Sudan civil war: RSF claims capture of army headquarters in El Fasher

The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which have been fighting the Sudanese army for control of the country since April 2023, announced the capture of army headquarters in the besieged city of El Fasher in the Darfur region. The army has yet to comment.

The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces announced on Sunday that they had captured the headquarters of the Sudanese armed forces in the city of El Fasher.

El Fasher has been under siege by the RSF for 18 months, and an estimated 300,00 people have become trapped in the besieged city.

The armed forces have so far not commented nor confirmed the capture.

If confirmed, it would mark a turnaround in the civil war that has been ravaging Sudan, as the loss of El Fasher would mean the loss of the only foothold of the armed forces in the Darfur region, a stronghold for the RSF. The capture would also mark the first major turnaround in recent months for the RSF, which has increasingly been on the defensive. It currently holds the Darfur and Kordofan regions, while the armed forces control most of the south-eastern parts of the country, as well as the river Nile.