BBC: <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The UN has called for safe passage for trapped civilians out of the Sudanese city of el-Fasher after paramilitary fighters announced they had seized control of the army’s main base there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sudan’s military has not acknowledged loss of the site, which would be a significant victory for the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the ongoing civil war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
UN chief Antonio Guterres said the latest fighting marked a “terrible escalation” in the conflict, adding that the suffering of civilians was “unbearable”, AFP news agency reports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
El-Fasher is the last army foothold in the vast western region of Darfur, and has been besieged by the RSF and its allies for 18 months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heavy fighting has been reported since Saturday after RSF fighters captured the home of the North Darfur governor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Social media videos verified by the BBC now show RSF combatants celebrating the capture of the army’s el-Fasher headquarters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They claim to have seized full control of el-Fasher, but the army’s local allies say fighting continues in parts of the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The group has been accused of targeting civilians in airstrikes and trapping nearly 250,000 people after encircling the city with an earth wall, leaving many on the brink of starvation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The city is one of the worst battlegrounds of Sudan’s civil war, leading the UN to call it an “epicentre of suffering”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The UN’s top humanitarian official Tom Fletcher said he was deeply alarmed at the reports of civilian casualties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“With fighters pushing further into the city and escape routes cut off, hundreds of thousands of civilians are trapped and terrified – shelled, starving, and without access to food, healthcare, or safety,” Fletcher said in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Civilians must be allowed safe passage and be able to access aid,” he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The US has also called for safe passage and is trying to negotiate a ceasefire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Taking el-Fasher would be a crucial comeback for the RSF after defeat in Khartoum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But it is likely a sign that the civil war will continue, not end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sudan has been ravaged by conflict since 2023, after top commanders of the RSF and Sudanese army fell out and a vicious power struggle ensued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
More than 150,000 people have died across the country and about 12 million have fled their homes, creating one of the worst humanitarian crises.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The army controls most of the north and the east, with el-Fasher being until now the last major urban centre in Darfur still held by government forces and its allies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The RSF controls almost all of Darfur and much of the neighbouring Kordofan region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The group has previously said that it hopes to form a rival government in al-Fasher when it assumes complete control.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BBC: The UN has called for safe passage for trapped civilians out of the Sudanese city of el-Fasher after paramilitary fighters announced they had seized control of the army’s main base there. Sudan’s military has not acknowledged loss of the site, which would be a significant victory for the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the ongoing civil war. UN chief Antonio Guterres said the latest fighting marked a “terrible escalation” in the conflict, adding that the suffering of civilians was “unbearable”, AFP news agency reports. El-Fasher is the last army foothold in the vast western region of Darfur, and has… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":51361,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-51360","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-in-english"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gyalchisarshog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51360","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gyalchisarshog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gyalchisarshog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gyalchisarshog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gyalchisarshog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=51360"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gyalchisarshog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51360\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":51362,"href":"https:\/\/gyalchisarshog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51360\/revisions\/51362"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gyalchisarshog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/51361"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gyalchisarshog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=51360"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gyalchisarshog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=51360"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gyalchisarshog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=51360"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}