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Sudan s shifting battlefield: What we know Norman Cloete Thu, 10/30/2025 - 06:00 CAIRO - Sudan s two-year war saw a key development on Sunday with paramilitaries capturing the city of El-Fasher from the army, granting them full control of the vast western Darfur region.What began more than two years ago as a power struggle between the regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has escalated into a brutal fight for territorial control, with the fiercest clashes now concentrated in the neighbouring region of Kordofan.The army holds the north, east and centre, including the capital Khartoum and Port Sudan -- the Red Sea hub which it has made the headquarters of a transitional government.The RSF controls much of the south and, since Sunday, the entirety of Darfur in the west, where it has set up a rival administration based in the city of Nyala.Analysts warn that if current front lines stabilise, Sudan could face de facto partition -- its second after the creation of South Sudan in 2011.And the people of Darfur could again be subjected to bloody massacres in a repeat of the early 2000s, when the region suffered at the hands of the Janjaweed militia -- the ancestor of today s RSF.Here are the latest battlefield updates in the conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people and driven nearly 12 million from their homes, triggering what the UN calls the world s largest displacement and hunger crisis.- Darfur: El-Fasher falls -- The RSF captured El-Fasher on Sunday after besieging it for 18 months. Their forces have been accused of mass atrocities against civilians in the days since, with evidence from eyewitness testimony, video published on social media and satellite images.- The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk warned on Monday that there was a danger of ethnically-motivated violations and atrocities following El-Fasher s capture.- Human rights groups warned of ethnic violence, given the RSF s record of targeting non-Arab ethnic groups. The paramilitaries stand accused of killing up to 15,000 Masalit civilians after their capture of the West Darfur city of El-Geneina in 2023 and analysts fear El-Fasher s Zaghawa community could face a similar fate.- In April, the RSF overran the famine-hit Zamzam displaced persons camp south of the city, with the UN saying it was emptied of its roughly 400,000 inhabitants.- What remains of the camp is now being used as a base for foreign mercenaries, according to a former spokesman.- Further north, another famine-hit camp, Abu Shouk, was also overrun by the RSF in late September, a camp spokesperson told AFP. Last year, the camp counted around 200,000 residents but now more than 90 percent have fled, according to the UN.- The army has meanwhile kept up a bombing campaign against Darfur cities under RSF control. In recent weeks, it has repeatedly struck the airport in the RSF headquarters of Nyala, which army chiefs suspect is used to bring in weapons and personnel sent by the United Arab Emirates -- allegations denied by Abu Dhabi.- Kordofan: massacres and humanitarian crisis -- Fighting has intensified in recent months in Kordofan, the strategic region east of Darfur which boasts oil fields, transport corridors and fuel smuggling routes.- The RSF said Saturday they took the city of Bara in North Kordofan, which sits on a strategic transport route connecting Darfur to Khartoum.- RSF forces have also encircled the regional capital of El-Obeid.- In South Kordofan, the RSF and its allies in the Sudan People s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) faction led by Abdelaziz al-Hilu, have blockaded the city of Kadugli and the nearby town of Dilling, trapping more than 500,000 civilians.- Aid groups report soaring food prices and widespread malnutrition.- In August, RSF drone strikes hit the Heglig oil facility, halting operations.- Khartoum: Still under fire -- In March, the army recaptured the capital Khartoum in a major offensive after it had been under RSF control for much of the war. By May, it declared the whole of greater Khartoum, including its sister cities of Omdurman and Khartoum North, completely free of RSF fighters.- A reconstruction effort followed, with crews clearing debris and restoring schools, hospitals and power lines.- However, the RSF has launched a series of drone strikes. In mid-October, they battered the airport for three days after September bombings of military and civilian sites around Khartoum, including a power station, an oil refinery and a weapons factory.- In May, Port Sudan -- seat of the army-backed government -- was hit by RSF drones for the first time. Atbara in the north and Kassala in the east have also been hit.- In August, RSF drones struck an army event in Tambul, in Al-Jazira state southeast of Khartoum. Last week, strikes continued in neighbouring White Nile state, hitting an airbase, fuel depots, a power station and an army base.by Menna Farouk and Lobna MoniebThe information contained in the article posted represents the views and opinions of the author and does not necessarily represent the views or opinions of eNCA.com.

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