UN assessment mission arrives in El Fasher

December 27, 2025 (EL FASHER) – The United Nations humanitarian agency (OCHA) said on Saturday an assessment team had reached El Fasher in North Darfur, the first such mission since the city fell to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) following months of siege and heavy fighting.

The mission aims to evaluate humanitarian needs and document violations against civilians, including the destruction of markets, water infrastructure, and attacks on the offices of international aid organizations.

OCHA said the visit followed “extensive humanitarian negotiations” and comes after months of a blockade that forced trapped residents to eat animal feed to survive. Hundreds of thousands of people have fled the city and surrounding areas since the conflict intensified.

The RSF launched a major offensive on El Fasher in May 2024, eventually seizing the city on Oct. 26. Since the takeover, reports of mass killings have emerged. On December 16, the Yale Humanitarian Research Lab published satellite imagery identifying 150 clusters of human remains in the city, providing fresh evidence of summary executions.

Massad Boulos, Senior Advisor to the U.S. President on African Affairs, welcomed the mission’s arrival, noting U.S.-led diplomatic efforts facilitated it.

“It is encouraging to see the UN assessment mission finally reach El Fasher,” Boulos said, calling for a humanitarian truce and urging both the Sudanese army and the RSF to allow unimpeded aid delivery to all areas.

The “Tasis” forces, a coalition aligned with the RSF, said the UN delegation visited several displacement shelters, the Saudi Hospital, and the local headquarters of the World Food Programme (WFP) and UNICEF.

The coalition stated the delegation had moved on safely to Tawila, an area controlled by the Sudan Liberation Movement led by Abdel Wahid al-Nur (SLM-AW). Tawila is currently hosting more than 655,000 displaced people, most of whom fled the violence in El Fasher.