The total collapse of defences in the besieged city of el-Fasher in Sudan's Darfur was precipitated by a communications blackout that left troops confused and isolated as Rapid Support Forces (RSF) fighters closed in, soldiers who fought in the city, commanders and a telecoms worker told Middle East Eye.
According to the soldiers, who are part of the Joint Forces, former Darfuri rebels fighting alongside the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), all communications devices became unusable on 26 October as the battle hung in the balance.
That afternoon, the soldiers and two Joint Forces commanders said, the main operations room was suddenly unable to contact the military command in Khartoum, the political leadership in Port Sudan or their troops on the frontline.
Officers then decided that night to withdraw their forces from el-Fasher, the sources said, leaving the city, where 260,000 people had been trapped under siege for 18 months, to the RSF.
While most SAF and Joint Forces commanders escaped, many soldiers did not receive the order to withdraw and so died fighting, were killed fleeing or had to find safety alone.
