Frightened and Starving Darfur Civilians Fear RSF Assault, Urgently Seek Army Assistance | Sudan Conflict News

Civilians in el-Fasher, the capital of Sudan’s North Darfur, and surrounding towns are starving. The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have besieged them for nearly a year, though an invasion has been averted thanks to the Joint Forces—a coalition of local armed factions supported by the Sudanese army. However, the civilians trapped in the siege are now desperately pleading for help. Experts, local journalists, and residents fear that the army may lack both the political will and the capability to rescue them.

According to the United Nations’ global hunger monitor, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), nearly 500,000 civilians in Zamzam camp—the largest refugee camp in North Darfur—are already suffering from famine. Residents of Zamzam told Al Jazeera that the army dropped some food aid from warplanes earlier this week, but they warned that supplies will run out in a few days.

“All Sudanese military and security agencies must move towards North Darfur to ensure the flow of food, medicine, and humanitarian supplies to the besieged civilians,” said Mohamed Khamis Doda, the spokesperson for Zamzam camp. “There must also be an immediate intervention from humanitarian organizations,” he added.

Abandoning Darfur?

Most people in Zamzam camp and el-Fasher are from sedentary farming communities, often referred to as “non-Arabs,” while many of the attackers come from nomadic or pastoralist “Arab” tribes, which the RSF typically recruits from. Since April 2023, the RSF has been embroiled in a catastrophic civil war with Sudan’s army, triggering what many consider the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

In 2023, the RSF swiftly captured four of Darfur’s five states—South, East, West, and Central Darfur. North Darfur remains the only holdout. The UN has accused both sides of atrocities but highlights that the RSF has systematically raped women and girls and “disappeared” thousands of civilians. Many of these crimes have occurred in Darfur, an RSF stronghold nearly the size of France.

In April 2024, the RSF laid siege to el-Fasher after many local armed factions—part of the Joint Forces—aligned with the army, despite having originally formed in the early 2000s to rebel against the central government’s marginalization of their tribes and region.

Since the army captured the capital, Khartoum, in March, experts and civilians from Darfur worry that the region will once again be neglected as the army prioritizes control over central and northern Sudan.

“At the moment, I’m not sure if the army has the political will and resources to continue fighting in Darfur,” said Jawhara Kanu, an independent Sudan expert originally from North Darfur.

Kanu added that over the past two years, there has been a rise in influential figures inciting hatred on social media against civilians in Darfur, blaming the entire region for the RSF’s crimes. “They believe the RSF is from Darfur, so let’s just let go of Darfur,” Kanu told Al Jazeera. “I’m afraid that public opinion in north and central Sudan might affect the army’s and allied forces’ decision to fight for Darfur.”

Indiscriminate Warfare

On March 24, the army fired four rockets at a crowded market in Torra village, North Darfur, at sunset during Ramadan, when hundreds of people were gathering to break their fast. Local monitors estimate that at least 350 people were killed.

“There were so many civilians killed and injured, including many women and children,” said Adam Rojal, a spokesperson for displaced people in Darfur. “There was absolutely no justification.”

Al Jazeera sent a written inquiry to army spokesperson Nabil Abdallah, asking why the army targeted the crowded market during iftar. He had not responded by the time of publication.

A source monitoring the situation in Darfur, who requested anonymity to protect colleagues from reprisals, told Al Jazeera that the army’s airstrikes are the only deterrent against RSF fighters. Despite the attack on Torra, most civilians in North Darfur fear an RSF invasion more than army airstrikes, believing the group will commit mass killings, rapes, and looting—as it has done across Sudan—if it conquers el-Fasher and surrounding villages.

However, the source warned that the army won’t be able to strike the RSF accurately if the group infiltrates densely populated areas like el-Fasher and Zamzam. “I think that strike on Torra indicated that even if the RSF gets inside el-Fasher, the army isn’t going to hold back. And what that means for civilians… Well, I think we already have an idea,” the source told Al Jazeera.

A Deal to Surrender?

Local monitors report that the RSF has intensified abuses across North Darfur in recent weeks. On April 1, the group killed at least seven people in shelling on Abu Shouk displacement camp, home to around 190,000 people. Ten days earlier, it stormed the town of al-Malha, north of el-Fasher, reportedly killing at least 40 people, destroying homes, and looting and burning down the market, worsening hunger in the area.

The capture of al-Malha, located near Libya, provides the RSF with another vital supply line as they close in on el-Fasher, local monitors told Al Jazeera. Meanwhile, the Joint Forces are unable to acquire new weaponry or recruit fighters due to the siege.

On Sunday, Joint Forces leader Minni Minawi called for “dialogue” during an Eid al-Fitr speech, seemingly contradicting an earlier statement by army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who vowed to continue fighting after capturing Khartoum. Minawi’s remarks have fueled speculation that the Joint Forces might seek a deal with the RSF to avoid further bloodshed, experts and local monitors told Al Jazeera.

However, civilians in the area fear that any deal could lead to the ethnic cleansing of non-Arabs, said Mohamed Zakaria, a journalist in el-Fasher. “The Joint Forces are the sons of people living in this area. It’s hard to imagine them surrendering to the RSF, because then the RSF could kill everyone [non-Arabs] who remain here,” he said. “Non-Arab communities view North Darfur as their land; it’s impossible for them to leave. They will live or die here,” he added.