Amid Push for Sudan Peace, Battle for El Fasher Intensifies

The battle for El Fasher, the capital of Sudan’s North Darfur region, could be reaching a bloody crescendo amid the country’s civil war. The city, which is home to hundreds of thousands of civilians, is the Sudanese army’s only remaining stronghold in Darfur. The army’s rivals, the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), have tightened their grip around the city since they captured the Zamzam camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in April. As fighting rages, civilians face starvation and deadly crossfire. The high-stakes battle could derail a new U.S.-led peace push. 

Militarily, the RSF now appears to hold the momentum around El Fasher, where fighting has ebbed and flowed for two-plus years. They and allied armed groups are advancing across the Abu Shok IDP camp and the central market near the army’s division headquarters while pummeling the city with mortars, rockets and drone strikes. The RSF is also using its anti-aircraft weapons to try to block aerial resupplies to the army.

The humanitarian situation is dire and getting worse, amid RSF’s attempted year-long blockade of the city. The RSF has recently erected barriers and roadblocks around the north-western and northern sections of the city. UN officials say that the paramilitary is blocking access to humanitarian supplies, and warn that 260,000 people, including 130,000 children, are trapped. Nearly 600,000 have fled in harrowing conditions. Hospitals can no longer operate, and cholera is spreading. Without urgent humanitarian relief, mass starvation is imminent. Civilians have also increasingly been caught in the crossfire, with a 19 September RSF attack on a mosque killing more than 70 people, and a 23 September attack on the central market killing more than 20. 

The RSF and army have been fighting for control of Sudan since 2023. The army now controls eastern and central Sudan, including the capital Khartoum, whereas to the west the RSF controls much of Darfur and West Kordofan. The main front lines are now in North and South Kordofan.

Control of El Fasher would give the RSF undisputed dominance over Darfur, further secure a logistical corridor to Libya for arms and fuel, and allow the redeployment of RSF forces to the main front lines, while also giving the group more leverage in any peace negotiations. The fight is also deeply personal. RSF leader Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo hails from North Darfur, as do army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan’s key Darfuri allies Minni Minnawi and Gibril Ibrahim. Both main warring sides have grown more reliant on Darfuri allies in their political coalitions, also raising the stakes. 

The fighting will test a new U.S.-led push, together with Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, for an immediate humanitarian truce. The RSF does not want to pause fighting while it believes victory in El Fasher is near, while on Burhan’s side Minnawi wants to attempt to reverse the recent military losses. If the outside powers fail to push the two sides to halt the battle, the new peace initiative may quickly stall out.