Shafaq News – Khartoum

Thousands of civilians remain trapped in the city of El-Fasher in Sudan’s North Darfur as Rapid Support Forces (RSF) fighters continue to block residents from leaving, the Sudanese Doctors Network said on Sunday.

The medical organization reported that RSF units have detained people inside the city and forcibly returned others who tried to flee. It said some of those brought back included gunshot victims and people suffering from malnutrition. The group urged the immediate release of civilians and called for humanitarian access to recover and bury bodies lying on the city’s outskirts, warning of a potential environmental disaster.

Authorities in Darfur said last week that more than 2,200 people have been killed in El-Fasher since RSF forces seized the city on October 26. Akkad bin Koni, a spokesperson for the regional government, told Russia’s Sputnik agency that the death toll had reached 2,227, including children, women, and the elderly, while about 390,000 residents had fled their homes.

He said footage showed gunmen firing on the Saudi Hospital, temporary shelters, and mosques where the wounded and displaced had sought refuge.

Local officials and aid groups estimate that about 30,000 people have reached camps in nearby towns such as Kurma and Tawila, while many others remain missing or are believed to have been abducted by armed groups demanding ransom or levying so-called “taxes” on their families.