ISTANBUL
A Sudanese medical group accused the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on Sunday of detaining thousands of civilians inside El-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, and blocking their evacuation.
In a statement, the Sudan Doctors Network said the rebel group “continues to detain thousands of civilians inside the city of El-Fasher, and prevent them from leaving after confiscating all means of transportation used to evacuate displaced people.”
The militia group has also forced back residents who attempted to flee, including individuals wounded by gunfire and others suffering from malnutrition, it added.
The network described the situation in the city as “extremely dire,” citing an acute shortage of medicine and a severe lack of medical staff -- some of whom remain detained or abducted by the RSF.
It called for “the immediate release of all civilians, the opening of safe corridors for their evacuation, and allowing humanitarian organizations to bury the bodies that remain scattered on the outskirts of the city.”
On Oct. 26, the RSF seized control of El-Fasher and committed “massacres” against civilians, according to local and international organizations, amid warnings that the assault could entrench the geographical partition of Sudan.
On Wednesday, RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (Hemedti) admitted that “violations” had occurred by his forces in El-Fasher, claiming that investigation committees had been formed.
Since April 15, 2023, the Sudanese army and the RSF have been locked in a war that regional and international mediations have failed to end. The conflict has killed 20,000 victims and displaced more than 15 million as refugees and internally displaced persons, according to UN and local reports.