The city of El-Fasher, the final army stronghold in Sudan's western Darfur region, fell to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on October 26, 2025, following an 18-month siege marked by starvation and bombardment. This conquest by the RSF, which has been engaged in a war with the Sudanese military since April 2023, has led to a catastrophic humanitarian situation, with reports of mass killings, sexual violence, attacks on aid workers, widespread looting, and abductions emerging from the city where communications have largely been severed.

Survivors fleeing El-Fasher have recounted harrowing experiences of sexual violence. Amira, a Sudanese mother of four, shared her trembling recollections of mass rapes she witnessed while escaping. She described gang rapes occurring in public, where no one could intervene. Detained for two days in Korma, a village northwest of El-Fasher, because she couldn't afford safe passage fees, Amira witnessed mass assaults at night, with fighters taking daughters from families unable to pay. The UN human rights office confirmed alarming reports that at least 25 women were gang-raped when RSF forces entered a shelter near El-Fasher University, with witnesses confirming women and girls were raped at gunpoint. Another survivor, Mohamed, described women and girls of all ages being searched, humiliated, and beaten in Garni, a town between El-Fasher and Tawila, where fighters would even tear apart sanitary pads during searches. Amira also witnessed men being slaughtered with knives by RSF fighters, an image that deeply traumatized her 12-year-old son.

International and local organizations have condemned and documented these atrocities. Doctors Without Borders (MSF) reported that over 300 survivors of sexual violence sought care from their teams in Tawila after a previous RSF assault on the nearby Zamzam camp, which displaced more than 380,000 people. Amnesty International has warned that the RSF has perpetrated widespread sexual violence across Sudan to humiliate, assert control, and forcibly displace communities, noting over two decades of impunity for such crimes. Sudan's state minister for social welfare, Sulimah Ishaq, stated that 300 women were killed on the day El-Fasher fell, some after sexual assault. The General Coordination for Displaced People and Refugees in Darfur documented 150 cases of sexual violence between the fall of El-Fasher and November 1, with incidents occurring both within the city and during the perilous journey to Tawila.

The humanitarian crisis extends beyond the immediate violence. More than 65,000 people have fled El-Fasher since its fall, with over 5,000 now seeking refuge in Tawila, a location already burdened with more than 650,000 displaced individuals. Displaced people in Tawila are living in makeshift tents in vast desert expanses, struggling to find food, water, medicine, and shelter. Adam Rojal, spokesman for the General Coordination for Displaced People and Refugees in Darfur, emphasized the urgent need for immediate intervention and comprehensive support, including psychological aid. The broader two-year conflict in Sudan has already claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced millions, spreading to new areas and intensifying fears of an even greater catastrophe.

In response to the escalating crisis, the White House has announced its deep engagement in ceasefire talks in Sudan. The United States has proposed a deal to halt the fighting between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, working in collaboration with Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt underscored the administration's commitment to bringing a peaceful end to the conflict, acknowledging the complex situation on the ground. Meanwhile, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as “Hemedti,” the commander of the RSF, has solidified his position as a dominant figure, with his forces now controlling half of Sudan, and the fall of El-Fasher marking a significant strategic victory for his paramilitary group.