Tue Dec 30 08:57:58 UTC 2025: ## War-Ravaged El-Fasher a “Crime Scene,” Says UN After First Visit Since RSF Takeover
El-Fasher, Sudan – A United Nations team has described Sudan’s el-Fasher as a “crime scene” after gaining access to the largely deserted city for the first time since its takeover by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in October. The city, once a densely populated area with a large displaced population, has been decimated by mass atrocities and widespread violence, leaving behind a skeletal population struggling to survive.
International aid staff visited el-Fasher on Friday after weeks of negotiations, finding few people remaining. More than 100,000 residents fled for their lives after the RSF seized control, following an 18-month siege marked by reports of ethnically motivated mass killings and widespread detentions.
“There were very few people” they were able to see during the hours-long visit, said Denise Brown, the UN resident and humanitarian coordinator for Sudan. Those who remained were sheltering in empty buildings or under basic plastic sheets, with a small market offering only locally grown vegetables. “We have photos of people, and you can see clearly on their faces the accumulation of fatigue, of stress, of anxiety, of loss,” Brown told Reuters.
The UN children’s agency, UNICEF, warned of an “unprecedented level” of child malnutrition in North Darfur. A report released by Yale University’s Humanitarian Research Lab in December documented the RSF’s systematic campaign to erase evidence of mass killings.
The Sudan Doctors Network reported that more than 200 people, including children and women, were killed on ethnic grounds by the RSF in the Ambro, Serba and Abu Qumra areas during a recent offensive in the Dar Zaghawa region near the Chad border.
The visit to el-Fasher came as UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres renewed calls for an immediate ceasefire in what the organisation describes as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. An estimated 30.4 million Sudanese now need humanitarian assistance, while the UN has been forced to halve its 2026 appeal following funding cuts from key donors.
El-Fasher was the government-aligned Sudanese Armed Forces’ (SAF) last major stronghold in Darfur before falling to the RSF. The city’s capture allowed the RSF to consolidate control over the Darfur region, and fighting has since expanded into the Kordofan region, effectively splitting the country down the middle.
The war, which erupted in April 2023 between the SAF and the RSF, has killed more than 100,000 people and displaced 14 million.
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