*RSF launches intense artillery shelling on west side of El Fasher*
*Hundreds of vehicles positioned to launch attack*
*Footage shows Joint Forces being ordered into battle in the city*


TUE 15 APR – The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) is positioning its troops in preparation for an all-out ground assault on the city of El Fasher, satellite imagery suggests. It follows attacks over recent days on nearby Zamzam, Sudan’s largest camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs), which continues to be systematically razed.

The latest assessment by the Yale Humanitarian Research Lab (HRL) found with “high confidence” that the RSF took control of Zamzam on 13 April, with satellite imagery taken on 11 April showing “approximately 200 light technical-type vehicles, most observed mounted with weapons on the back,” entering the camp. It says the vehicles are now “highly likely” positioned to launch an “imminent large-scale assault on El Fasher city itself”.

The RSF is already bombarding the west side of El Fasher with heavy artillery, firing over 30 shells into civilian areas in the early hours of this morning, according to the Darfur Network for Human Rights . Footage on social media appears to show Joint Forces troops being ordered to El Fasher, where they are expected to engage the RSF. Any clashes at the edge or inside the city would be expected to cause large numbers of civilian casualties, both because of people being caught in the crossfire and even more from deliberate targeting.

Mubarak*, a civilian in El Fasher, spoke to Avaaz today and explained that he “saw this morning, children, very very little children running on the streets”.

“Some of them are running out of El Fasher city,” he said. “I think these people are running to Tawila area because some of the leaders of the neutral movements told them to go to Tawila. But we don’t expect that the situation there is safe. Even going from El Fasher to Tawila takes some time and they need water, they need many things. Anyhow, the situation is very bad, we are all suffering; not only suffering - this is torture.

“They are in the streets… The people in the streets are without water, without food, without health services, and unfortunately no one is asking about them, no one is taking care of them at the level of authorities.”

It comes on the two-year anniversary of the outbreak of the war following the breakdown of power-sharing between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the RSF in April 2023.

Shayna Lewis, Sudan Specialist and Senior Advisor at PAEMA , said: “The Sudanese authorities and RSF must stop all weaponising of telecommunications and lift the blackout on Darfur. The ongoing blackout is affecting millions and allowing the RSF to hide their genocide from the world.

“The displaced also cannot access funds through mobile banking for evacuations, food, and to receive humanitarian assistance. The blackout is a major civilian protection threat which also affects the documentation of ongoing atrocities.”

Approximately 186,560 people fled the El Fasher area to Tawila between 3-14 April, according to Adam Rijal, the spokesperson for the General Coordination of Displaced Persons and Refugees. Multiple pieces of footage  sent to Avaaz showed hundreds of displaced people arriving in Tawila, while another clip showed women and children leaving the Abu Shouk displacement camp on foot.

Mubarak added: “The situation is extremely difficult, not only difficult but miserable. Those people who were displaced from Zamzam IDP camp – hundreds of thousands – they are here in El Fasher.”

Lukman Ahmed, Executive Director of Malam Darfur, a humanitarian organisation providing assistance in Tawila told Avaaz that “average temperatures in El Fasher are around 40ºC. The displaced who are sleeping on the streets of El Fasher will succumb to heat stroke without urgent increases in humanitarian assistance, including water and food. Many of the displaced are women, children, and the elderly and were already suffering from malnutrition. They will die without assistance”.

*name changed for security reasons.

INTERVIEW OPPORTUNITIES

We are in contact with civilians in El Fasher, some of whom survived the RSF’s assault on Zamzam. If you are interested in interviews, please join this WhatsApp group .

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