From El-Fashir, in Sudan’s Darfur region—under a brutal 15-month siege by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia battling the Sudanese army—reports emerged Sunday of a worsening famine in the city.
A Sudanese Health Ministry official told AFP that at least 63 people, mostly women and children, had died of hunger in just one week. The figure, he stressed, includes only those who made it to the local hospital, while many others are dying unseen in their homes.
Sudan’s civil war erupted in April 2023 amid a power struggle between army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and RSF commander General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (“Hemedti”) over a planned transition to civilian rule, four years after dictator Omar al-Bashir’s ouster.
Since then, conservative estimates say at least 40,000 people have been killed—though some put the toll closer to 150,000—and 13 million displaced, with 4 million fleeing abroad. Half of Sudan’s 50 million people now face food insecurity, and many have resorted to eating grass to survive.
Both sides have been accused of atrocities, but the U.S. determined in January that RSF massacres of non-Arab communities in Darfur constitute genocide. The war threatens to split Sudan into two entities, a likelihood that grew after the RSF last month declared a rival government.
While the UN warned months ago of famine in El-Fashir, the crisis receives scant global attention compared to Gaza
The siege of El-Fashir—home to 900,000 residents and displaced people, and the army’s last stronghold in Darfur—has cut off aid deliveries. RSF fighters have attacked humanitarian convoys, killing five aid workers in June, according to Médecins Sans Frontières. An RSF assault on the nearby Zamzam refugee camp in April killed dozens, including children and aid staff, sending hundreds of thousands fleeing, many into El-Fashir itself.
With food and water running out, residents say they are eating animal fodder such as hay to survive. The city is under constant bombardment, and fears of a cholera outbreak are rising. The army has declared El-Fashir a closed military zone, banning photography and hampering documentation.
In the Abu Shouk camp near the city—where famine was declared in 2023—five to seven children die daily, says camp director Adam Issa. “Today we buried five children,” he told AFP. Markets in El-Fashir are almost empty, and prices for what little remains are astronomical. At the city’s main food distribution center, shortages have forced staff to stretch one traditional porridge serving—once shared by three people—between seven.
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Majdi Youssef, who runs the center, said signs of severe malnutrition are visible among women and children, with swollen bellies and protruding eyes. Supplies of millet and cornmeal have run out; aid workers are now using seed-pressing waste—normally animal feed—to make a watery evening meal for families.
While the UN warned months ago of famine in El-Fashir, the crisis receives scant global attention compared to Gaza. There have been no significant international protests or pressure on the UAE, accused of financing the RSF, to halt support. Without immediate aid, a doctor at the local hospital warned, “We can do nothing for the children.”