Sudan18 November, 20252 min read
Sudanese Army and Rapid Support Forces Escalate Massacres in El-Fasher and Kordofan, Leaving 40,000 Dead and 12 Million Displaced
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Conflict since April 2023 has killed at least 40,000 and displaced about 12 million. Sudanese army and Rapid Support Forces are fighting intensely in El-Fasher and Kordofan.
4 outlets told this the same way.
Sudan war and humanitarian crisis
Sudan's civil war, which began in April 2023 between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), has escalated into a renewed humanitarian catastrophe concentrated in Darfur and Kordofan. International agencies estimate at least 40,000 killed and some 12 million displaced since the fighting began. El-Fasher was captured on October 26, 2025 after an 18-month siege.
“The World Health Organization estimates at least 40,000 killed and 12 million displaced since the war began.”
The UN and World Health Organization have warned about the scale and severity of the crisis, with the UN humanitarian chief describing Darfur as "the world's capital of human suffering". Military analysts warn clashes are intensifying across Kordofan as both sides seek to secure or sever supply lines, widening the conflict beyond Darfur.
El‑Fasher: atrocities and displacement
Eyewitness and medical group accounts documented in reporting point to systematic atrocities around El‑Fasher, including detentions, torture, killings and mass sexual assaults. The Sudan Doctors Network documented 32 cases of rape among girls fleeing El‑Fasher in one week and called for an independent international investigation and survivor support. Large population movements followed the fall of the city: nearly 100,000 people fled El‑Fasher recently, but only about 10,000 have reached nearby Tawila and many remain missing or reportedly held in detention centres.
Sudan territorial control reports
Territorial control and battlefield dynamics are presented differently across reports.
“The RSF now controls all five Darfur states (about one‑fifth of Sudan), while the army holds the rest, including Khartoum; the ICC is collecting evidence amid accusations of mass atrocities and ethnic massacres, and aid delivery remains highly dangerous.”
Evrim Ağacı states the RSF now controls all five Darfur states while the army holds the rest of Sudan, including Khartoum.
The ICC is collecting evidence amid accusations of mass atrocities.
Al-Jazeera’s military analysis extends the theatre into Kordofan.
It quotes Col. Staff Hatim al-Falahi saying the RSF currently controls five Kordofan states while the army holds ten.
The report adds that air power and drone strikes on airports are shaping operations.
These variances reflect overlapping and distinct geographic emphases and signal potential contradictions or complementary snapshots of a fast-moving conflict front.
ICC conviction and media coverage
The international and judicial response is underscored by Africanews' report of an ICC conviction. The court convicted former Janjaweed commander Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman (Ali Kushayb) on 27 counts, including murder, rape and persecution, for a Darfur campaign of massacres and village burnings. Prosecutors are seeking the maximum penalty of life imprisonment, marking the ICC's first conviction related to the Darfur conflict.
Evrim Ağacı likewise reports the ICC is collecting evidence amid accusations of mass atrocities. Al-Jazeera's coverage focuses on military assessments rather than legal milestones, highlighting divergent emphases between accountability and battlefield reporting.
Humanitarian access crisis
Humanitarian access and relief are under acute pressure as frontline combat and attempts to sever supply lines intensify, with reporters noting that aid delivery remains highly dangerous and large numbers of displaced people exceed available assistance. The RSF’s territorial gains and reported strikes on infrastructure, including drone attacks on airports, have compounded the difficulty of delivering aid and tracking missing civilians. Agencies warn that the humanitarian response is far short of needs even as mass displacement continues.
“UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher described Darfur as ‘the world’s capital of human suffering,’ noting international aid is far short of needs.”