Sudan’s al Burhan says ‘army has withdrawn’ from Al Fasher

Sudan’s Sovereignty Council leader confirms withdrawal from the key Darfur city after the Rapid Support Forces announce their capture of Al Fasher.

 Sudan Sovereignty Council Leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan has said that “the army has withdrawn from Al Fasher”, following an announcement that the city was seized by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group.

“We have agreed to withdraw the army from Al Fasher to a safer location,” he said in a speech broadcast on national television on Monday, asserting that his side “will take revenge” and fight “until this land is purified”.

The statement was the first by Burhan acknowledging the loss of Al Fasher after the RSF, whose paramilitary troops have been fighting since April 2023, announced their victory in the city in western Darfur on Sunday.

The strategically significant city has been under siege by the paramilitary group since May 2024.

The United Nations migration agency said on Monday that more than 26,000 people have fled the fighting in Al Fasher since Sunday, either seeking safety in the outskirts of the city or heading to Tawila, 70 kilometres to the west.

According to the UN, more than one million people have fled the city since the start of the war, while around 260,000 civilians — half of them children — remain trapped without aid, with many resorting to eating animal fodder.

The capture of Al Fasher gives the RSF control over all five state capitals in Darfur, consolidating its parallel administration in Nyala, the capital of South Darfur.

The army is now confined to the north, east and centre of Sudan.