(MENAFN) Sudan’s military confirmed it had pulled its forces out of el-Fasher — the last major western stronghold it held — after paramilitary fighters asserted control of the city, according to reports.

In a televised address, the army chief said he had authorised the pullback in the face of what he described as the “systematic destruction and killing of civilians.” He added that local leaders and military commanders agreed to “leave and go to a safe place to protect the remaining citizens and the rest of the city from destruction.”

The takeover marks a potentially decisive moment in the country’s conflict, which began in April 2023 and has already cost tens of thousands of lives and forced almost 12 million people from their homes. With el-Fasher now in the hands of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the group effectively controls the wider Darfur region, while the army’s presence is largely confined to the north, east and centre of Sudan.

Humanitarian actors and analysts have raised alarms about alleged atrocities in and around the city since the RSF announced it had captured el-Fasher. Satellite analysts reported finding what they described as “evidence of mass killing,” including clusters of suspected human remains near paramilitary vehicles and alongside an extensive earthen barrier encircling the city — imagery that suggests people may have been killed while trying to flee.

An alliance of Darfuri armed groups that backs the army claimed thousands of civilian deaths since the city fell, though those figures have not been independently verified. Aid organisations say they fear targeted violence against non Arab ethnic communities trapped inside el-Fasher; the RSF denies deliberately targeting civilians, even as international bodies and rights monitors point to apparent war crimes.

The UN chief said he was “gravely concerned” about the situation and denounced the reported “violations of international humanitarian law.” In his address, the military leader attacked what he called international inaction and vowed to fight “until this land is purified.”

Humanitarian agencies are urgently calling for safe corridors and protection for civilians amid growing reports of hunger and deprivation after an 18 month siege that left many inside el-Fasher besieged, starving and unable to flee.

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