Why Darfur is now the center of Sudan’s power struggle and humanitarian crisis

On April 11, armed groups reportedly linked to the RSF launched a deadly assault on the city of Al-Fasher, Zamzam, and another displacement camp called Abu Shouk, forcing tens of thousands to flee. (AFP)
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Updated 28 April 2025
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Why Darfur is now the center of Sudan’s power struggle and humanitarian crisis

  • In Al-Fasher, women are dying in childbirth, children collapse from thirst, and supplies have all but vanished
  • Two decades after the world pledged “never again” in Darfur, survivors of latest violence say history is repeating itself

LONDON: A haze of red dust hangs over the cracked roads of Al-Fasher. Children stumble through the rubble-strewn outskirts, barefoot and silent, their faces taut with exhaustion. A woman collapses beside a water container, her two toddlers clinging to her scarf.

Nearby, a man holds a torn piece of cardboard with the word “Zamzam” scrawled in charcoal — a word that no longer means refuge. The camp it refers to, once one of the largest displacement sites in Sudan’s North Darfur, has been ravaged by violence.

On April 11, armed groups reportedly linked to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces launched a deadly assault on the city of Al-Fasher, Zamzam, and another displacement camp called Abu Shouk, forcing tens of thousands to flee.

According to preliminary reports from the UN and humanitarian agencies, more than 400 civilians — including women, children, and up to a dozen aid workers — may have been killed in the space of three days, in attacks that also struck the nearby town of Um Kadadah.

The RSF said the camps in question were being used as bases by what it called “mercenary factions.” It also denied targeting civilians and accused its rivals of orchestrating a media campaign, using actors and staged scenes within the camp to falsely incriminate it.




Preliminary reports from the UN and humanitarian agencies said over 400 civilians — including women, children, and up to a dozen aid workers — may have been killed in the space of three days, in attacks that also struck the nearby town of Um Kadadah. (AFP)

The assault sent shockwaves throughout the region. More than 400,000 people fled, many of them to already overwhelmed towns like Tawila. Others disappeared into the hills of Jebel Marra, carrying only what they could hold. Zamzam is now under RSF control.

“It has been completely overrun — killing, raping, burning, and taking people hostage. No one remains unless they are prisoners,” Altahir Hashim, a human rights advocate who once lived in Zamzam, told Arab News.

Now based in the UK, Hashim monitors desperate voice messages sent by survivors still in hiding. “Every morning I hear names of the dead, pleas for food, calls for medicine,” he said. “But no one is listening.”

For many in Darfur, the violence echoes a familiar pattern — and a painful reminder of promises unkept. This April marked 20 years since the UN Security Council referred atrocities in the region to the International Criminal Court.

But for those displaced today, the anniversary feels hollow. “The killers are still free. The victims are still forgotten,” said Hashim, referring to the genocide perpetrated by the RSF’s forerunner, the Janjaweed. “We are reliving what the world said would never happen again.

IN NUMBERS

  • 13m Displaced persons in Sudan, including 4m who have fled abroad.
  • 150k Estimated death toll since the conflict began on April 15, 2023.
  • 30m People in need of humanitarian assistance.

“The people arriving in Al-Fasher have nothing. No shoes, no food, no blankets. Famine was already creeping through Zamzam before the attack — now it’s an open wound.”

Although the Sudanese Armed Forces have recently made headway against their RSF rivals, retaking the capital, Khartoum, in March, the center of the conflict has shifted elsewhere since erupting suddenly on April 15, 2023.

Al-Fasher itself has become the last major stronghold of the Sudanese state in Darfur region. Here, tens of thousands of newly displaced civilians crowd into schools, mosques, and courtyards.

The city, once a lifeline for aid distribution across the wider region, is now itself under siege. Forces reportedly affiliated to the RSF surround it, choking off humanitarian access and isolating the population within.




More than 400,000 people fled following the RSF assault, many of them to already overwhelmed towns like Tawila. Others disappeared into the hills of Jebel Marra, carrying only what they could hold. (AFP)

Dr. Ibrahim Abdullah Khatir, director general of North Darfur’s Ministry of Health, is among the few officials still coordinating medical efforts in the city. He described conditions as “beyond collapse.”

Khatir told Arab News: “Even pregnant women needing cesarean sections are being turned away.”

He added: “We have received reports of mothers dying in labor because there are no doctors, no medicine, no way out.”

Fuel has all but vanished from the city. Diesel prices have quintupled, halting the trucks that once delivered drinking water to outer neighborhoods. The city’s main water stations are out of service.

“Children are collapsing from dehydration,” Khatir said. “And now, our staff can’t even get to the clinics.”

Al-Fasher was never untouched by conflict, but it was a place where aid agencies could still operate and displaced people could seek help. Now, with RSF fighters reportedly deploying drones and artillery in surrounding areas, even that fragile space is crumbling.

Survivors describe the flight from Zamzam as a gauntlet of fear. Amina, a mother of four, arrived in Al-Fasher after walking for three days.

“We hid in dry riverbeds and behind trees,” she said. “My youngest is sick now — he hasn’t eaten properly in a week. There is no milk, no clean water. We are waiting for help that hasn’t come.”

Others, like 14-year-old Abdulrahman, came alone. “I lost my parents in the crowd. I don’t know if they made it,” he said, huddled beneath a tarp shared with strangers. “I just walked with people who were running.”




People who fled Zamzam camp rest in a makeshift encampment in an open field near the town of Tawila in Sudan’s western Darfur region on April 13, 2025. (AFP)

The UN children’s fund, UNICEF, has warned that more than 825,000 children around Al-Fasher are at daily risk of death due to malnutrition and a lack of clean water.

Humanitarian organizations are mobilizing aid — including 1,800 metric tons of food and 9,000 non-food kits — but with road access cut off and security deteriorating, deliveries have stalled. Several agencies say their staff remain trapped inside the city with no safe evacuation routes.

Medecins Sans Frontieres suspended operations in Zamzam earlier this year due to insecurity. Other groups have pulled back or reduced staff due to threats and attacks.

One international aid worker in Al-Fasher, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Arab News: “We’ve gone from emergency mode to survival mode. There’s nothing left to distribute. And no guarantee we’re even safe.”




UNICEF has warned that more than 825,000 children around Al-Fasher are at daily risk of death due to malnutrition and a lack of clean water. (AFP)

The violence has once again drawn attention to Darfur’s long and bloody history of displacement, exclusion, and impunity.

In the early 2000s, the region was the site of mass killings and systematic ethnic targeting. Today, many Darfuris say the same patterns are playing out again.

“This isn’t just war,” Hashim said. “This is designed to erase entire communities. To remove them, not just physically, but from the map of Sudan.”

Fatima, a local nurse working in a makeshift clinic near Al-Fasher’s central mosque, said she sees the emotional toll every day. “We don’t have proper medicine, so we clean wounds with salt water. But it’s the look in people’s eyes that haunts me. They are afraid to hope.”




The violence has once again drawn attention to Darfur’s long and bloody history of displacement, exclusion, and impunity. (AFP)

Despite urgent appeals from the UN and Sudan’s humanitarian coordinator, Clementine Nkweta-Salami, little progress has been made to secure humanitarian corridors or even a temporary ceasefire to allow aid in.

“Time is running out,” Dr. Khatir said. “We are out of water. Out of food. Out of medicine. And soon, out of time.”

Al-Fasher holds more than just strategic value; it is the historical and cultural heart of Darfur. For many here, it represents the last place left to defend human dignity.

“If Al-Fasher is lost,” Dr. Khatir said, “then the hope for Darfur is lost too.”

 


Qatari emir holds calls with Iranian and US presidents, condemns targeting Al-Udaid

Updated 10 sec ago
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Qatari emir holds calls with Iranian and US presidents, condemns targeting Al-Udaid

  • Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani said Iran’s action contradicted the principles of good neighborliness
  • Masoud Pezeshkian expressed regret to Sheikh Tamim for the damages caused by Monday’s attack
  • Donald Trump rejected ‘any aggression that threatens the security and safety of the State of Qatar’

LONDON: The emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, received separate phone calls from Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and US President Donald Trump on Tuesday following the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps’ missile attack on Al-Udeid Air Base.

Sheikh Tamim strongly condemned the Iranian attack at the outset of his call with Pezeshkian. He said the act was “a blatant violation of Qatar’s sovereignty and airspace, as well as a breach of international law and the United Nations Charter.”

The IRGC on Monday night fired missiles at Al-Udeid Air Base, the largest US military base in the Middle East, accommodating about 10,000 service members, located 30 kilometers southwest of Doha. The attack was a retaliatory action after the US hit three of Iran’s nuclear facilities over the weekend.

Sheikh Tamim said that Iran’s action contradicted the principles of good neighborliness and highlighted Doha’s ongoing commitment to dialogue with Iran.

He urged an immediate halt to military operations and a return to negotiations to resolve the crisis and ensure regional security and safety, the Qatar News Agency reported.

Pezeshkian expressed regret to Sheikh Tamim for the damage caused by Monday’s attack. He said that Qatar and its people were not the intended targets of the military operation and that “the attack does not constitute a threat” to Qatar.

Sheikh Tamim also spoke with Trump, who affirmed Washington’s solidarity with Doha after the Iranian attack and rejected “any aggression that threatens the security and safety of the State of Qatar and undermines the security and stability of the region.”

During the call with Sheikh Tamim, Trump urged restraint and seeking diplomatic solutions.

Sheikh Tamim thanked Trump for the supportive stance of the United States. He also mentioned that the readiness of the Qatari armed forces and the precautionary measures authorities took resulted in no fatalities or injuries.


Lebanon’s prime minister hails success in staying out of Iran-Israel conflict

Updated 6 min 13 sec ago
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Lebanon’s prime minister hails success in staying out of Iran-Israel conflict

  • War prevented in Lebanon but true stability demands departure of Israeli forces from Lebanese territory, Nawaf Salam says during visit to Doha
  • ‘We are striving to use all available political and diplomatic forces to pressure Israel’ into withdrawing, he adds

BEIRUT: During an official visit to Qatar on Tuesday, Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam welcomed the fact that his country had managed to avoid being pulled into the conflict between Iran and Israel that began on June 13.

When he met the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, Salam hailed the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Iran announced on Monday, and thanked Doha for its efforts to help end the hostilities. Both leaders agreed that the end of the conflict would help foster stability in Lebanon, Palestine and the wider Gulf region, the prime minister’s media office said.

During a joint press conference with Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, Qatar’s prime minister and minister of foreign affairs, Salam said: “We in Lebanon, all of us, have succeeded in preventing the country from being drawn into a new war amid the ongoing regional conflict over the past two weeks.

“Now, with military operations having ceased, we look forward to turning a new page focused on diplomatic efforts.”

Israel has been accused of ramping up strikes on targets in southern Lebanon amid its conflict with Iran, and near-daily violations of a November ceasefire agreement that ended its 14-month war with Hezbollah.

Salam arrived in Doha on Tuesday morning, the day after Iran’s attack on a US military base in Qatar caused his flight to be diverted to Bahrain. He resumed his journey when airspace reopened and was the first passenger to land at the city’s airport following the previous day’s incident.

He condemned the attack on Qatar and expressed his full solidarity with the leadership of the country and its people. He also described the Israeli aggression against Iran as a violation of Iranian sovereignty and a breach of international law.

Addressing the possibility of renewed Hezbollah involvement in conflicts, Salam said: “The Lebanese state will extend its authority, through its own forces, over all Lebanese territory, as stipulated in the Taif Agreement.”

He added that “true stability cannot be achieved unless Israel fully withdraws from the Lebanese territories it continues to occupy, known as the Five Points.”

During talks with his Qatari counterpart, Sheikh Mohammed, Salam thanked Qatar for its “continued support for the Lebanese army.” They addressed the need for intensified international and regional efforts to halt repeated Israeli attacks on Lebanon, and reiterated calls for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from occupied Lebanese territories, reconstruction efforts, and the full restoration of Lebanese sovereignty over all of its territory.

Regarding the possibility that Lebanon could ask Qatar and Turkiye to put diplomatic pressure on Israel to withdraw from its positions in Lebanese territory, Salam said: “We are striving to use all available political and diplomatic forces to pressure Israel, beginning with our Arab brothers and extending to the permanent members of the UN Security Council and the United States.”

He highlighted reported Israeli violations of the November ceasefire deal and called for international pressure on the state “to respect and implement that agreement.”

Qatari officials offered their support for efforts to address the Syrian refugee crisis in Lebanon, and are considering “practical plans that would allow for a safe and dignified return to their homes,” Salam’s media office said.

The prime minister led a delegation during his trip to Qatar that included Minister of Culture Ghassan Salameh, Minister of Energy and Water Joe Saddi, Minister of Public Works and Transport Fayez Rasamni, and Minister of State for Administrative Reform Fadi Makki.


Syria welcomes EU sanctions against former Assad security officials

Updated 24 June 2025
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Syria welcomes EU sanctions against former Assad security officials

  • The EU has imposed sanctions on Suhail al-Hassan, Ghiyath Dallah, Miqdad Fathiyeh, Mudallal Khoury, Imad Khoury
  • Ministry of Foreign Affairs say they repeatedly assaulted Syrian security personnel, civilians

LONDON: The Syrian Arab Republic has welcomed an EU decision to impose sanctions on former security figures in former dictator Bashar Assad’s regime, which collapsed in December 2024.

Syria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the decision reflected a growing acknowledgment of the extent of the violations committed by former figures in the Assad regime against Syrians and their role in fueling violent sectarian events.

The EU has imposed sanctions on Suhail al-Hassan, Ghiyath Dallah, Miqdad Fathiyeh, Mudallal Khoury and Imad Khoury. The ministry said the five were involved in committing serious crimes against Syrians and, in March, played a direct role in fueling sectarian strife in the coastal towns of Banias, Latika and Jableh.

It added they had repeatedly assaulted Syrian security personnel and civilians and attempted to destabilize the coastal areas.

The ministry said a report investigating the coastal events would be submitted to the presidency and those responsible would be held accountable.

“The Syrian government reiterates its commitment to prosecute all those involved in these crimes, wherever they may be, inside or outside the country, to ensure that they are brought to justice and that the victims receive justice,” it said in a statement.


Explosion heard in Damascus, Syrian security forces confirm leftover munitions detonation

Updated 24 June 2025
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Explosion heard in Damascus, Syrian security forces confirm leftover munitions detonation

  • Residents had heard a loud blast and saw a plume of smoke rising in the western neighborhoods of the city

DAMASCUS: Syrian security forces detonated leftover munitions as part of a training exercise in the capital Damascus on Tuesday, a security source said, creating an explosion that was heard across the city.

The source from Syria’s General Security Service, which is broadly responsible for security matters, told Reuters no-one was wounded in the controlled blast.

Residents had heard a loud blast and saw a plume of smoke rising in the western neighborhoods of the city early on Tuesday evening.


UNRWA chief says cash flow crisis may force him into ‘unprecedented decision’

Updated 24 June 2025
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UNRWA chief says cash flow crisis may force him into ‘unprecedented decision’

  • Philippe Lazzarini said the UNRWA faced a $200 million deficit
  • “Without additional funding I will soon have to take an unprecedented decision affecting our services to Palestinian refugees“

GENEVA: The head of the UN Palestinian refugee agency said on Tuesday he may have to take an “unprecedented decision” about the services it provides if funding is not found soon to ease a cash flow crisis.

Philippe Lazzarini said the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) faced a $200 million deficit.

“Cash flow is managed on a weekly basis,” he told reporters in Berlin. “Without additional funding I will soon have to take an unprecedented decision affecting our services to Palestinian refugees.”

Lazzarini gave no further details of what that decision might entail.

The United States was UNRWA’s biggest donor but President Donald Trump announced broad cuts in foreign aid, including to UNRWA, earlier this year.

Other Western governments’ aid budgets are also under pressure following calls by Trump for more spending on defense as Russia’s war in Ukraine drags on.

UNRWA provides aid, health and education services to millions in the Palestinian territories and neighboring Arab countries of Syria, Lebanon and Jordan.

Lazzarini said that two weeks ago he had been about to suspend 10,000-15,000 UNRWA staff in the region because of the cash flow crisis but an advance contribution from a donor had given the agency respite for the next two months.

“Just to process the payroll of our staff we need $60 million a month. We have no visibility anymore beyond September,” he added.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has requested a strategic assessment of the impact of the UNRWA mandate and will propose how the right of Palestinian refugees can be protected, Lazzarini said.

Israel has banned UNRWA from operating on its territory, accusing it of employing members of Palestinian militant group Hamas who took part in the October 2023 attacks on Israel that led to the war in Gaza.

UNRWA said as the ban went into effect this year that operations in the Gaza Strip and West Bank would also suffer.

The UN has said it will investigate all accusations made by Israel and asked Israel for evidence, which it says has not been forthcoming. Lazzarini has said that UNRWA has been the target of a disinformation campaign.