Sudan's Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has declared victory in the battle for el-Fasher, a strategically vital city in the Darfur region, claiming to have seized the Sudanese Armed Forces' (SAF) 6th Infantry Division headquarters.
This development, announced via social media statements, comes after 18 months of siege and escalating clashes, marking a potential turning point in the civil war that erupted in April 2023 between the RSF and the SAF.
Videos circulating online depict RSF fighters inside the army base, celebrating amid captured equipment and destroyed vehicles.
The SAF has not issued an immediate response, while pro-army groups like the Popular Resistance dismiss the claims as a disinformation effort to erode morale.
The RSF's advance involved weeks of multi-directional assaults on army positions, culminating in the reported liberation of the base, which they describe as breaking the "back of the army and its allies."
Despite this, SAF forces appear to have withdrawn from the site to surrounding areas, meaning the RSF does not yet hold full control of el-Fasher itself.
The city remains a humanitarian catastrophe, with an estimated 250,000 to 300,000 civilians trapped under relentless bombardment, facing acute hunger, disease, and shortages of food and medical supplies.
Satellite imagery from August revealed extensive earthen walls erected by the RSF to encircle the city, exacerbating the isolation.
United Nations investigators have accused the RSF of crimes against humanity during the siege, including ethnic targeting of Darfur's non-Arab population, which the United States has labeled as genocide.
The SAF faces similar allegations of atrocities, and recent drone strikes by both sides have intensified, including attacks on power infrastructure and Khartoum International Airport, delaying its planned reopening.
The fall of el-Fasher would represent the SAF's loss of its last major foothold in Darfur, allowing the RSF to consolidate dominance over the region and parts of neighboring Kordofan.
The paramilitary group has expressed intentions to establish a rival government in the city, potentially accelerating a de facto division of Sudan.
Since the conflict's onset, over 150,000 people have perished, and approximately 12 million have been displaced, fueling the world's largest humanitarian emergency.
Four UN agencies recently warned that thousands of children risk imminent death from starvation and lack of healthcare.
Reports from civilians fleeing the city detail harrowing experiences, including robberies, sexual assaults, and killings by RSF soldiers en route to safety.
As the fighting rages, international attention remains limited, with global priorities elsewhere overshadowing calls for intervention in Sudan's spiraling violence.