KHARTOUM: Civilians trapped in Sudan’s El-Fasher city are facing “catastrophic” conditions, activists warned on Sunday, with their situation rapidly deteriorating amid a months-long paramilitary siege.
The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces have taken most of the vast Darfur region in their war against the regular army since April 2023, but El-Fasher in North Darfur remains the only regional state capital the RSF has not conquered.
A local advocacy group, the Darfur General Coordination of Camps for the Displaced and Refugees, said in a statement that residents “bear the brunt of artillery shelling” and live “with the sounds of aircraft and their terrifying and deadly missiles, in addition to the daily suffering of hunger, disease and drought.”
Life in El-Fasher and other areas of Darfur “has come to a complete standstill,” the group said, with no food at markets and a “complete halt” in humanitarian aid.
There was a sharp rise in prices of basic commodities and “a severe shortage in cash,” it added, warning of an “unprecedented and catastrophic deterioration” in already dire conditions in and around El-Fasher.
The RSF-aligned armed group Sudan Liberation Army called on Saturday for civilians in El-Fasher and the nearby displacement camps of Abu Shouk and Zamzan to leave, warning of an “escalation of military operations.”
Another RSF ally, the Gathering of Sudan Liberation Forces, said it was ready to “provide safe corridors” for residents to leave and head to “liberated areas” under paramilitary control.
In late March, the RSF announced its fighters had seized Al-Malha, which lies at the foot of a mountainous region 200 kilometers (124 miles) northeast of El-Fasher.
Al-Malha is one of the northernmost towns in the vast desert region between Sudan and Libya, where the RSF’s critical resupply lines have come under increasing attack in recent months by army-allied groups.
The war has created what the United Nations describes as the world’s worst hunger and displacement crises. More than 12 million people have been uprooted, tens of thousands killed and a UN-backed assessment declared famine in parts of the country.
According to UN estimates, around two million people face extreme food insecurity in North Darfur state, with 320,000 already suffering famine conditions.
Zamzam is one of three displacement camps around El-Fasher hit by famine, which a UN-backed assessment says is expected to spread to five more areas including the state capital itself by May.
Sudan activists sound alarm on ‘catastrophic’ situation in besieged Darfur city
https://arab.news/8rxf7
Sudan activists sound alarm on ‘catastrophic’ situation in besieged Darfur city
- According to UN estimates, around two million people face extreme food insecurity in North Darfur state, with 320,000 already suffering famine conditions
Judge shot at Istanbul court by her prosecutor ex-husband
- The incident took place inside a courthouse on the Asian side of Istanbul
- Kahraman received first aid at the scene before being rushed to hospital
ISTANBUL: A judge was shot Tuesday at an Istanbul courthouse by her public prosecutor ex-husband, who was prevented from firing a second shot by a day-release prisoner serving tea, Turkish media reported.
The incident took place inside a courthouse on the Asian side of Istanbul at around 1:00 p.m. (1000 GMT), DHA news agency said.
Judge Asli Kahraman sustained serious injuries when her ex-husband, Muhammet Cagatay Kilicaslan, opened fire, hitting her in the groin, Sozcu newspaper reported.
He was about to fire again but was stopped by a man who was serving tea, a convict out on day release who was working at the court, both sources said.
Kahraman received first aid at the scene before being rushed to hospital, where she was said to be in stable condition.
Kilicaslan was arrested and was due to appear at Istanbul’s main courthouse later on Tuesday, Sozcu said.
The incident drew sharp condemnation from the We Will Stop Femicides platform.
“A female judge was shot with a firearm by her former husband, a prosecutor, in full view of everyone at the Istanbul Kartal Anatolian Courthouse, the very place where perpetrators should be punished,” it said in a statement on X.
“Women can be shot with firearms even inside courthouses.”
Turkiye does not collate official figures on femicides, leaving the job to women’s organizations which collect data on murders and other suspicious deaths from press reports.
Figures compiled by We Will Stop Femicides show that in 2025, 294 women were killed by men and 297 women were found dead under suspicious circumstances.
Of that number, just over one in three — or 35 percent — were killed by their husbands, while 57 percent were killed with firearms.
Rights groups say the deaths classed as suspicious or as suicide in Turkiye has risen since Ankara withdrew from an international convention on violence against women in 2021.
That agreement, dubbed the Istanbul Convention, requires countries to set up laws aimed at preventing and prosecuting violence against women.
