Sudan’s army could lose the last major city it controls in the western region of Darfur within days to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), according to analysts, local monitors and RSF sources.
Observers fear this could lead to crimes against humanity by the RSF and a humanitarian catastrophe in el-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state.
Ali Musabel, an RSF adviser, told Al Jazeera: “The RSF will free el-Fasher … in about 10 days.”
The RSF has launched drones, fired artillery and surrounded el-Fasher from the east and west since January 21, according to the Humanitarian Research Lab at Yale University, which relies on satellite imagery analysis.
Al Jazeera spoke to four sources in North Darfur who corroborated those findings.
“The RSF always attacks from the east [to distract the enemy], but then finishes them off from the west,” said Nathaniel Raymond, executive director of the Humanitarian Research Lab.