More than 1,000 families flee fighting in north Darfur’s El Fasher
August 31, 2025 (EL FASHER) – The International Organization for Migration (IOM) announced on Sunday that more than a thousand families have fled El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state.
For nearly two weeks, the city has witnessed an escalation in ground battles and shelling by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on El Fasher’s neighbourhoods and the Abu Shouk camp, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of civilians.
“Approximately 1,050 families were displaced from El Fasher on August 29 due to the deteriorating security situation,” the IOM said in a statement.
The UN agency noted that these families were displaced from the Awlad al-Rif, Makarka, and al-Wadi neighbourhoods to other areas within the El Fasher locality after clashes affected their areas.
The emergency room of the Abu Shouk camp, north of El Fasher, reported in a statement that RSF artillery shelling on the camp killed eight people and injured nine others.
The Rapid Support Forces have disregarded all UN demands and appeals to facilitate aid access to El Fasher, including the UN Security Council resolution issued on June 13, 2024, which called for the forces to lift the siege and de-escalate.
Fears are mounting that the forces will commit horrific crimes during their ground incursions into the northern neighbourhoods of the city and the Abu Shouk camp for the displaced, similar to the widespread violations committed when they overran the Zamzam camp last April.
The Sudan News Agency (SUNA) reported that World Food Programme (WFP) employees in North Darfur, in cooperation with the Kosti office and the “Tekiàt Al-Zaghawa” initiative in the UAE, have initiated humanitarian support for those affected by the war in El Fasher through “Tekiàt El Fasher.”
It stated that the community kitchen provided meals to hundreds of families in shelters, displacement centres, and neighbourhoods, benefiting the most vulnerable groups, including children, women, and the elderly.
El Fasher is suffering from a severe humanitarian crisis due to a lack of goods, which has forced most of those trapped to eat “ambaz,” a solid mass of peanut and sesame residue left after oil extraction.
On Saturday, the World Health Organization (WHO) demanded immediate access for supplies stored in Nyala to reach El Fasher to save the lives of 130,000 malnourished children. It also reported that 260,000 people in the city require health assistance.
The Rapid Support Forces have deployed thousands of fighters around El Fasher to obstruct the arrival of relief, medicine, and goods to the city, which they have besieged since April 2024. They also control all entry and exit routes after constructing an earthen barrier around the historic capital of the Darfur region.