SalaaMedia Report
The escalation of fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Joint Force against the Rapid Support Forces after the announcement of the mediation led by the United States of America, Saudi Arabia, and Switzerland to lift the Geneva negotiations on August 23, 2024. The escalation occurred despite the pressure of the international community on the two parties to stop the fighting in the town of Al-Fashir. As a result, civilians in the Darfur region are facing harsh humanitarian conditions due to the battles taking place in the town and the ongoing air strikes launched by the military aircraft of the Armed Forces.
In this report, SalaaMedia team monitors the battles that took place in the town of Al-Fashir after the suspension of the Geneva negotiations, the impact of this on civilians in Darfur, and the effectiveness of international pressure on the reality in Al-Fashir.
Mutual Attacks
The Rapid Support Forces have been launching successive attacks to control the town of Al-Fashir since May 2024, until the attacks reached more than 137 attacks; however, the Armed Forces and the Joint Force said that they repelled all of these attacks. At the same time, elements of the Rapid Support Forces published videos confirming their penetration into the town, which was confirmed by Radio Dabanga’s investigation into the published videos. It is worth noting that the Rapid Support Forces have been besieging Al-Fashir from all directions since May 2024; the period during which the Joint Force entered the fighting, which gave ethnic dimensions and motives to the battle, raising fears of it turning into a civil war, based on the warning of Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General of the United, “Any further escalation will threaten to spread conflict between communities in Darfur.” The frequency of airstrikes on the region increased with the escalation of fighting in the town of Al-Fashir, reaching more than 50 raids between August 1 and September 6, 2024, compared to only three airstrikes during the five weeks prior to August, according to a report by the America Center for Armed Conflict Location and Event Data (ACLED), it indicated that all of these raids were linked to the ongoing fighting in the town of Al-Fashir. The report suggested that the escalation of airstrikes on the region during this period was linked to the Armed Forces receiving new 15 fighter jets; this is evident from the SalaaMedia team monitoring 12 additional airstrikes between September 9 and 27, 2024, where the bombing focused on the towns of Nyala, Al-Fashir, Aldaein, Mellit, Korma, and Saraf Omra.
Deaths and Injuries
The fighting in the town of Al-Fashir and the airstrikes launched by the Armed Forces’ aircraft on the Darfur region left many dead and wounded during the period following the Geneva negotiations. The Al-Fashir. The Al-Fashir Resistance Committee said on its Facebook page that 13 people, including women and children were killed when an artillery shell fell on Al-Fashir market near Al-Fashir National School. It also recorded the names of two dead women, four wounded women and one wounded man as a result of artillery shelling that targeted the shelter center at Zain El-Abedin School in Kafoot neighborhood in Al-Fashir, in addition to two dead and a number of wounded men as a result of an artillery shell falling on Al-Ittad Secondary School and Ibn Sina School and some neighboring houses. The Al-Fashir Resistance Committees indicated that 20 people were killed and 32 others were injured as a result of the shelling that targeted a market and a square inside Abu Shouk camp for displaced persons. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the fighting on 20 and 21 September left at least 20 civilians dead; several shops were destroyed by artillery shelling near the main market. The commission also documented cases of field executions and gender-based sexual violence, as well as reports of the kidnapping of at least five women and several young men in Al-Fashir.
Effects of the Siege on Markets
The continued siege on Al-Fashir town has led to a shortage of food, petroleum, medicine and water and a rise in prices, with a discrepancy in sales in cash and through banking applications, according to the list published by the Al-Fashir Resistance committees. In an attempt to tighten the siege on Al-Fashir town, a local community leader and a number of merchants in Alsalam locality, south of Al-Fashir, stated that the Rapid Support Forces decided to prevent the entry and exit of commercial goods to and from the town, indicating that this decision will have repercussions on the living conditions of the local population.
Displacement
The fighting that has been raging in Al-Fashir town since last May has forced thousands of families to flee in search of safer areas. The International Migration and Displacement Tracking Matrix indicated – according to Darfur 24 – that more than 150 families were displaced to Zamzam camp on Thursday, September 12, 2024. However, the lack of safe routes out of the town and the high costs of leaving have left many civilians trapped in the town. According to the reports from the African Center for Justice and Peace Studies, there have been multiple attempts to organize fights to evacuate civilians from Al-Fashir town, but unfortunately, they face more challenges including insufficient resources; this maybe possible by obtaining support from human rights organizations to evacuate civilians. A human rights defender told the African Center, “The humanitarian situation in Al-Fashir is dire, and the restrictions on movement have only exacerbated the situation, as civilians have become unable to request or receive assistance.” The total number of civilians in Al-Fashir is currently estimated at 344,648; in addition to opening the doors of Zamzam IDPs camp, which hosts about 295,000 IDPs, to host about 142,595 new IDPs after the outbreak of war. Another resident said, “The only chance to escape from Zamzam camp to Tawela area is with the help of Mr. Abdul Wahid Nour who organizes trips to evacuate IDPs from Zamzam camp to Tawela every Friday. Others have managed to escape via Khazna Jadeed to Libya or East Sudan State.”
International Pressure
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres renewed his call for the Rapid Support Forces to lift the siege on Al-Fashir town and the need to abide by Security Council Resolution No, (2736). Guterres called on the commander of the Rapid Support Forces to issue an immediate order to stop his forces’ attacks on the town. For his part, US president, Joe Biden told the United Nations General Assembly that the situation in Darfur and other parts of Sudan is very bad; stressing the need to stop armament and end the war immediately. Lida Thomas-Greenfield, the US Ambassador to the United Nations, also said that the commander of the Rapid Support Forces must stop his forces’ attacks on Al-Fashir. Meanwhile, the US Special Envoy for Sudan, Tom Perriello, urged the Rapid Support Forces to stop their attacks and take all necessary steps to protect the lives of innocent people and abide by their international commitments to protect civilians. He said, “The repeated attacks on Al-Fashir have brought great suffering to civilians who fled to Al-Fashir to escape fighting in other areas of Darfur.” In the same context, the European Union condemned the escalation of fighting in the town of Al-Fashir, and confirmed its readiness to consider imposing additional sanctions, including those holding leadership positions. It urged the leaders of the Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces to immediately head to the negotiating table to find a peaceful solution to the conflict. It renewed its call to regional and international sponsors who are fueling the war to stop their support for the fighting parties in Sudan. The European Union stressed that it will not be a witness to another genocide and will continue to work with international accountability mechanisms to hold accountable those responsible for the gross human rights violations committed and still committed by the parties to the conflict. When following the developments of the war and the accompanying humanitarian conditions, it is noted that the escalation of combat operations in the town of Al-Fashir and other towns in the Darfur region and the rest of the regions of Sudan has been escalating continuously during the recent period. This is due to the increase in air strikes carried out by the armed forces’ warplanes and the expansion of the scope of ground confrontations. This escalation has led to an increase in the extent of human suffering represented by the increase in the number of dead, wounded and those fleeing the hell of war outside the town and those trapped inside it. It is likely that the increase in the pace of confrontations between the two parties to the conflict in the town of Al-Fashir is closely related to the suspension of the Geneva talks and their reaching a dead end, in addition to the increase in the amount of armament that the two parties have recently received; which indicates the erosion of their desire to put an end to this conflict with a high human cost, despite the ongoing international pressure. From the follow-up of the team SalaaMedia the circumstances surrounding these recent developments make us warn of the danger of its continuation in this manner, which may result in a humanitarian disaster that will be difficult to deal with in the future, in addition to the transfer of confrontations to lower levels within the various population groups in the region, and perhaps to the countries neighboring the region.