09/10 • AL-FASHIR

On Monday, the International Criminal Court (ICC) convicted Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman, also known as Ali Kushayb, of 27 war crimes he committed as a part of the Janjaweed militia between 2003-2004. During this time, the Janjaweed militia was responsible for the rape, murder, torture, and persecution of hundreds of thousands of citizens.

Now, the Janjaweed militia has shifted into the Rapid Support forces (RSF), which continue to fight a civil war focused in the Darfur region. The RSF is targeting the city of Al-Fashir, which has been under siege since the onset of the civil war in 2023.

Half of Al-Fashir’s population has been displaced, and the remaining 413,000 are isolated, cut off from supply routes, and unable to access humanitarian aid. They are also facing a cholera outbreak.

Recent weeks have seen a rapid increase in the RSF offensive, targeting the Daraja Oula neighborhood with artillery shelling, drone strikes, and ground incursions.

UN rights chief Volker Turk warns of "ethnically driven attacks” across the city, which have been targeting non-Arab communities.

Any citizens attempting to flee the city face a 68km-long berm at its perimeter, as well as attacks by the RSF on anybody attempting an escape.

The UN has called for urgent action, saying that these atrocities “can be averted if all actors take concrete action to up-hold international law.”