Inside Sudan's besieged city of Al-Fashir as famine takes hold
"If you don't rescue us, I swear by God, no treatment or hospitals are available, only death. We have nothing left for us but death."
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SBS Australia
a day ago
- SBS Australia
'They're dying daily': Inside Sudan's besieged city of al-Fashir as famine takes hold
In the Sudanese city of al-Fashir, women sing prayers, begging for food. The city has been cut off from the world by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) for more than 15 months. No food or aid delivery has been allowed in. Now, civilians worry the only thing that awaits them is death. "If you don't rescue us, I swear by God, no treatment or hospitals are available, only death," a woman trapped in the besieged city told SBS News. "We have nothing left for us but death." 'They're dying daily' Hundreds of thousands of people are under siege in al-Fashir, the Sudanese army's last holdout in the western Darfur region. People are running out of food and coming under constant artillery and drone barrages, while those who flee violent attacks and a cholera outbreak in surrounding areas. The city is the biggest remaining frontline in the region between Sudan's army and the RSF, under fire at a pivotal point in a civil war now well into its third year. But the RSF has blocked food supplies and sources speaking to Reuters have said aid convoys trying to reach the city have been attacked. Prices for the goods that traders are able to smuggle in cost more than five times the national average. LISTEN TO Now, residents are facing famine. Mohamed Dodah, a refugee and Zaghawa community leader, fled to the besieged city as it was the last city in Darfur not under RSF control. Dodah said people eat one meal a day — if that — and said he's surrounded by starvation and death. "If you could eat breakfast, you'll wait for the next day to eat another meal," Dodah told SBS News. "They're suffering right now. They're dying daily." What food civilians can get is poor. Some eat hay. Ambaz — peanut oil waste, which is typically used to feed animals — is reportedly now the primary source of food. But there are fears that even that is running out. Ambaz — or peanut oil waste — is typically used to feed pets in Sudan. But now, it's civilians' primary source of food amid famine. Source: Supplied / Mohamed Dodah Farhan Haq, deputy spokesperson for the United Nations' secretary-general, said civilians in al-Fashir are at a breaking point. "Local sources say people are dying from hunger and malnutrition," Haq told SBS News. "Community-run kitchens have shut down due to a lack of food stocks, and some residents have reportedly resorted to consuming animal feed." The UN says half of Sudan's 50 million population is facing acute hunger after more than two years of civil war between RSF militants and the Sudanese army. In Darfur, the UN has declared famine in 11 locations. UNICEF estimates more than 330,000 people are facing malnutrition in the city of al-Fashir alone due to a total blockade of aid by RSF militants. LISTEN TO It's becoming an increasingly impossible situation for civilians, who also struggle with shellings and increasingly more dangerous weather conditions. "One and a half million civilians are suffering from the ravages of artillery and drone shelling, as well as shrapnel from the fighting on the outskirts of the city," Dodah said. One civilian said the citizens are "suffering extremely harshly", especially in harsh weather conditions. Temperatures are hitting 35 degrees, while rain and storms bombard the city. "These houses do not provide shelter or cover," she said. "These children are not eating. Even the main meal is not available." What is happening in al-Fashir? Al-Fashir has been cut off from the world by the RSF for more than 15 months. The civil war between the Sudanese army and the RSF erupted in April 2023 when the former allies clashed over plans to integrate their forces. The RSF made quick gains in central Sudan, including the capital Khartoum, but the army pushed them westward this year, leading to an intensification in fighting in al-Fashir. The city's fall would give the RSF control over nearly all of Darfur — a vast region bordering Libya, Chad, the Central African Republic and South Sudan — and pave the way for what analysts say could be Sudan's de facto division. Besieged along with the army and its allies are hundreds of thousands of al-Fashir's residents and people displaced by previous attacks, many living in camps that monitors say are already in famine. LISTEN TO As a child, Dodah's village was destroyed by Arab militias who targeted his tribe, the Zaghawa people, along with the Masalit and Fur tribes. These militias later became the RSF. In April, the RSF raided Dodah's home in the Zamzam displacement camp, where he alleged they set fire to the camp and even killed foreign aid workers. "The entire Relief International staff had been wiped out, including the camp director and nine other employees. I found their bodies stacked, each with a bullet wound to the head," he said. Mohamed Dodah (centre) fled to al-Fashir after the Rapid Support Forces raided his home in the Zamzam displacement camp. A new investigation estimates over 1,500 civilians were killed in the attack. Source: Supplied / Mohamed Dodah Reports on the attack suggested up to 400 non-Arab civilians were killed during the three-day assault. The UN said "hundreds" of civilians, including 12 humanitarian workers, were killed. But a new Guardian investigation estimates the real number of civilians killed sits at 1,500, with repeated testimony of mass executions and large-scale abductions. That number could be even higher with many bodies still not recovered from the camp, now controlled by the RSF. Dodah fled to the last city in Darfur, not under RSF control — al-Fashir. Now, he believes he will be killed — or at least held hostage — if the city falls. "If they control al-Fashir, there will be killing and raping and kidnapping. Firstly, they will kill the leaders. They will catch me, [they will] put me in a prison — if not kill me," he said. No escape Sudanese-Australian man Algaly Abdelrasoul lives in Sydney, but his uncle, aunt and extended family are trapped in al-Fashir. He's only able to get through to his uncle on occasion, hearing glimpses of the violence. "So basically, he says this [person's] doing well. This one has passed away. This one's wounded. This one is gone somewhere. This one we haven't spoken to, we don't know where they are," Abdelrasoul told SBS News. "This is the norm. I say tell me more. What is happening? How are you feeling? He just tells me, we just survived another day. He sees it as, I just need to survive." When asked if it's possible for his uncle to escape the starving city, which is surrounded by the RSF, Abdelrasoul said there's no safe way out of al-Fashir. "Men — you can't [escape]. Women and kids, [you might] if they show mercy, and that's a risk — you might try to escape and they might kill you. They might rape you," he said. "If they feel like letting you go — if you're lucky enough — you might be able to escape to a surrounding town. "It's a very delicate situation. Because if you stay there, if you're not being killed by the RSF, then you're dying of hunger, starvation, lack of medical assistance is also a big issue. "They're just holding on for dear life." 'We are watching al-Fashir be murdered' Nathan Raymond, a human rights investigator who leads the Yale Humanitarian Research Lab, has worked with the UN to better understand the hunger crisis. He said while the people in Gaza have had aid deliveries severely limited for several months now, in al-Fashir, it's been over a year of total blockade. "In the case of al-Fashir, they have been in a state of humanitarian siege now since the spring of 2024 — so over a year," Raymond told SBS News. "The famine review committee of the United Nations declared an IPC five event, which is the highest degree of famine." While both the military and the RSF have been accused of war crimes in the current conflict, several human rights groups, as well as the United States, say the paramilitary group has committed genocide in Darfur — a claim the militia denies. The RSF also denies committing genocide, saying it was not involved in what it describes as a "tribal conflict" in Darfur. Raymond's team at Yale have monitored alleged war crimes in Darfur using ultra-high resolution satellites and sensors provided by NASA and the European Space Agency. "It's very easy to make assessments due to the remote sensing data. We monitor cemeteries at al-Fashir and over the past year, those cemeteries have been growing exponentially," Raymond said. "We can watch them bury their loved ones from space." He said the satellites have picked up damage to feeding centres, hospitals, mosques and other critical humanitarian infrastructure. "We are watching al-Fashir be murdered from 450 miles above the Earth's surface," he said. But the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the civilians within the city may not be able to hold out for much longer. "At this point, it's a matter of time unless there's a major change in SAF's military strength "Most of the city has been reduced to rubble. "By our calculations, more than 40 per cent of the city has been destroyed by RSF bombardment and attacks and Sudan Armed Forces airstrikes and artillery bombardment to try to target the Rapid Support Forces. "The civilians have been caught in the crossfire at this point. There is no food in the city." — With additional reporting by Reuters
ABC News
5 days ago
- ABC News
Palestinian-Australian principal takes six months' stress leave after more than 100 family members die in Gaza
In his lush Gold Coast backyard, Sami Muamar is haunted by a nightmare that's set a world away in Gaza. In a recurring dream, he's safe in Australia while his sister and extended family are drowning in hellfire. "It is literally hell. Hell, because they live in a tent, there is no clean water, and in the tent, it's hot, they can't even have air," said Mr Muamar, the principal at one of Australia's largest Islamic schools on the south side of Brisbane. Every time he picks up his phone, he receives reminders that his family back home is living on a cup of lentils a day — if they're lucky — and he dreams of being able to rescue them. "It's just a nightmare and it's not for one week, two weeks, three weeks. It is for almost two years," he said. Mr Muamar has tried unsuccessfully to secure his sister a visa to join him in Australia and while he sends money overseas, he's wracked with guilt and helplessness that he's not doing more. "When I look at the group chat, I think of my sister, and I can show you her photos, I talked to her the other day, she's skin and bone from hunger, there's no food," Mr Muamar said. "I said, 'What do you eat?' And she started crying." Mr Muamar said he stopped counting the numbers of his extended family who have been killed in the conflict when the total reached 130. He provided the ABC with names for 112 relatives and said all but one had been killed in air strikes. The ABC was able to verify that 103 of those names are listed on a Gaza Ministry of Health database, which contains the names of 58,380 people reportedly killed during the conflict. The database comes with the disclaimer it does not include all of those to die in the conflict. A devout Muslim, Mr Muamar is comforted by his belief that his dead relatives are being cared for in the afterlife, but that's no solace for the living. "The loss is not only for my family, it is for every single family actually. I know people in Brisbane that lost similar numbers to us." Mr Muamar left the Gaza strip in 2002 and said he had no "real connection" with some of his lost relatives. Others, like his cousin Tamim Abu Muammar, he's known since birth and their deaths cut to the bone. Tamim Muammar, his wife and three daughters were reportedly killed in an Israeli air strike while his two young sons survived. "He's the one I grew up with, we played together when we were children, we [went] to school together and he was a really good man," Mr Muamar said. "It hit me so much when I lost him, it's just really difficult to think of him, his wife, his kids, they are like five years old." Another cousin, Salih Mahmood Muamar, was among 14 paramedics killed and buried in a mass grave in March. An Israeli investigation led to the sacking of a deputy commander and a report detailing "professional failures". For Mr Muamar and many others in Australia, these deaths are observed in real time on family group chats. Two weeks ago, he received blow-by-blow updates about his nephew Ahmed Mahmoud Muamar, also a teacher, who was buried under rubble after leaving his tent to seek food. "My nephew … went to go get a kilo or two kilos of flour from the Israeli-American humanitarian station, they call it, and while he was going home — he did not get anything — he is shelled with the rockets," Mr Muamar said. "Luckily he managed to get out of the rubble after six or seven hours, they got him out. He lost two of his kneecaps, two broken legs, lots of bruises." He said that final sleepless night waiting for an update was, "the straw that broke the camel's back". After 22 months of war, Mr Muamar is exhausted and has reluctantly stepped down as principal to restore his mental health after struggling to sleep and focus. He wants the wider community to know other Palestinian Australians are suffering and is speaking up because the current war seems interminable. "What has been happening is literally a genocide. It is an ethnic cleansing," Mr Muamar said. "At the beginning I understand the reaction of Israel, I understand it's a normal revenge." Israel has denied allegations of genocide and ethnic cleansing. An estimated 50 Israeli hostages remain in Gaza, fewer than half of whom are believed to be alive, kidnapped in the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, that started the war. Dr Mohamed Mustafa is a Palestinian Australian and one of the few people in Australia who has seen the destruction inside Gaza. The trainee doctor just returned from the second of two visits since the start of the war volunteering as an emergency doctor. "You're working in a concentration camp, no food, no water, no electricity. You're not allowed to bring in medical supplies with you, 2,000-pound bombs are going off hundreds of metres away from you," Dr Mustafa said. Dr Mustafa also has a wife in Gaza and knows the pain of searching for updates on loved ones. "We have times where the communication goes down for three days and you just look at the news and you see where the bombs drop," Dr Mustafa said. "To watch it unfold in real time, to watch it live-streamed on our phones, I don't think anyone has been in this unique position to watch the destruction of their families and their homes … it makes it very hard to be a Palestinian." Dr Mustafa said his community feels dehumanised by their representation in the media. Back at the Islamic College of Brisbane, CEO Dr Ali Kadri supports Mr Muamar's decision, even though the school starts term three without its principal. Mr Kadri is a leader in his community who turned down an approach to be the federal government's Islamophobia envoy. He said it was an important time to recognise the suffering in parts of the Australian community. He said the most important thing people can do now is empathise. Back at Mr Muamar's house, he's retreated to his garden and is hoping he'll find some peace. "When you plant a seed and you see it coming back it gives you hope of life," Mr Muamar said. "What I've seen of Gaza, it's destructive. I have hope of planting a seed and making something new. It makes you think there is hope for coexistence."
SBS Australia
5 days ago
- SBS Australia
Inside Sudan's besieged city of Al-Fashir as famine takes hold
Listen to Australian and world news, and follow trending topics with SBS News Podcasts . Women praying -singing in Arabic A prayer for food in Sudan's besieged city of Al-Fashir. The city has been cut off from the world by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces for more than 15 months. Mohamed Dodah, a refugee and Zaghawa community leader, says daily battles have wreaked havoc on the capital of the North Darfur region. "One and a half million civilians are suffering from the ravages of artillery and drone shelling, as well as shrapnel from the fighting on the outskirts of the city." But it's not the fighting that has most civilians in the city concerned. "Frankly, the citizens are suffering extremely harshly, especially in Autumn. These houses do not provide shelter or cover. These children are not eating, even the main meal is not available." The United Nations says half of Sudan's 50 million population is facing acute hunger after more than two years of civil war between R-S-F militants and the Sudanese army. In the western region of Darfur the U-N has declared famine in 11 locations, with UNICEF estimating more than 330,000 people are facing malnutrition in the city of Al-Fashir alone due to a total blockade of aid by R-S-F militants. Nathaniel Raymond, a human rights investigator who leads the Yale Humanitarian Research Lab, has worked with the U-N to better understand the hunger crisis. " In Gaza, people have been without aid delivery for three months. In the case of Al-Fashir, they have been in a state of humanitarian siege now since the spring of 2024 so over a year. The famine review committee of the United Nations declared an IPC five event, which is the highest degree of famine, which our team at the Humanitarian Research Lab at Yale assisted them in declaring the situation." UN spokesman Farhan Haq says civilians in Al-Fashir are at a breaking point. "Local sources say people are dying from hunger and malnutrition. Community-run kitchens have shut down due to lack of food stocks, and some residents have reportedly resorted to consuming animal feed." Mohamed Dodah says peanut oil waste, typically used for pet feed, is the primary source of food in Al-Fashir and locals are allowed only one meal a day. "If you got eat breakfast, you'll wait for next day to eat another meal even if breakfast or lunch. They're suffering right now. They're dying daily." As a child, Mohamed's village was destroyed by Arab militias who targeted his tribe, the Zaghawa people, along with the Masalit and Fur tribes. These militias later became the Rapid Support Forces. In April, the RSF raided Mohamed's home in the Zamzam displacement camp, where he says they set fire to the camp and even killed foreign aid workers. "The entire Relief International staff had been wiped out, including the camp director and nine other employees. I found their bodies stacked, each with a bullet wound to the head." Mohamed fled to the last city in Darfur not under RSF control - Al-Fashir. While both the military and the RSF have been accused of war crimes in the current conflict, some human rights groups as well as the United States say the paramilitary group has committed genocide in Darfur - a claim the militia denies. Nathaniel Raymond's team at Yale have monitored alleged war crimes in Darfur using ultra high resolution satellites and sensors provided by NASA and the European Space Agency. "It's very easy to make assessments due to the remote sensing data. We monitor cemeteries and Al-Fashir and over the past year those cemeteries have been growing exponentially. We can watch them bury their loved ones from space. Additionally, we can see damage to feeding centres, hospitals, mosques, and other critical humanitarian infrastructure. We are watching Al-Fashir be murdered from 450 miles above the Earth's service." Algaly Abdelrasoul lives in Sydney but his uncle, aunt and extended family are trapped in the city. He's only able to get through to his uncle on occasion, hearing glimpses of the violence. "So basically he says this one's doing well. This one has passed away. This one's wounded. This one is gone somewhere. This one we haven't spoken to, we don't know where they are. This is kind of the norm. I say tell me more. What is happening? How are you feeling? He just tells me, you know what, we just survived another day. He sees it as I just need to survive." When asked if it's possible for his uncle to escape the starved city, which is surrounded by the RSF, he says there's no safe way out of Al-Fashir. "Men, you can't. Women and kids, if they show mercy and that's a risk. They might kill you, they might rape you. If they feel like letting you go, if you're lucky enough, you might be able to escape to a surroundings town. It's a very delicate situation. Because if you stay in, if you're not being killed by the RSF, you're dying of hunger, starvation, lack of medical assistance is also a big issue. They're just holding on for dear life." But the Sudanese Armed Forces and the civilians within the city may not be able to hold out for much longer. "At this point, it's a matter of time unless there's a major change in SAF's military strength. Most of the city has been reduced to rubble. By our calculations, more than 40 per cent of the city has been destroyed by RSF bombardment and attacks and Sudan, armed forces airstrikes and artillery bombardment to try to target the rapid support forces. The civilians have been caught in the crossfire at this point. There is no food in the city." Mohamed Dodah believes he will be killed, or at a minimum held hostage, if the city falls. "If they control Al-Fashir, there will be killing and raping and kidnapping. Firstly, they will kill the leaders. They will catch me, put me in a prison and - if not kill me - you will need money to free me." And after peace talks between regional powers broke down in Washington last week, the desperate civilians of Al-Fashir are begging the world to intervene and finally break the 15-month siege. "If you don't rescue us, I swear by God, no treatment or hospitals are available, only death. We have nothing left for us but death."
