The Darfur Network for Human Rights (DNHR) expresses grave concern over the ongoing violence in El Fasher, North Darfur, where fighting between the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) has intensified since yesterday. Reports from DNHR field monitors and witness testimonies confirm a sharp escalation in hostilities, widespread civilian casualties, and deliberate targeting of populated areas.

Over the past 48 hours, DNHR has verified new footage showing RSF fighters executing civilians after pretending to release them. This brutal act is part of an alarming trend of summary executions that have taken place across El Fasher in recent days. Civilians attempting to flee the city have been met with violence, trapped by active frontlines, or caught in indiscriminate shelling from both parties.

These incidents add to a growing body of evidence that DNHR has documented over the past week:

• Women and girls abducted along the El Fasher–Tawila road;
• Young men captured and forced to fight for RSF forces;
• Hospitals, markets, and shelters shelled under siege;
• Humanitarian access completely blocked, preventing aid delivery and evacuation of the wounded.

The siege of El Fasher, which began in April 2024, has now reached a critical stage. The city’s residents are facing acute shortages of food, water, and medical supplies. Electricity and communication blackouts are worsening the crisis, leaving civilians without access to emergency support. Many hospitals have shut down after sustained shelling, and makeshift clinics are overwhelmed by casualties.

DNHR reiterates that both the RSF and SAF are violating international humanitarian principles by attacking civilian areas and using tactics that endanger non-combatants. The deliberate targeting of civilians, execution of detainees, and obstruction of humanitarian aid are not acts of war — they are crimes that demand accountability.

DNHR calls for:

• Immediate protection of civilians through the establishment of humanitarian corridors and cessation of attacks on populated areas;
• Independent international investigations into the executions, abductions, and forced recruitment documented in El Fasher and surrounding areas;
• Urgent humanitarian access to deliver aid to civilians trapped under siege;
• Stronger international and regional pressure on both RSF and SAF leadership to halt atrocities and comply with international law.

The humanitarian situation in El Fasher is collapsing by the hour. DNHR warns that without swift, coordinated intervention, the city could witness one of the deadliest massacres since the start of Sudan’s conflict. Civilians are not combatants, and their survival now depends on the world’s willingness to act.