RSF siege of North Darfur capital leads to food and medical supply shortages

El Fasher in North Darfur is facing a semi-siege imposed by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the north and northeast of the city. The siege further worsens the living and health conditions of those who have not been able to flee, leading to soaring commodity prices and shortages of food and medical supplies.

El Moez Mumin, medical supply officer at the El Haj Abdelsalam Centre in El Fasher, informed Radio Dabanga yesterday that the humanitarian situation in the city significantly worsened last week. “The siege enforced by the RSF has greatly affected the health centres, leading to the closure of two of them, the Sayed El Shuhada Centre and the Abu Shouk Hilla Centre, due to fuel shortages.”

Only a mere two per cent of the state’s medical and food supply needs have been met by trucks arriving in the city previously, he said. “Currently, we are facing severe shortages of medications and medical supplies, as relief organisations and emergency management are struggling to provide aid to North Darfur because of the siege and the insecurity on the roads.”

He cautioned about an imminent collapse of the health sector because of the siege, and urged everyone to heed the voice of reason, avoid military confrontations, and open corridors for humanitarian aid and commercial convoys.

El Fasher is the last major city in Sudan’s western region that is still under combined control of the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the Darfur Joint Protection Force, which is made up of combatants of rebel movements, and has been bracing to resist any onslaught by the RSF since end last year, after the RSF took control of the capitals of the other four Darfur states.

On April 27, the UN Security Council (UNSC) expressed deep concern about the ongoing clashes and related humanitarian catastrophe in El Fasher and called on the warring parties to immediately halt attacks on the city.

The UNSC members warned that the attack that the RSF intend to launch on the North Darfur capital will put the lives of hundreds of thousands of people at risk, noting that many of them essentially sought shelter in the city from other areas, in particular from Nyala, capital of South Darfur.

The RSF taking full control of El Fasher would reportedly also ignite strife between the Arab tribes supporting the RSF, and the Zaghawa tribe, from which most North Darfur rebel fighters hail, and lead to a “catastrophic bloodbath” in the area.