Hunger mounts, cemeteries grow in Sudan's besieged al-Fashir

Source: Reuters

Aug 4 (Reuters) - Hundreds of thousands of people under siege in the Sudanese army's last holdout in the western Darfur region are running out of food and coming under constant artillery and drone barrages, while those who flee risk cholera and violent attacks. Al-Fashir, the capital of North Darfur state, is the biggest remaining frontline in the region between Sudan's army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), under fire at a pivotal point in a civil war now well into its third year.

The war between the Sudanese army and the RSF erupted in April 2023 when the former allies clashed over plans to integrate their forces. The RSF made quick gains in central Sudan, including the capital Khartoum, but the army pushed them westward this year, leading to an intensification in fighting in al-Fashir.

The city's fall would give the RSF control over nearly all of Darfur - a vast region bordering Libya, Chad, Central African Republic and South Sudan - and pave the way for what analysts say could be Sudan's de facto division.
Besieged along with the army and its allies are hundreds of thousands of al-Fashir's residents and people displaced by previous attacks, many living in camps that monitors say are already in famine.

One doctor, who asked not to be named for her safety, said hunger was an even bigger problem than the shelling.
"The children are malnourished, the adults are malnourished. Even I today haven't had any breakfast because I can't find anything," she said. The RSF has blocked food supplies and aid convoys trying to reach the city have been attacked, locals said. Prices for the goods traders are able to smuggle in cost more than five times the national average.


Read more: https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/hunger-mounts-cemeteries-grow-sudans-besieged-al-fashir-2025-08-04/