Sudan Army Withdraws from Al Fasher as RSF Claims Control

Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, head of Sudan Sovereignty Council, announced that the Sudanese army has withdrawn from Al Fasher following the city’s capture by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

In a speech broadcast on national television Monday, Burhan said the army had agreed to relocate its forces to a safer position after months of intense fighting. He vowed the military would continue the war, declaring that his forces would fight “until this land is purified.”

The statement marks the first official acknowledgment by the army that it lost control of Al Fasher, the capital of North Darfur. The city had been under RSF siege since May 2024.

According to the International Organization for Migration, more than 26,000 people have fled the city since Sunday, seeking refuge either on the outskirts of Al Fasher or in the nearby town of Tawila, about 70 kilometres away. The United Nations estimates that over one million people have fled the city since the war began, while around 260,000 civilians—half of them children—remain trapped with limited access to food or aid.

The capture of Al Fasher gives the RSF control over all five state capitals in the Darfur region and strengthens its parallel administration based in Nyala, the capital of South Darfur. Meanwhile, the Sudanese army now largely controls northern, eastern, and central parts of the country.

The conflict between the Sudanese army and the RSF, which erupted in April 2023, has caused one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

Source:Newstimehub