Darfur’s besieged capital falls to the Rapid Support Forces

The noose had been tightening for months. Ousted from Khartoum, Sudan’s capital, in March, the Rapid Support Forces (rsf) redoubled its efforts to take el-Fasher, the last major city in the region of Darfur outside its control. The paramilitary group, which has been at war with the national army since 2023, erected earth walls around the city’s estimated 260,000 remaining residents. Food was barred from entering. rsf drones and artillery pummelled markets, hospitals, refugee camps and homes. Those trapped inside began to starve.