{"id":7289,"date":"2025-09-15T06:47:46","date_gmt":"2025-09-15T06:47:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/torture-rape-and-forced-starvation-as-paramilitaries-suffocate-besieged-city\/"},"modified":"2025-09-15T06:47:46","modified_gmt":"2025-09-15T06:47:46","slug":"torture-rape-and-forced-starvation-as-paramilitaries-suffocate-besieged-city","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/torture-rape-and-forced-starvation-as-paramilitaries-suffocate-besieged-city\/","title":{"rendered":"Torture, rape and forced starvation as paramilitaries suffocate besieged city"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>Faces marked by terror and torment fill North Darfur&rsquo;s displacement camps.<\/p>\n<p>Their eyes fill with despair as they describe what they have survived during a 16-month siege on one of <strong>Sudan<\/strong>&lsquo;s oldest cities.<\/p>\n<p>It has entrapped their loved ones, while spreading armed violence has left village after village burnt to the ground.<\/p>\n<p>Extreme cases of torture, rape and forced starvation are shared again and again in horrifying detail.<\/p>\n<div class=\"sdc-article-widget sdc-article-image\" data-testid=\"article-image\">\n<figure class=\"sdc-article-image__figure\">\n<div class=\"sdc-article-image__wrapper\" data-aspect-ratio=\"16\/9\">\n          <\/div><figcaption class=\"ui-media-caption\" data-testid=\"article-image-caption\"><span class=\"u-hide-visually\">Image:<\/span><br>\n        <span class=\"ui-media-caption__caption-text\" data-testid=\"article-image-caption-text\">This elderly man told us he went blind due to conditions in the camp<br>\n        <\/span><br>\n      <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>Women collapse into sobs as they contemplate the future and the elderly raise their hands to the sky, trembling and empty, to pray for overdue relief.<\/p>\n<p>In shelters which have seen little to no humanitarian aid, camp directors hand us lists showing requests for clean water, medical supplies and food. Even the trademark white United Nations tarp is scarce.<\/p>\n<div class=\"internal-linking-related-contents\"><a href=\"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/12-weeks-jail-for-school-it-support-technician-who-took-upskirt-videos-of-teachers\/\" class=\"template-1\"><span class=\"cta\">News :<\/span><span class=\"postTitle\">&lt;div&gt;12 weeks' jail for school IT support technician who took upskirt videos of teachers&lt;\/div&gt;<\/span><\/a><\/div><p>Some frayed tent material is used to close the gaps in the stick-lined walls that surround the traditional huts displaced families have built for themselves.<\/p>\n<div class=\"sdc-article-widget sdc-article-custom-markup \" data-component-name=\"ui-article-custom-markup\" data-testid=\"article-custom-markup\">\n<div class=\"flourish-embed\" data-src=\"story\/3316713?2818029\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/public.flourish.studio\/story\/3316713\/thumbnail\" width=\"100%\" alt=\"visualization\"><\/noscript><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>They use them as a temporary refuge from the battles that rage for control of the regional capital, Al Fashir.<\/p>\n<p>Instead of fleeing into nearby Chad, they wait here for news that the siege has been lifted and they may finally be able to return.<\/p>\n<p>But that news may never come.<\/p>\n<div class=\"sdc-article-widget sdc-article-factbox\" data-testid=\"article-factbox\" readability=\"20\">\n<div class=\"sdc-article-factbox__text-wrapper\" readability=\"60\">\n<h4 class=\"sdc-article-factbox__title\" data-testid=\"article-factbox-title\">The battle for Al Fashir &ndash; and Sudan<\/h4>\n<p class=\"sdc-article-factbox__text\" data-testid=\"article-factbox-text\">Al Fashir is being suffocated to death by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) as they push to claim full control of the Darfur region as a base for their parallel government, after the military recaptured the capital Khartoum and other key sites in central Sudan. <\/p>\n<p class=\"sdc-article-factbox__text\" data-testid=\"article-factbox-text\">Close to a million people are facing famine in Al Fashir and surrounding camps as the RSF enforces a full blockade, launching armed attacks on volunteers and aid workers risking their lives to bring in food. <\/p>\n<div class=\"internal-linking-related-contents\"><a href=\"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/migrant-acquitted-in-first-trial-over-us-border-military-zones\/\" class=\"template-1\"><span class=\"cta\">News :<\/span><span class=\"postTitle\">Migrant acquitted in first trial over US border military zones<\/span><\/a><\/div><p class=\"sdc-article-factbox__text\" data-testid=\"article-factbox-text\">Inside the city, thousands are bombarded by almost daily shelling from surrounding RSF troops.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sdc-article-factbox__text\" data-testid=\"article-factbox-text\">The RSF have physically reinforced their siege with a berm &ndash; a raised earth mound. First spotted by Yale Humanitarian Research Lab, the berm is visible from space.<\/p>\n<div class=\"flourish-embed flourish-photo-slider\" data-src=\"visualisation\/25067246?2818029\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/public.flourish.studio\/visualisation\/25067246\/thumbnail\" width=\"100%\" alt=\"photo-slider visualization\"><\/noscript><\/div>\n<div class=\"flourish-embed flourish-photo-slider\" data-src=\"visualisation\/25067752?2818029\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/public.flourish.studio\/visualisation\/25067752\/thumbnail\" width=\"100%\" alt=\"photo-slider visualization\"><\/noscript><\/div>\n<div class=\"flourish-embed flourish-photo-slider\" data-src=\"visualisation\/25067823?2818029\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/public.flourish.studio\/visualisation\/25067823\/thumbnail\" width=\"100%\" alt=\"photo-slider visualization\"><\/noscript><\/div>\n<p class=\"sdc-article-factbox__text\" data-testid=\"article-factbox-text\">The Sudan war started in April 2023, when long-simmering tensions between the Sudanese army and the RSF broke out in Khartoum.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sdc-article-factbox__text\" data-testid=\"article-factbox-text\">UN agencies said in July that some 41,000 people have been killed &ndash; the real death toll is thought to be much higher. Close to 12 million people have been displaced.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sdc-article-factbox__text\" data-testid=\"article-factbox-text\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/e3.365dm.com\/25\/08\/2048x1152\/skynews-sudan-darfur_6981862.png?20250803155118\" alt=\"Relevant description\" sdc-article-factbox__text data-testid=\"article-factbox-text\">Several mediation attempts have failed to secure a humanitarian access mechanism or any lulls in fighting.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>&lsquo;We could hear some of them being killed&rsquo;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>As the bombs drop on Al Fashir, war-wounded civilians travel by road to the last functioning hospital in the state. But the beds in Tina Hospital are largely empty.<\/p>\n<p>The facility cannot afford to provide free or subsidised treatment to the people that need it.<\/p>\n<div class=\"sdc-article-widget sdc-article-custom-markup \" data-component-name=\"ui-article-custom-markup\" data-testid=\"article-custom-markup\">\n<div class=\"flourish-embed\" data-src=\"story\/3316700?2818029\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/public.flourish.studio\/story\/3316700\/thumbnail\" width=\"100%\" alt=\"visualization\"><\/noscript><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>&ldquo;It is so difficult. This hospital cannot care for a patient without money,&rdquo; says Dr Usman Adam, standing over an emaciated teenager with a gunshot wound in his stomach.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We need support.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Either medication or money to the victims &ndash; by anyhow, we need support.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<div class=\"sdc-article-widget sdc-article-image\" data-testid=\"article-image\">\n<figure class=\"sdc-article-image__figure\">\n<div class=\"sdc-article-image__wrapper\" data-aspect-ratio=\"16\/9\">\n          <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sdc-article-image__item\" loading=\"lazy\" intrinsicsize=\"768x432\" src=\"https:\/\/e3.365dm.com\/25\/09\/768x432\/skynews-yousra-darfur-sudan_7015286.jpg?20250909144206\" srcset=\"https:\/\/e3.365dm.com\/25\/09\/384x216\/skynews-yousra-darfur-sudan_7015286.jpg?20250909144206 380w, https:\/\/e3.365dm.com\/25\/09\/768x432\/skynews-yousra-darfur-sudan_7015286.jpg?20250909144206 760w, https:\/\/e3.365dm.com\/25\/09\/1600x900\/skynews-yousra-darfur-sudan_7015286.jpg?20250909144206 1024w, https:\/\/e3.365dm.com\/25\/09\/2048x1152\/skynews-yousra-darfur-sudan_7015286.jpg?20250909144206 2048w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 1024px) 1024px, 100vw\" alt=\"Maaz, 18, a victim of a gunshot wound, is treated in the last functioning hospital in North Darfur\" data-testid=\"article-image-image\"><\/div><figcaption class=\"ui-media-caption\" data-testid=\"article-image-caption\"><span class=\"u-hide-visually\">Image:<\/span><br>\n        <span class=\"ui-media-caption__caption-text\" data-testid=\"article-image-caption-text\">Maaz, 18, a victim of a gunshot wound, is treated in the last functioning hospital in North Darfur<br>\n        <\/span><br>\n      <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>In nearby camps, women are grieving brothers, fathers, and husbands killed, missing or still trapped inside Al Fashir. Many of them were forced to face Rapid Support Forces (RSF) torture as they tried to escape.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;If you don&rsquo;t have money to pay ransom, they take you inside a room that looks like an office and say &lsquo;if you don&rsquo;t have anything we will kill you or worse&rsquo;,&rdquo; says 20-year-old mother Zahra, speaking to us at a girls&rsquo; school in Tine that is now a makeshift shelter.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;They beat the men, robbed them and whipped them. We could hear some of them being killed while we women were rounded up on a mat and threatened. We gave them money, but they took the other girls into a room, and we couldn&rsquo;t tell if they were beaten or raped.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<div class=\"sdc-article-widget sdc-article-image\" data-testid=\"article-image\">\n<figure class=\"sdc-article-image__figure\">\n<div class=\"sdc-article-image__wrapper\" data-aspect-ratio=\"16\/9\">\n          <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sdc-article-image__item\" loading=\"lazy\" intrinsicsize=\"768x432\" src=\"https:\/\/e3.365dm.com\/25\/09\/768x432\/skynews-darfur-sudan-yousra_7016097.png?20250910131124\" srcset=\"https:\/\/e3.365dm.com\/25\/09\/384x216\/skynews-darfur-sudan-yousra_7016097.png?20250910131124 380w, https:\/\/e3.365dm.com\/25\/09\/768x432\/skynews-darfur-sudan-yousra_7016097.png?20250910131124 760w, https:\/\/e3.365dm.com\/25\/09\/1600x900\/skynews-darfur-sudan-yousra_7016097.png?20250910131124 1024w, https:\/\/e3.365dm.com\/25\/09\/2048x1152\/skynews-darfur-sudan-yousra_7016097.png?20250910131124 2048w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 1024px) 1024px, 100vw\" alt=\"Zahra was threatened by the RSF and heard people being killed\" data-testid=\"article-image-image\"><\/div><figcaption class=\"ui-media-caption\" data-testid=\"article-image-caption\"><span class=\"u-hide-visually\">Image:<\/span><br>\n        <span class=\"ui-media-caption__caption-text\" data-testid=\"article-image-caption-text\">Zahra was threatened by the RSF and heard people being killed<br>\n        <\/span><br>\n      <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>The women around her on the mat echo Zahra&rsquo;s anguish.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;They beat us, tortured us, humiliated us &ndash; everything you can imagine!&rdquo; one yells out in tears.<\/p>\n<p>A mother named Leila sits next to her four children and stares down at the ground. I ask her if she has hope of returning to Al Fashir, and she starts to say no as the women nearby shout: &ldquo;Yes! We will return by the grace of God.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Leila complies with weak affirmation, but her eyes have the haunting resignation of permanent loss. Her city, as she knows it, is gone.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Read more:<\/strong><br><strong>Thousands resort to eating animal feed<\/strong><br><strong>Sky reporter returns to family home left in ruins<\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"sdc-article-widget sdc-article-custom-markup \" data-component-name=\"ui-article-custom-markup\" data-testid=\"article-custom-markup\">\n<div class=\"flourish-embed\" data-src=\"story\/3316708?2818029\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/public.flourish.studio\/story\/3316708\/thumbnail\" width=\"100%\" alt=\"visualization\"><\/noscript><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Babies and young children silently stare out from their laps. Many of them wear the signs of physical shock. An older woman on the mat tells us her infant grandson was blinded by the extreme conditions of their escape and takes us to see him and his mother in their hut.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We fled Al Fashir to Tawila camp while I was heavily pregnant,&rdquo; says Nadeefa, as her son Mustafa cries on her lap, unable to focus his eyes.<\/p>\n<div class=\"sdc-article-widget sdc-article-image\" data-testid=\"article-image\">\n<figure class=\"sdc-article-image__figure\">\n<div class=\"sdc-article-image__wrapper\" data-aspect-ratio=\"16\/9\">\n          <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sdc-article-image__item\" loading=\"lazy\" intrinsicsize=\"768x432\" src=\"https:\/\/e3.365dm.com\/25\/09\/768x432\/skynews-yousra-sudan-darfur_7015243.jpg?20250909141119\" srcset=\"https:\/\/e3.365dm.com\/25\/09\/384x216\/skynews-yousra-sudan-darfur_7015243.jpg?20250909141119 380w, https:\/\/e3.365dm.com\/25\/09\/768x432\/skynews-yousra-sudan-darfur_7015243.jpg?20250909141119 760w, https:\/\/e3.365dm.com\/25\/09\/1600x900\/skynews-yousra-sudan-darfur_7015243.jpg?20250909141119 1024w, https:\/\/e3.365dm.com\/25\/09\/2048x1152\/skynews-yousra-sudan-darfur_7015243.jpg?20250909141119 2048w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 1024px) 1024px, 100vw\" alt=\"Mustafa was blinded as a newborn after his mother fled the RSF\" data-testid=\"article-image-image\"><\/div><figcaption class=\"ui-media-caption\" data-testid=\"article-image-caption\"><span class=\"u-hide-visually\">Image:<\/span><br>\n        <span class=\"ui-media-caption__caption-text\" data-testid=\"article-image-caption-text\">Mustafa was blinded as a newborn after his mother fled the RSF<br>\n        <\/span><br>\n      <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>&ldquo;After I had given birth, we made the journey here. Mustafa was only 16 days old and could not handle the harsh conditions. As time went on, we realised he couldn&rsquo;t see. We think he was blinded as a newborn on the road.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Her mother and mother-in-law sit on the mat next to her and take turns trying to calm Mustafa down. Her mother-in-law Husna tells us that her own son, Mustafa&rsquo;s father, is missing.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We don&rsquo;t know where my son is,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;He disappeared as we fled.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<div class=\"sdc-article-widget sdc-article-image\" data-testid=\"article-image\">\n<figure class=\"sdc-article-image__figure\">\n<div class=\"sdc-article-image__wrapper\" data-aspect-ratio=\"16\/9\">\n          <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sdc-article-image__item\" loading=\"lazy\" intrinsicsize=\"768x432\" src=\"https:\/\/e3.365dm.com\/25\/09\/768x432\/skynews-sudan-darfur_7016033.png?20250910120133\" srcset=\"https:\/\/e3.365dm.com\/25\/09\/384x216\/skynews-sudan-darfur_7016033.png?20250910120133 380w, https:\/\/e3.365dm.com\/25\/09\/768x432\/skynews-sudan-darfur_7016033.png?20250910120133 760w, https:\/\/e3.365dm.com\/25\/09\/1600x900\/skynews-sudan-darfur_7016033.png?20250910120133 1024w, https:\/\/e3.365dm.com\/25\/09\/2048x1152\/skynews-sudan-darfur_7016033.png?20250910120133 2048w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 1024px) 1024px, 100vw\" alt=\"Mustafa's father went missing as the family fled the RSF\" data-testid=\"article-image-image\"><\/div><figcaption class=\"ui-media-caption\" data-testid=\"article-image-caption\"><span class=\"u-hide-visually\">Image:<\/span><br>\n        <span class=\"ui-media-caption__caption-text\" data-testid=\"article-image-caption-text\">Mustafa&rsquo;s father went missing as the family fled the RSF<br>\n        <\/span><br>\n      <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>&lsquo;They killed my children&rsquo;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>An elderly woman, Hawa, approaches us in the same yard with her own story to tell.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;These people [the RSF] killed my children. They killed my in-laws. They orphaned my grandchildren. They killed two of my sons.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;One of my daughters gave birth on the road and I brought her with me to this camp. I don&rsquo;t have anything,&rdquo; she says, trembling as she stands.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;They raped my two younger daughters in front of me. There is nothing more than that. They fled from shame and humiliation. I haven&rsquo;t seen them since.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<div class=\"sdc-article-widget sdc-article-image\" data-testid=\"article-image\">\n<figure class=\"sdc-article-image__figure\">\n<div class=\"sdc-article-image__wrapper\" data-aspect-ratio=\"16\/9\">\n          <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sdc-article-image__item\" loading=\"lazy\" intrinsicsize=\"768x432\" src=\"https:\/\/e3.365dm.com\/25\/09\/768x432\/skynews-sudan-darfur-yousra_7015247.jpg?20250909141219\" srcset=\"https:\/\/e3.365dm.com\/25\/09\/384x216\/skynews-sudan-darfur-yousra_7015247.jpg?20250909141219 380w, https:\/\/e3.365dm.com\/25\/09\/768x432\/skynews-sudan-darfur-yousra_7015247.jpg?20250909141219 760w, https:\/\/e3.365dm.com\/25\/09\/1600x900\/skynews-sudan-darfur-yousra_7015247.jpg?20250909141219 1024w, https:\/\/e3.365dm.com\/25\/09\/2048x1152\/skynews-sudan-darfur-yousra_7015247.jpg?20250909141219 2048w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 1024px) 1024px, 100vw\" alt=\"The RSF raped Hawa's daughters in front of her\" data-testid=\"article-image-image\"><\/div><figcaption class=\"ui-media-caption\" data-testid=\"article-image-caption\"><span class=\"u-hide-visually\">Image:<\/span><br>\n        <span class=\"ui-media-caption__caption-text\" data-testid=\"article-image-caption-text\">The RSF raped Hawa&rsquo;s daughters in front of her<br>\n        <\/span><br>\n      <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>Dr Afaf Ishaq, the camp director and emergency response room (EER) volunteer, is sobbing nearby.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I have dealt with thousands and thousands of cases, I am on the verge of a mental breakdown,&rdquo; she says.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Sometimes in the morning, I have my tea and forget that I need to eat or how to function. I just sit listening to testimony after testimony in my head and feel like I am hallucinating.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Everyone we speak to points to her as a source of relief and help, but Dr Ishaq is largely carrying the burden alone. When haphazard financial support for the ERR community kitchens ends, she says people flock to her complaining of hunger.<\/p>\n<p>Dr Ishaq lives in the camp by herself after fleeing her home in Khartoum at the start of the war in April 2023. She says she quickly escaped after her husband joined the RSF.<\/p>\n<div class=\"sdc-article-widget sdc-article-image\" data-testid=\"article-image\">\n<figure class=\"sdc-article-image__figure\">\n<div class=\"sdc-article-image__wrapper\" data-aspect-ratio=\"16\/9\">\n          <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sdc-article-image__item\" loading=\"lazy\" intrinsicsize=\"768x432\" src=\"https:\/\/e3.365dm.com\/25\/09\/768x432\/skynews-sudan-yousra-darfur_7015250.jpg?20250909141338\" srcset=\"https:\/\/e3.365dm.com\/25\/09\/384x216\/skynews-sudan-yousra-darfur_7015250.jpg?20250909141338 380w, https:\/\/e3.365dm.com\/25\/09\/768x432\/skynews-sudan-yousra-darfur_7015250.jpg?20250909141338 760w, https:\/\/e3.365dm.com\/25\/09\/1600x900\/skynews-sudan-yousra-darfur_7015250.jpg?20250909141338 1024w, https:\/\/e3.365dm.com\/25\/09\/2048x1152\/skynews-sudan-yousra-darfur_7015250.jpg?20250909141338 2048w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 1024px) 1024px, 100vw\" alt=\"Dr Afaf Ishaq has seen thousands of cases of violence and sexual violence\" data-testid=\"article-image-image\"><\/div><figcaption class=\"ui-media-caption\" data-testid=\"article-image-caption\"><span class=\"u-hide-visually\">Image:<\/span><br>\n        <span class=\"ui-media-caption__caption-text\" data-testid=\"article-image-caption-text\">Dr Afaf Ishaq has seen thousands of cases of violence and sexual violence<br>\n        <\/span><br>\n      <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>Since then, she has been constantly reminded of the atrocities committed by her husband&rsquo;s ranks in Khartoum, her hometown Al Fashir and the ethnic violence they are carrying out across the region.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The RSF focuses on ethnicity,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;If you are from the Zaghawa, Massalit, Fur &ndash; from Darfuri tribes &ndash; you should be killed, you should be raped.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;If they find that your mother or father are from another tribe like Rizeigat or Mahamid &ndash; they won&rsquo;t rape you, they won&rsquo;t touch you.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<div class=\"sdc-article-widget sdc-article-image\" data-testid=\"article-image\">\n<figure class=\"sdc-article-image__figure\">\n<div class=\"sdc-article-image__wrapper\" data-aspect-ratio=\"16\/9\">\n          <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sdc-article-image__item\" loading=\"lazy\" intrinsicsize=\"768x432\" src=\"https:\/\/e3.365dm.com\/24\/12\/768x432\/skynews-rsf-khartoum-sudan_6767088.jpg?20241205002629\" srcset=\"https:\/\/e3.365dm.com\/24\/12\/384x216\/skynews-rsf-khartoum-sudan_6767088.jpg?20241205002629 380w, https:\/\/e3.365dm.com\/24\/12\/768x432\/skynews-rsf-khartoum-sudan_6767088.jpg?20241205002629 760w, https:\/\/e3.365dm.com\/24\/12\/1600x900\/skynews-rsf-khartoum-sudan_6767088.jpg?20241205002629 1024w, https:\/\/e3.365dm.com\/24\/12\/2048x1152\/skynews-rsf-khartoum-sudan_6767088.jpg?20241205002629 2048w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 1024px) 1024px, 100vw\" alt=\"The RSF has besieged Al Fashir for 16 months. File pic: Reuters\" data-testid=\"article-image-image\"><\/div><figcaption class=\"ui-media-caption\" data-testid=\"article-image-caption\"><span class=\"u-hide-visually\">Image:<\/span><br>\n        <span class=\"ui-media-caption__caption-text\" data-testid=\"article-image-caption-text\">The RSF has besieged Al Fashir for 16 months. File pic: Reuters<br>\n        <\/span><br>\n      <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>A message for the West<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In January, the Biden administration determined that the RSF are carrying out genocide in Darfur, 20 years after former US secretary of state Colin Powell made the declaration in 2004.<\/p>\n<p>But the designation has done little to quell the violence.<\/p>\n<div class=\"sdc-article-widget sdc-article-strapline sdc-article-strapline--default-layout\" data-component-name=\"sdc-article-strapline\" data-testid=\"article-strapline\">\n<div class=\"sdc-article-strapline__link\" readability=\"27.009900990099\">\n<div class=\"sdc-article-strapline__image-wrap\">\n                <picture data-testid=\"article-strapline-picture\"><source srcset=\"https:\/\/e3.365dm.com\/25\/04\/320x180\/skynews-world-podcast-richard-engel_6895914.jpg 320w, https:\/\/e3.365dm.com\/25\/04\/640x380\/skynews-world-podcast-richard-engel_6895914.jpg 640w\" media=\"(max-width: 480px)\"><source srcset=\"https:\/\/e3.365dm.com\/25\/04\/256x256\/skynews-world-podcast-richard-engel_6895914.jpg 256w, https:\/\/e3.365dm.com\/25\/04\/512x512\/skynews-world-podcast-richard-engel_6895914.jpg 512w\" media=\"(min-width: 481px)\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/e3.365dm.com\/25\/04\/512x512\/skynews-world-podcast-richard-engel_6895914.jpg\" alt=\"Follow The World\" class=\"sdc-article-strapline__image\" data-testid=\"article-strapline-image\"><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n<div class=\"sdc-article-strapline__body\" readability=\"27.881188118812\">\n                <span class=\"sdc-article-strapline__title\" data-testid=\"article-strapline-title\">Follow The World<\/span>\n<p class=\"sdc-article-strapline__text\" data-testid=\"article-strapline-body\">Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday<\/p>\n<p>                Tap to follow\n        <\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Sudan&rsquo;s government has accused the United Arab Emirates (UAE) of supplying arms and logistical support to the RSF. The UAE denies these claims but many on the ground in Darfur say its role in this war is accepted as fact.<\/p>\n<p>The silence from the UAE&rsquo;s allies in the West, including the UK and US, is felt loudly here &ndash; punctuated by gunfire and daily bombs.<\/p>\n<div class=\"sdc-article-widget sdc-article-image\" data-testid=\"article-image\">\n<figure class=\"sdc-article-image__figure\">\n<div class=\"sdc-article-image__wrapper\" data-aspect-ratio=\"16\/9\">\n          <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sdc-article-image__item\" loading=\"lazy\" intrinsicsize=\"768x432\" src=\"https:\/\/e3.365dm.com\/25\/09\/768x432\/skynews-darfur-sudan_7016095.png?20250910131055\" srcset=\"https:\/\/e3.365dm.com\/25\/09\/384x216\/skynews-darfur-sudan_7016095.png?20250910131055 380w, https:\/\/e3.365dm.com\/25\/09\/768x432\/skynews-darfur-sudan_7016095.png?20250910131055 760w, https:\/\/e3.365dm.com\/25\/09\/1600x900\/skynews-darfur-sudan_7016095.png?20250910131055 1024w, https:\/\/e3.365dm.com\/25\/09\/2048x1152\/skynews-darfur-sudan_7016095.png?20250910131055 2048w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 1024px) 1024px, 100vw\" alt=\"Dr Ishaq fled her home in Khartoum at the start of the war after her husband joined the RSF\" data-testid=\"article-image-image\"><\/div><figcaption class=\"ui-media-caption\" data-testid=\"article-image-caption\"><span class=\"u-hide-visually\">Image:<\/span><br>\n        <span class=\"ui-media-caption__caption-text\" data-testid=\"article-image-caption-text\">Dr Ishaq fled her home in Khartoum at the start of the war after her husband joined the RSF<br>\n        <\/span><br>\n      <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>Dr Ishaq&rsquo;s distress ratches up when I ask her about neglect from the international community.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I direct my blame to the international community. How can they speak of human rights and ignore what is happening here?<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Where is the humanity?&rdquo;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><sub>Torture, rape and forced starvation as paramilitaries suffocate besieged city<\/sub><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Faces marked by terror and torment fill North Darfur&rsquo;s displacement camps. Their eyes fill with despair as they describe what they have survived during a 16-month siege on one of Sudan&lsquo;s oldest cities. It has entrapped their loved ones, while spreading armed violence has left village after village burnt to the ground. Extreme cases of&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"more-link-wrap\"><a href=\"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/torture-rape-and-forced-starvation-as-paramilitaries-suffocate-besieged-city\/\" class=\"more-link\">Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &ldquo;Torture, rape and forced starvation as paramilitaries suffocate besieged city&rdquo;<\/span> &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7290,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7289","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7289","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7289"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7289\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7290"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7289"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7289"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7289"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}