{"id":7933,"date":"2025-09-25T07:57:15","date_gmt":"2025-09-25T07:57:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/captured-and-likely-dead-his-crime-smuggling-insulin\/"},"modified":"2025-09-25T07:57:15","modified_gmt":"2025-09-25T07:57:15","slug":"captured-and-likely-dead-his-crime-smuggling-insulin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/captured-and-likely-dead-his-crime-smuggling-insulin\/","title":{"rendered":"Captured and likely dead: His crime? Smuggling insulin"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Inside a dimly-lit storeroom in Tine’s central market, near the border of North Darfur and Chad, we are shown a haunting video.<\/p>\n

Young men crouched on the ground and covered in sand stare up at a phone camera helplessly.<\/p>\n

A loud male voice interrogates them and demands to know what they are smuggling into Al Fashir, the regional capital besieged by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).<\/p>\n

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One responds with “rice” and another says “pasta”.<\/p>\n

“I will swat all of you like flies,” the man says from behind the camera, before pointing his gun at each of their heads and feigning lethal headshots in a mock execution.<\/p>\n

We are shown the clip by Ahmed* and Hassan*, who are using pseudonyms for their protection.<\/p>\n

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The young men in the video are just one of the many teams they coordinate to smuggle food and lifesaving supplies into Sudan<\/strong>‘s Al Fashir, where around 900,000 people are being forced into famine by an RSF blockade while being bombarded by deadly drone strikes and shelling.<\/p>\n

The dangers of this work are extreme as smuggling routes rapidly open and close, and battles for control rage inside the city.<\/p>\n

Some of the teams they send make it to Al Fashir, but many do not. The three men in the video are still missing and are feared dead.<\/p>\n

“The situation in Al Fashir is catastrophic – you cannot afford to watch and do nothing,” says Ahmed in front of a stack of flour sacks piled up to the ceiling.<\/p>\n

“We have no option but to offer what we can for people to eat and survive the shelling.”<\/p>\n

Read more: Inside the epicentre of Sudan’s war<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\n The young smugglers are trying to distribute vital supplies
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As we drive to the storeroom, their phones constantly ping with messages, voice notes and phone calls.<\/p>\n

As Ahmed fires back a voice note requesting costings on bulk food items, Hassan brings his phone to his ear and listens.<\/p>\n

He sighs with frustration and says: “We just received a message from HQ that one of our guys smuggling in insulin hasn’t arrived and was likely killed.<\/p>\n

“He has been missing for three days. We have to count him among the dead.”<\/p>\n

Hassan tells us they are being targeted by the RSF, adamant to uphold their siege.<\/p>\n

“It happens a lot. Three days ago, we had a group of 12 people break up into three teams of four. Two of the teams arrived, but one group never surfaced.”<\/p>\n

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\n A map showing the berms – raised banks – surrounding Al Fashir. Pic: Yale Humanitarian Research Lab
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Image:<\/span>
\n Ahmed* and Hassan* spoke to us on the condition of anonymity
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The number of dead is mounting and uncountable. They tell us they have lost 30 volunteers in the first week of September alone.<\/p>\n

Their network of fearless first responders was born out of the resistance committees created to organise and assist targeted protesters during Sudan’s 2019 revolution.<\/p>\n

Now, they carry the burden of feeding and treating war-impacted civilians across the country through the Nobel Peace Prize nominated Emergency Response Rooms.<\/p>\n

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The battle for Al Fashir – and Sudan<\/h4>\n

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

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

Inside the city, thousands are bombarded by almost daily shelling from surrounding RSF troops.<\/p>\n

The RSF have physically reinforced their siege with a berm – a raised earth mound. First spotted by Yale Humanitarian Research Lab, the berm is visible from space.<\/p>\n