As Sudan’s brutal civil war grinds into its third year, the United Nations is sounding the alarm over a deepening humanitarian catastrophe in the besieged city of el-Fasher, where nearly 300,000 civilians are reportedly on the brink of starvation.
The World Food Programme (WFP) says it has been unable to deliver food aid by road to the city in North Darfur for over a year, with paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) surrounding el-Fasher in a bid to wrest it from the army’s control.
“Everyone in el-Fasher is facing a daily struggle to survive,” said Eric Perdison, WFP’s regional director for eastern and southern Africa. “People’s coping mechanisms have been completely exhausted by over two years of war. Without immediate and sustained access, lives will be lost.”
Residents, aid agencies, and local officials say the situation has reached breaking point. According to reports, some residents have resorted to eating animal fodder and food waste. Deaths due to hunger are already being reported, and the price of scarce goods has skyrocketed.
The WFP has trucks loaded with food and nutritional supplies ready to move and has received clearance from Sudan’s military government. However, it is still waiting for a response from the RSF to allow safe passage.
The RSF has reportedly blocked key supply lines and cut off trade routes into the city. While the group claims to be creating “safe routes” for civilians to escape, it has rejected UN-backed week-long ceasefire, fearing the truce would be used to resupply government troops.
Eight-year-old Sondos, who recently fled the city with her family, summed up the dire situation: “In el-Fasher, there was a lot of shelling and hunger. Only hunger and bombs.”
El-Fasher is the Sudanese army’s last stronghold in Darfur, and its fall would mark a significant gain for the RSF, which has already seized much of the region, including the Zamzam displacement camp in April. The ongoing fighting and aerial bombardments have displaced over one million people, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
UNICEF warns the crisis extends beyond el-Fasher. Across Sudan, the agency says malnutrition has reached emergency levels, particularly among children. In early July, 38% of children under five in displacement camps around el-Fasher were found to be acutely malnourished.
“There is a looming catastrophe,” said Sheldon Yett, UNICEF’s Sudan representative. “We are on the verge of irreversible damage to an entire generation of children, not for lack of tools or knowledge, but due to global inaction.”
While some aid has trickled into other parts of Darfur and central Sudan, recent gains are fragile. The looming rainy season threatens to cut off already-limited road access, and funding for humanitarian operations has been slashed.
The Sudanese state news agency reported that Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, head of the armed forces and de facto national leader, had agreed to a temporary ceasefire. However, the RSF has yet to formally respond, deepening fears that relief may arrive too late for those trapped in el-Fasher.