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said Monday that preliminary field estimates indicated that more than 26,000 people fled El-Fasher within 48 hours due to ongoing clashes.

Since April 15, 2023, the army and the RSF have been locked in a war that numerous regional and international mediations have failed to end. The conflict has killed about 20,000 people and displaced over 15 million as refugees and internally displaced persons, according to UN and local reports.