The besieged Sudanese city of El Fasher has been declared “uninhabitable” by the medical humanitarian group MedGlobal, with new data showing most homes destroyed and critical levels of malnutrition among the 250,000 people trapped there. The city, the Sudanese army’s last stronghold in the west, has endured 549 days of attacks by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which has prevented all humanitarian access.
Testimonies from nearly 900 people who recently fled the city reveal a population “pushed to the edge of survival”. More than 90% reported their homes had been destroyed, damaged or looted before they fled, and a quarter had experienced a death in the previous three months. Health screenings found acute malnutrition, with three-quarters of escapers saying they “never or rarely” had food, and half lacking access to water.
MedGlobal’s executive director, Joseph Belliveau, said: “The 500-day siege of El Fasher has pushed its inhabitants to the edge of survival. As one woman put it: ‘In El Fasher I smell death rather than life and hope.’” The city faces intensifying RSF artillery and drone attacks; one strike last weekend killed at least 57 people at a displacement shelter.
Efforts to secure a ceasefire and allow aid into the city have collapsed. The RSF has tightened its siege, fully encircling El Fasher with earthen berms. However, airdrops by the Sudanese military have temporarily resupplied defenders. Food remains scarce: one in five children under five is acutely malnourished, and 38% of pregnant and lactating women are malnourished.
Communications blackouts have cut the city off from the outside world. The last remaining hospital, al Saudi, is routinely targeted; 13 people were killed last week when the RSF shelled it. Half of those surveyed said they had been victims of violence, and 81% said they “never felt safe” moving around the city.
