Sudanese army has withdrawn from El-Fasher: Al-Burhan

AFP , Monday 27 Oct 2025

Sudan army chief General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan said on Monday that "the army has withdrawn from El-Fasher", following an announcement that the city was seized by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group, which his troops have been fighting since April 2023.

File photo of Sudanese civilians gathered to receive aid in El Fasher in Sudan's Darfur region taken. AFP

"We have agreed to withdraw the army from El-Fasher to a safer location," Sudan's de facto ruler said in a speech broadcast on national television, asserting that his side "will take revenge" and fight "until this land is purified".

Since May 2024, El-Fasher has been besieged by the Rapid Support Forces, which have been fighting a brutal war with Sudan's army for over two years.

The RSF said Sunday it had seized full control of El-Fasher, the last major city in the vast western Darfur region not in its hands, in a potential turning point in the country's unrelenting civil war.

The head of the World Health Organisation said that the only even partially functioning hospital in the Sudanese city of El-Fasher had been attacked, urging an immediate end to hostilities.

The Saudi Maternity Hospital was attacked again yesterday. Reports say one nurse lost her life and three additional health workers have been injured," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X, lamenting that a communication blackout meant "we cannot verify further developments at and around the hospital".

The UN rights chief warned Monday that the Sudanese city of El-Fasher was in an "extremely precarious situation", with the likelihood of "ethnically-motivated violations and atrocities" rising after paramilitary forces claimed control.