Threat of RSF invasion looms over el-Fasher in Sudan’s Darfur

North Darfur, Sudan – Sara Ismail wears a achromatic hijab and camouflage, and wields an AK-47, successful the cardinal marketplace of el-Fasher, the superior of North Darfur.

The 30-year-old is simply a subordinate of the Sudan Liberation Army belonging to Minnie Arko Minnawi (SLA-MM), a erstwhile Darfur rebel person present allied with the Sudanese army.

“We’ve picked up weapons to support our onshore and ourselves,” she said, holding her firearm close.

Formerly portion of the governmental bureau of the SLA-MM, Ismael decided to instrumentality up arms 7 months agone to support her assemblage and herself from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary warring the service for power of Sudan since April 2023.

Hailing from the Zaghawa, a Darfuri people classified arsenic “non-Arab”, she is connected work successful el-Fasher portion her household lives successful the adjacent displacement camp, Zamzam.

She worries for their information with the looming menace of the RSF, who for decades person been known for their brutal unit against non-Arabs successful Darfur, including wielding intersexual unit arsenic a limb of war.

“I curse to God, I won’t get raped [by the RSF]. I would alternatively dice than get raped by them,” Ismael said vehemently.

In this representation drawback taken from handout video footage released by the RSF connected April 23, 2023, shows fighters successful a pickup motortruck mounted with a turret successful the East Nile territory of greater Khartoum [RSF/AFP]

From past to present

The anticipation of the RSF ruling el-Fasher terrifies inhabitants, particularly those who lived done the archetypal Darfur warfare which erupted successful 2003 and sputtered connected since.

Darfur’s tribal nine is classified broadly into “non-Arab” (sedentary) and “Arab” (nomadic) tribes, some groupings are Black and Muslim and person lived successful Darfur for centuries. The non-Arab tribes talk respective languages, arsenic good arsenic Arabic.

In 2003, erstwhile President Omar al-Bashir – a subject antheral who came to powerfulness done a coup successful 1989 –  outsourced to Arab tribal militias the task of crushing an uprising by mostly non-Arab uprising groups angered by the region’s longstanding governmental and economical marginalisation.

His tribal militias became notoriously known to its victims and observers arsenic the Janjaweed (Devils connected Horseback) for committing harrowing abuses, including burning full villages to the crushed and carrying retired summary killings, starring to accusations of taste cleansing and genocide.

Years later, these Arab tribal militias were repackaged by al-Bashir arsenic the RSF but galore Sudanese, similar Ismael, inactive telephone the RSF “Janjaweed”.

“Many of america person had to transportation weapons since 2004,” she said. “Since 2004, the Janjaweed has been raping america and sidesplitting women and girls.”

RSF closing in

By November 2023, the RSF had conquered 4 Darfur states – South, East, West and Central – and looked similar it would soon instrumentality the North, sowing fearfulness among the radical and equipped groups surviving there.

In April, perchance angered by the el-Fasher equipped movements abandoning neutrality and declaring allegiance to the army, the RSF encircled el-Fasher and adjacent towns.

The equipped movements saw a surge successful recruitment arsenic the standoff chopped on taste lines, with “non-Arab” tribes preparing to quadrate disconnected against “Arab” tribes.

Despite the el-Fasher equipped movements coming together, a root from an planetary nongovernmental organisation monitoring developments successful el-Fasher said, the RSF mightiness seizure the metropolis astatine immoderate moment.

“We are person than we person ever been to that scenario, but however adjacent remains anybody’s guess,” said the source, who requested anonymity to support unit connected the ground.

“I aftermath up each time and I deliberation this could beryllium the day.”

A occurrence rages successful a livestock marketplace successful el-Fasher connected September 1, 2023, successful the aftermath of RSF bombing [AFP]

Ethnic killing, militarisation and starvation

Both sides successful the existent struggle person committed quality rights abuses successful Darfur – blocking aid, firing connected civilians and executing prisoners, according to rights groups and a study by a UN fact-finding mission.

The UN recovered the RSF committed further abuses, including wide killings, forcefully expelling populations from their onshore and kidnapping and gang-raping women and girls – abuses that apt magnitude to crimes against humanity.

The rebranded RSF is inactive systematically targeting the non-Arab tribes crossed the region. The Zaghawa, 1 of North Darfur’s largest tribes whose areas agelong into Libya and Chad, are peculiarly vulnerable.

Zaghawa fighters played a salient relation successful rebelling against al-Bashir’s authorities successful 2003 and the state-backed Janjaweed militias responded by attacking the full community.

The RSF has continued this trend, deliberately mounting occurrence to much than 80 Zaghawa communities successful North Darfur betwixt April and November, according to outer imagery obtained by the Yale School of Public Health Humanitarian Research Lab.

It besides routinely shells el-Fasher and deploys equipped aerial drones, terrifying and displacing thousands of civilians, according to residents and quality reports.

It is this spectre of all-out warfare – and wide killings – that has prompted thousands of radical to prime up weapons and make their ain self-defence groups, known arsenic the “mustanfireen”.

“The much radical defy successful Darfur, the much the RSF retaliates with revenge and targeted killings,” said a overseas alleviation worker, speaking connected information of anonymity.

“We are truly successful a vicious ellipse … but the RSF refuses to instrumentality a antithetic approach. They support targeting places wherever they are not welcome,” the alleviation idiosyncratic told Al Jazeera.

RSF spokesperson Al-Fateh al-Qurashi dismissed the accusations that his forces are targeting Zaghawa communities successful North Darfur and restricting aid.

He called the accusations “laughable” and said they aimed to represent warring successful Darfur arsenic a “tribal war.”

However, lawman RSF person Abdelraheem Dagalo antecedently framed the ongoing unit successful Darfur arsenic a tribal warfare to deflect from credible accusations that the radical carried retired wide atrocities successful West Darfur’s superior el-Geneina, wherever up to 15,000 radical from the non-Arab Masalit people were killed, according to a UN sheet of experts report.

RSF fighters successful the East Nile province, Sudan, connected June 22, 2019 [Hussein Malla/AP]

Al-Qurashi claimed determination is nary tribal animosity betwixt Arab tribes and the Zaghawa due to the fact that the RSF includes immoderate Zaghawa recruits, which Al Jazeera was not capable to confirm.

“The Rapid Support Forces are not warring the Zaghawa people and person nary enmity with the tribe,” Qurashi told Al Jazeera successful an email.

Safe haven?

In the southwest of el-Fasher is the sprawling Zamzam camp, wherever an estimated 150,000 to 200,000 displaced radical person sought structure since April 2023, swelling the full colonisation to immoderate fractional a cardinal people, astir of whom are Zaghawa.

Residents, journalists, researchers and NGOs each pass that if the RSF captures el-Fasher, past they volition tempest Zamzam to termination and uproot the non-Arab colonisation there.

The campy is besides wherever the lone corridor retired of el-Fasher tin beryllium accessed, the way for radical fleeing to Chad oregon for assistance organisations wanting to bring assistance into the area.

It was established by an equipped radical known arsenic the Sudanese Liberation Army headed by Abdelwahid al-Nur (SLA-AW), who exploited the warfare to assertion much territory successful Darfur.

The radical supposedly remains neutral, and the beingness of its forces has allowed civilians to fly and for supplies to beryllium brought into the beleaguered civilians successful Zamzam.

While inhabitants person been comparatively safer from artillery, they person struggled with hunger.

In August, the UN declared a famine successful Zamzam and blamed the warring parties for impeding nutrient assistance since the outbreak of the conflict.

That aforesaid month, the service relented and granted entree to UN agencies to present nutrient from the Adre, Chad crossing into West Darfur.

However, the RSF is inactive obstructing assistance arsenic conscionable a fistful of nutrient trucks person reached bare civilians, residents and assistance workers told Al Jazeera.

Doctors Without Borders, known by its French acronym MSF, told Al Jazeera that astir 400 trucks – oregon 8,000 tonnes of nutrient – should beryllium reaching Zamzam each period to reverse the famine.

A displaced Sudanese pistillate rests astatine Zamzam camp, connected August 1, 2024 [Mohamed Jamal Jebrel/Reuters]

“You tin ideate however galore [trucks should beryllium getting in] for each of Darfur,” the assistance radical said successful a connection to Al Jazeera.

“[But] since August and the ‘opening’ of the Adre borderline crossing constituent [only] 262 UN bureau trucks entered Darfur betwixt August and October.”

The menace against Zamzam

Mohamed Nyala, a writer from Darfur who monitors the situation, told Al Jazeera the RSF volition apt perpetrate massacres successful Zamzam if it captures el-Fasher.

“In el-Fasher, it’s little of a warfare betwixt the RSF and the service and much betwixt the Arab and Zaghawa,” helium told Al Jazeera.

“Even if [the leaders of the RSF] archer their fighters not to perpetrate atrocities successful Zamzam, the fighters won’t listen,” helium told Al Jazeera.

According to an HRL outer imagery investigation from November 11, a fig of fighters successful Zamzam person taken “defensive” positions successful anticipation of a imaginable onslaught connected the area.

Relief workers person warned that a imaginable onslaught connected el-Fasher could pb to 1 of the worst humanitarian emergencies of the full war.

The state is already reeling from the world’s largest displacement crisis, successful which much than 11 cardinal radical person been uprooted from their homes.

Over the past fewer days, the RSF has begun attacking Zamzam from afar, firing artillery and respective rockets into the densely populated camp, which killed respective radical and injured many, according to section sources Al Jazeera spoke to.

In the past, the RSF has committed atrocities successful displacement camps aft capturing cities and service garrisons, the connection warned.

In November 2023, the paramilitary killed astir 1,300 radical successful Ardamata campy successful West Darfur aft conquering the country – the immense bulk of victims were unarmed children and men.

People successful Zamzam fearfulness the aforesaid destiny if el-Fasher falls to the RSF.

“We are acceptable to combat and cleanable up each past Janjaweed combatant to rescue Sudan,” said Ismael.

“I volition combat until my past breath.”