This image grab taken from handout video footage released on Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) Telegram account on October 26, 2025, shows RSF fighters holding weapons and celebrating in the streets of El-Fasher in Sudan's Darfur. - / AFP
The paramilitary force fighting since 2023 to take over Sudan has ousted the army from its last stronghold in the western Darfur region in fierce fighting, military officials and aid groups said on Monday, October 27. Medical groups reported dozens of civilians killed in the violence.
The army's withdrawal from the city of el-Fasher left over a quarter-million people − half of them children − under the control of the Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, and aid groups reported chaotic scenes Monday including battles between RSF and departing troops and their remaining allies. The UN accused the RSF of executing civilians.
The fall of el-Fasher to the RSF could herald another split of Sudan, more than a decade after South Sudan’s creation. The latest war started in April 2023 when tension between the military and RSF exploded into fighting in the capital, Khartoum, and elsewhere in the northeastern African country.
Footage posted on social media since Sunday shows RSF fighters celebrating in and around the former army base in el-Fasher. According to one video, the paramilitary’s deputy commander, Abdulrahim Dagalo, calls on his fighters not to loot or target civilians.
