Sudan war: Aid teams say deal struck to reach stricken El Fasher

The essentials for survival in the town which was overrun by paramilitary fighters in October have been “completely obliterated”, UN humanitarians warned on Friday.

“The little that’s known at the moment about the current conditions in El Fasher is indeed beyond horrific,” said Ross Smith, Director of Emergency Preparedness and Response for the World Food Programme (WFP). “We know that there’s anywhere between 70 and 100,000 people potentially remaining trapped inside the city itself.”

Paramilitary Rapid Support Forces fighters who have been at war with the Sudanese army since April 2023 overran El Fasher – the regional capital of North Darfur – in October, after a 500-day siege.

That ordeal reduced people to eating peanut shells and animal feed, the UN human rights office warned at the time, while satellite footage indicated bloodstains from mass killings of civilians and executions based on ethnicity.

Access agreement

Securing access for aid teams remains an urgent priority, humanitarian agencies insist, amid network blackouts that have largely cut off communication with those remaining inside El Fasher.

Testimonies from survivors “describe the city as a crime scene with mass killings, with burnt bodies, with abandoned markets”, Mr. Smith explained.

“We are calling for and we’ve continued to call for unimpeded access into El Fasher to urgently respond to those that remain trapped in the city,” the WFP official stressed.

“I understand from discussions yesterday that we have agreement in principle with the Rapid Support Forces for a set of minimum conditions to enter the city; so, we anticipate to be able to do that very soon, to do some initial assessments and reconnaissance. After more than a year and a half under siege, the essentials for survival have been completely obliterated.”

Desert town becomes ‘massive’ IDP camp

Mr. Smith noted that those who have managed to flee El Fasher have risked their lives along roads “littered with mines” and unexploded ordnance.

Many have reached shelter in Tawila – until recently a small desert town but which is now “a sprawling, massive displacement settlement” for more than 650,000 people, which is equivalent to the size of Luxembourg. Others have sought safety in Ad Dabbah in Northern State.

As UN aid teams and partners continue to push for access to all those in need, WFP-supported convoys are “en route to Tawila now, with enough for 700,000 people for the next month”, Mr. Smith said.

“These are families that have endured famine for many months on end and mass atrocities and are now living in overcrowded conditions with very limited support. There’s not enough shelter for people, many are staying in very makeshift structures: grass, straw structures, et cetera. Cholera and disease outbreak is widespread.”

12 million people displaced

Sudan is the world’s largest displacement crisis with more than 12 million people uprooted inside and outside the country.

Meanwhile, a worrying update from the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, on Friday confirmed that the security situation in nearby Kordofan has deteriorated further since 1 December.

After a week of heavy fighting, the RSF reportedly seized control of a Sudanese Armed Forces base in Babanusa, West Kordofan.

In South Kordofan, “civilians remain trapped in besieged cities such as Kadugli and Dilling, and as women, children, and the elderly find ways to escape, men and youth are often left behind due to specific high risks they face along flight routes such as detention by armed groups for perceived affiliation with parties to the conflict,” UNHCR said.

Latest data points to more than 40,000 people displaced from North Kordofan since 18 November. “UNHCR, through partners on the ground, is responding to the urgent needs of those displaced, but access remains challenging, and resources are critically low,” it said.