{"id":53578,"date":"2025-08-30T00:07:05","date_gmt":"2025-08-29T21:07:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/?p=53578"},"modified":"2025-08-30T00:07:05","modified_gmt":"2025-08-29T21:07:05","slug":"rsf-encircles-el-fasher-with-earthworks-trapping-civilians-in-kill-box","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/30\/rsf-encircles-el-fasher-with-earthworks-trapping-civilians-in-kill-box\/","title":{"rendered":"RSF Encircles El Fasher With Earthworks, Trapping Civilians in \u201cKill Box\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sudan Events \u2013 Agencies<\/strong><\/p>\n

After more than 500 days of siege, Sudan\u2019s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have created what researchers describe as a \u201ckill box\u201d around the capital of North Darfur.<\/p>\n

According to a report released Thursday by Yale University\u2019s Humanitarian Research Lab (HRL), the RSF has constructed over 31 kilometers of earth berms around El Fasher since May 2024, gradually sealing off the city and preventing residents from leaving.<\/p>\n

Although hundreds of thousands managed to flee earlier in the siege, Sudanese think tank Fikra for Public Policy estimates that some 750,000 civilians remain trapped inside the city. The United Nations says about 260,000 civilians\u2014including 130,000 children\u2014are stranded inside the Abu Shouk displacement camp with no way out.<\/p>\n

\u201cCivilian movement within El Fasher is shrinking by the day\u2014whether because people are being killed, attempting escape, or hiding deeper underground. Some are even digging shelters beneath their homes,\u201d said Nathaniel Raymond, HRL\u2019s executive director. He added that the suffering of El Fasher\u2019s residents today is comparable only to Gaza.<\/p>\n

A famine was officially declared in the region more than a year ago. Desperate families have resorted to eating animal fodder and scraps of food to survive. The Yale report stated:<\/p>\n

\u201cThrough these earthworks, the RSF is constructing a true kill box around El Fasher. The barriers block both the smuggling of food and medicine into the city and the escape of civilians out of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Intensifying Siege and Urban Warfare<\/strong><\/p>\n

The RSF controls the surrounding countryside and much of northeastern El Fasher, while Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) units and allied \u201cJoint Forces\u201d\u2014made up of former Darfur rebel movements\u2014hold the rest of the city.<\/p>\n

Since the siege began in May 2024, the U.N. has documented more than 1,100 serious human rights violations in El Fasher alone, including the killing and maiming of over 1,000 children.<\/p>\n

The Yale report said RSF fighters built 22 kilometers of berms in a semicircle stretching west to north, before adding another nine kilometers east of the city in August. The south, southwest, and northeast approaches near Al-Salam camp remain unsealed for now.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, the RSF seized the Zamzam displacement camp, killing more than 1,000 civilians.<\/p>\n

Mines, Battles, and Stalemate<\/strong><\/p>\n

On Thursday night, witnesses reported that Joint Forces allied with the army killed two senior RSF commanders in a surprise attack south of El Fasher. Local journalists said SAF units killed dozens of RSF fighters at a livestock market and recaptured strategic positions.<\/p>\n

But military sources warned the army\u2019s situation remains precarious. The SAF\u2019s 6th Infantry Division controls only a small area around the city\u2019s airport, encircled by minefields laid last year\u2014anti-personnel and anti-tank mines that even the RSF lacks the technical capacity to breach.<\/p>\n

However, the United Arab Emirates\u2014the RSF\u2019s principal backer\u2014could provide the equipment necessary to overcome those defenses.<\/p>\n

International Silence<\/strong><\/p>\n

Amjad Farid al-Tayeb, director of Fikra, condemned what he called the \u201cshameful\u201d silence of the international community:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe cannot accept the normalization of the RSF holding El Fasher\u2019s citizens hostage. Pressure must be applied on the UAE and the RSF to lift the siege and allow humanitarian aid\u2014or they should face real consequences.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kate Ferguson, head of the protection watchdog Protection Approaches, said the tragedy of El Fasher exemplifies a collective failure to shield civilians from atrocities:<\/p>\n

\u201cTwenty years ago, the Janjaweed\u2014predecessors of the RSF\u2014committed the same massacres in Darfur, shocking the world and prompting pledges to save the region. Today, despite repeated warnings, we see only paralysis and silence.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sudan Events \u2013 Agencies After more than 500 days of siege, Sudan\u2019s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have created what researchers describe as a \u201ckill box\u201d around the capital of North Darfur. According to a report released Thursday by Yale University\u2019s Humanitarian Research Lab (HRL), the RSF has constructed over 31 kilometers of earth berms around …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":47677,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-53578","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53578","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53578"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53578\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53579,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53578\/revisions\/53579"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47677"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53578"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53578"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53578"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}