Sudan Nashra: Fasher falls to RSF amid military silence | RSF retakes Bara, continues to bomb Khartoum, Blue Nile Sennar | Sudanese govt, RSF, Quad hold indirect talks on end to war in DC | Russia, Sudan discuss Red Sea development as ‘rescue from collapse’ for Port Sudan

The city of Fasher, the last military stronghold in Darfur which has been under siege for the last 18 months, fell on Monday.

The fall of the city was confirmed by Darfur regional governor Minni Arko Minawi even as the military has remained quiet over the last two days after the Sixth Infantry Division lost its headquarters.

Fasher was not only the final regional capital outside the Rapid Support Forces’ control — it was also the nexus of the military’s campaign to dismantle the RSF’s political project and prevent Darfur from completely slipping beyond the reach of the central state.

The city’s defense represented the last barrier — a barrier that suffered a decisive blow this week with the fall of the military’s main camp in a major turning point in Sudan’s war.

Military sources told Mada Masr that its forces remain engaged inside the city, while the RSF claims to have taken full control of Fasher. What is certain is that the Sixth Infantry Division has fallen and RSF units have advanced deep into Fasher’s neighborhoods.

Humanitarian and global actors are sounding the alarm over the fate of civilians trapped in a city encircled by sand berms and severed roads. Hundreds were killed in three days of clashes culminating in the division’s fall, a medical source told Mada Masr.

RSF fighters have released footage showing dozens of bodies of military personnel lying near a sand berm on the city’s outskirts, beside the wreckage of their military vehicles.

The capture of Fasher wasn’t the RSF’s only military gain over the weekend. It also recaptured the city of Bara in North Kordofan, which holds strategic importance due to its location along the Saderat road linking the Kordofan states and the Darfur region to the city of Omdurman.

The RSF also continues to conduct drone strikes in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum, as well as in the Sennar and Blue Nile states.

The developments on the battlefields of Sudan follows a weekend of indirect talks between the RSF, the military and members of the Quad in Washington DC concerning the roadmap the group unveiled in mid-September to end the war in Sudan.

Although Sudan’s government continued to publicly deny any engagement with the RSF, ministerial and sovereign sources told Mada Masr that dialogue sessions between a Sudanese government delegation and US officials wrapped up on Saturday. At the same time, the RSF confirmed the arrival of its own delegation in Washington on Wednesday.

While the talks in Washington largely revolved around the Quad proposal, the American side also pointed to Russia’s plans to establish a military logistical facility on the Red Sea, warning that such a move could further escalate regional and global tensions.

In February 2025, Khartoum and Moscow announced they had “agreed on everything” regarding the establishment of a Russian military logistical and technical support base in Port Sudan — a project under negotiation since 2017. The facility, which would allow Russian naval and personnel presence, represents a major geopolitical gain for Moscow: a naval foothold on one of the world’s most sensitive maritime corridors. 

Sudanese officials have made a series of visits to Russia in recent weeks, signalling an accelerating partnership across multiple sectors centered on the Red Sea.

The visits come ahead of an anticipated trip by Transitional Sovereignty Council Chair Abdel Fattah al-Burhan to Moscow to attend the Russia-Arab summit and hold a bilateral meeting with President Vladimir Putin in mid-November.

For Sudan, Russia offers a potential rescue from collapse, a former Foreign Ministry official told Mada Masr, while for Moscow, Sudan represents an entry point to reassert its presence on the Red Sea after waning influence in Libya and the Sahel.

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Fasher falls to RSF

The Rapid Support Forces seized control of Fasher, the historic capital of Darfur, after capturing the military’s Sixth Infantry Division’s headquarters — the Sudanese Armed Forces’ last stronghold in the Darfur region. The fate of the senior Sudanese Armed Forces commanders and the military-allied joint force remains unknown.

Darfur regional governor Minni Arko Minawi confirmed the fall of Fasher on Monday, while the military has remained silent for a second consecutive day over the city’s collapse.

Minawi, in a statement on X, said that the “fall of Fasher does not mean surrendering Darfur’s future to forces of violence.”

After several days of intermittent clashes, fighting resumed at dawn on Sunday. RSF units advanced deep into the city, reaching as far as the city’s water authority and the governor’s residence before seizing control of the Sixth Infantry Division camp on Sunday later that morning, an RSF field source told Mada Masr.

By 8 am, the RSF claimed it had seized control of the entire city.

But a field commander in the military-allied joint force of the armed movements told Mada Masr that as of Sunday evening, the military and joint force units were positioned inside Fasher, holding areas around the city’s airport and in the 154th Brigade camp, as well as artillery sites in the surrounding area. The commander added that the military and joint force still control the first-class neighborhoods and the former UNAMID headquarters in the city’s northwest.

Heavy fighting first broke out on Thursday around the division’s command, a field source from the joint force told Mada Masr. The military and the joint force, they said, repelled a large-scale RSF assault involving a large number of fighters and foreign mercenaries.

The Sixth Infantry Division stated that its units, together with the joint force and supporting forces, had successfully repelled an RSF attack launched on five fronts — south, southeast, north, northeast and along an additional secondary axis.

Clashes flared up again on Saturday, this time concentrated along Fasher’s northern and northwestern fronts, a second joint force field source told Mada Masr. The military managed to repel RSF attempts to infiltrate military and service sites within the city, they said.

By Sunday, the military had withdrawn from the division's headquarters to fortified positions west of Fasher, where fighting continued through Sunday evening, a field source in the sixth division told Mada Masr. The withdrawal, the source said, was based on “military assessments,” adding that heavy equipment had been evacuated except for a few vehicles, and that the camp itself had sustained severe damage.

A commander at the joint command and control center stated that the military repositioned its forces across several parts of the city, with active combat still underway. Fighting, he said, has now moved deeper into Fasher.

The commander acknowledged that the forces are suffering from a severe shortage of food supplies as a result of the RSF siege.

RSF fighters released footage showing dozens of bodies of military personnel lying near a sand berm on the city’s outskirts, beside the wreckage of their military vehicles.

Fasher’s residents bore the brunt of the fighting over the past three days, Mohamed Nahar, a member of the Fasher Coordination of Resistance Committees, said. The attacks affected all neighborhoods and severely restricted residents’ movement.

On Sunday, assaults from multiple directions forced many to flee to nearby areas, while others remained trapped near the division’s camp, Nahar said.

In the wake of the division’s capture, US Senior Advisor for Arab and African Affairs Massad Boulos urged RSF leaders to “continue to issue and publicly communicate clear orders to their forces to ensure the safety of civilians, humanitarian personnel and aid operations.”

Humanitarian corridors, Boulos said, “must be opened immediately to allow civilians to reach areas of safety.” All roads in and out of Fasher have been cut off by trenches and sand berms the RSF built surrounding almost all of the city’s perimeter.

Nahar described the current situation as “turning the city into a ghost town,” noting that communications have been cut off across large areas.

RSF forces also detained dozens of civilians in the city’s eastern and northern areas, separating men from women, according to Nahar. There has been no contact with the detainees since Sunday evening.

The Sudanese Journalists Syndicate stated that RSF forces detained journalist Muammar Ibrahim on Sunday as he attempted to flee the city, holding the group responsible for his safety.

A medical source in Fasher estimated that more than 300 people were likely wounded on Sunday alone. Ongoing heavy fighting has prevented medical teams from reaching the injured, while continuous shelling and the tightening siege over the past months have left hospitals without essential supplies. As the RSF expanded in the wake of the division’s capture, medical staff were forced to evacuate facilities that came under attack, the source said.

A second medical source said that three volunteers from the Fasher charity kitchen — one of the community kitchens providing food to besieged residents — were injured on Saturday by RSF shelling that accompanied the offensive.

The Sudanese Doctors Network accused the RSF of killing Fasher’s civilians on an ethnic basis. Videos circulating online show RSF fighters forcing hundreds of civilians to march in long lines while hurling racial insults at them.

The group said that RSF forces executed dozens of civilians on an ethnic basis, while looting hospitals, clinics and pharmacies in the areas they invaded. The RSF’s actions wiped out what was left of Fasher’s health system, according to the group, describing the paramilitary group’s campaign as “amounting to mass killing of civilians.” 

Commenting on the humanitarian situation in the aftermath, United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher said on Sunday that Fasher’s civilians must be allowed safe passage.

***

RSF retakes Bara, North Kordofan

The fall of Fasher was not the RSF’s only gain over the past few days — the paramilitary also reclaimed the city of Bara in North Kordofan on Saturday after fierce clashes with the Sudanese Armed Forces, a military source in the state told Mada Masr.

Following the capture, some military units withdrew south toward Obeid and others east toward the Um Dam Haj Ahmed area.

The RSF deployed thousands of heavily armed fighters from the areas of Um Bader, Hamrat al-Sheikh, Um Sayala and Abu Zaeima before launching a large-scale assault on Bara in the early hours of the morning, according to the source.

The attack unfolded along two main fronts — from the north and the west — and was carried out in three massive waves involving armored vehicles, drones and rapid ground attacks.

The RSF said on Saturday that it had taken full control of Bara in what it described as a “sweeping attack from multiple directions that succeeded in breaking the military’s defenses.” The group described the capture of the city as a significant step toward completing control over other strategic areas in Kordofan.

The military had reclaimed Bara in mid-September following heavy fighting with the RSF, which had first entered the city during the early weeks of the war.

Bara holds major strategic importance due to its location along the Saderat road linking the Kordofan states and the Darfur region to the city of Omdurman, west of the capital Khartoum. Its position on this vital route has made it a recurring flashpoint in the ongoing military operations.

***

Military drones strike RSF positions across Darfur

The military carried out multiple airstrikes last week targeting several RSF positions across Darfur.

On Monday, military drones bombed the RSF-run local administration secretariat in Geneina, the capital of West Darfur, killing several people, a senior military officer told Mada Masr. The following day, drones struck RSF fuel and weapons depots in the city.

That same day, drone strikes targeted RSF gatherings in the police headquarters in the Kabkabiya area, North Darfur, killing and wounding dozens of RSF personnel and destroying a number of combat vehicles, the officer said. The airstrikes also hit the industrial school building west of the area, which the source said the RSF had been using as a recruitment camp.

On Thursday, a military drone destroyed a cargo plane that had landed at Nyala International Airport in South Darfur. The strike killed several people and ignited a massive fire at the site, according to the officer.

***

Quad-led talks with govt, RSF conclude in Washington

Before the consequential events on the battlefields of Darfur and Kordofan over the weekend, RSF and government delegations traveled to Washington DC to hold indirect talks with members of the Quad to advance discussions on the roadmap the group unveiled in mid-September to end the war in Sudan.

Held over several days in the US capital, the session unfolded along three tracks. The first involved representatives of the Quad — the United States, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt — at the sub-foreign minister level. The second involved meetings between Quad representatives and an RSF delegation. The third included talks between Sudan’s government and US State Department officials.

Although Sudan’s government continued to publicly deny any engagement with the RSF, ministerial and sovereign sources told Mada Masr that dialogue sessions between a Sudanese government delegation and US officials wrapped up on Saturday. At the same time, the RSF confirmed the arrival of its own delegation in Washington on Wednesday.

The developments punctured the tone of denial adopted by Transitional Sovereignty Council (TSC) Chair and military Commander-in-Chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who has repeatedly dismissed any dealings with the Quad — the US-led diplomatic track that, in mid-September, proposed a year-long roadmap beginning with a ceasefire and leading into a civilian-led political transition.

A source in Sudan’s Foreign Ministry told Mada Masr that the government delegation did not hold direct talks with the Quad, but met with US officials to discuss two main issues: lifting the siege on Fasher and facilitating the delivery of humanitarian aid. The delegation also relayed Sudan’s comments on the Quad’s roadmap, while urging Washington to pressure the UAE to end its support for the RSF, the source said.

US officials, for their part, voiced concern over growing tensions in the Red Sea, where increased militarization has raised fears of a potential conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea, according to the source. In response, the Sudanese side outlined its own plans and coordination efforts with neighboring countries.

The American side also pointed to Russia’s plans to establish a military logistical facility on the Red Sea, warning that such a move could further escalate regional and global tensions, the source said.

In February 2025, Khartoum and Moscow announced they had “agreed on everything” regarding the establishment of a Russian military logistical and technical support base in Port Sudan — a project under negotiation since 2017. The facility, which would allow Russian naval and personnel presence, represents a major geopolitical gain for Moscow: a naval foothold on one of the world’s most sensitive maritime corridors.

Sudanese officials have, in recent weeks, made a series of visits to Russia, signalling an accelerating partnership across multiple sectors.

Amid these discussions, the US officials and the Sudanese delegation also touched on the possibility of broader American participation in Sudan’s post-war reconstruction.

On the issue of the Quad, the Sudanese side raised what the foreign ministry source described as flaws in its roadmap, arguing that it replicates the failed Framework Agreement, which had “skipped steps” and ultimately led to the current war, according to the source. The delegation said that a ceasefire would be unrealistic as long as the RSF maintains its siege on Fasher and several cities in Kordofan.

Sudanese statements during the Washington talks oscillated between denial and confirmation of participation. On Thursday, a source at the Sudanese embassy in Washington told Mada Masr there was “no government delegation discussing Quad proposals,” and the TSC issued a late-night statement denying any indirect negotiations. Yet by the following evening, the Foreign Ministry confirmed the arrival of its head in Washington “to strengthen bilateral relations between the two countries.”

A second Foreign Ministry source told Mada Masr that the government’s outreach to external actors “does not signify acceptance of their positions,” but reflects “the necessity of dialogue” to counter foreign backing for the RSF. The source added that international pressure “has become a necessity to achieving peace under clear terms.”

An advisor to RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan “Hemedti” Dagalo confirmed that an RSF delegation arrived in Washington on Wednesday to discuss its position on the Quad roadmap, holding meetings with representatives of the US State Department and the Quad.

A second source in the RSF leadership told Mada Masr that both direct and indirect contacts were underway with some Quad members, describing the initiative as one that “clashes with Burhan’s ambitions,” as the military leader “is not seeking an end to the war.”

Ibrahim Mokhayyar, advisor to the RSF commander and member of the Tasis-led presidential council of the parallel government, told Mada Masr that peace would be impossible without recognizing Tasis and the “new reality in Sudan.” In his view, Friday’s Quad meetings were unlikely to yield any decisive outcome.

Burhan, meanwhile, continues to publicly reject engagement with the Quad initiative, saying he is prepared for dialogue only “if it restores Sudan’s unity and dignity” and not under pressure.

A TSC source likened Burhan’s current stance to his position during the Framework Agreement negotiations, saying it serves as “an internal message” to the military establishment that he will not bow to external pressure.

A second TSC source said Burhan’s mid-October meeting with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Cairo over the Quad’s proposal reflected a strategy of “cautious openness.”

The source added that Burhan seeks to exploit rifts among Washington’s partners — particularly with the UAE in its support for Hemedti — to carve out maneuvering room and “empty the US pressure from its substance,” especially that he frames any peace initiative as a foreign imposition that threatens national sovereignty.

Amid the ongoing diplomatic maneuvering, Gaafar Hassan, spokesperson for the Sumud alliance led by former Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, told Mada Masr that the alliance has been in contact with Quad countries in recent weeks.

Hassan said that Sumud presented the Quad with a detailed proposal for turning its mid-September statement into an actionable roadmap. The alliance, he said, continues to engage with the military, the RSF and political actors in Port Sudan in an effort to build consensus on key national issues and reach a comprehensive negotiated settlement that advances a civilian, democratic transition.

***

Russian-Sudanese rapprochement ahead of Burhan’s visit to Moscow

Sudanese officials have been shuttling to Russia in recent weeks as US-led diplomacy plays out on the opposite front.

After a delegation from the Sudanese Sea Ports Corporation visited in early October, Energy Minister Al-Moatasem Ibrahim followed on October 17. The visits yielded agreements to boost oil production, develop infrastructure projects and upgrade Sudan’s ports along the Red Sea.

The most notable trip came from Finance Minister Gibril Ibrahim, who spent nearly all of last week in Moscow.

According to four Sudanese diplomatic sources in Moscow, the string of ministerial visits is paving the way for an anticipated trip by Transitional Sovereignty Council Chair Abdel Fattah al-Burhan to Moscow to attend the Russia-Arab summit and hold a bilateral meeting with President Vladimir Putin in mid-November. The summit had been postponed earlier this month, with Putin stating that he “did not want to interfere” with the US-led initiative to end the war in Gaza.

One of the sources said the visit “will not be limited to mobilizing political backing, but will also mark a high-level signing of the new military and economic arrangements.”

The recent acceleration in Moscow-Khartoum relations, according to a former diplomat in the Sudanese embassy in Moscow, is less about development agreements than about a “rescue strategy.” The war, the source said, “has succeeded in creating a reality that made partnership with Moscow a political and economic lifeline,” adding that “what years of faltering negotiations failed to achieve has now been made possible by the war itself.”

From the early months of the war, signs of direct Russian military support for the Sudanese Armed Forces began to emerge. This included, according to field sources, shipments of equipment, training aircraft and fighter jets, along with logistical assistance for aerial surveillance operations. Though the details remain officially unannounced, this support has bolstered the military’s hold on key fronts, particularly in eastern Sudan and around Port Sudan.

Moscow “is not offering this support for free,” a former Sudanese Foreign Ministry official said, “but within the framework of a long-term strategic understanding of Sudan’s place in Russia’s new Red Sea map.”

The planned Russian military logistical and technical support center in Port Sudan — on which both sides announced in February that they had reached full agreement — would represent a major geopolitical gain for Moscow. For Sudan’s leadership, it serves as an insurance policy against potential Western pressure.

But Russia’s presence in Sudan may now extend beyond military cooperation. In the October visit, a delegation from Sudan’s Sea Ports Corporation met officials in Moscow to discuss plans for rehabilitating the country’s ports, coinciding with meetings of the joint ministerial committee that focused on mining, energy and infrastructure. A source at Sudan’s Transport Ministry told Mada Masr that the Russian side has shown growing interest in developing ports and industrial and tourism cities in eastern Sudan and in expanding transit services to turn the country into a regional transport hub.

These projects, proposed under a build-operate-transfer (BOT) framework, would allow Russian private companies to construct and operate maritime and aviation transport projects for a fixed period of time before handing them back to the government. For Khartoum, the model offers a fast-track route out of economic collapse amid the absence of traditional international financing, according to the source.

Russia’s ambassador in Khartoum confirmed in September his country’s readiness to expand cooperation, noting that major Russian companies are prepared to invest in ports, railways and aviation.

A second source at the Foreign Ministry described the turn toward Moscow as part of a complex web of domestic and external balancing acts aimed at easing pressure from the Quad while creating potential economic alternatives should new sanctions be imposed on Sudan.

For Sudan, Russia offers a potential rescue from collapse, a third former Foreign Ministry official told Mada Masr. For Moscow, Sudan represents an entry point to reassert its presence on the Red Sea after waning influence in Libya and the Sahel, the official added.

As the contest for regional influence intensifies among Western, Gulf and Russian powers, Khartoum appears to be wagering on a fragile equilibrium: a partnership with Moscow without alienating the Quad, and Russian investment without provoking confrontation with the West, the source said.

***

RSF escalates drone strikes across Khartoum, Sennar, Blue Nile

Footage documenting the Rapid Support Forces’ shelling of Khartoum Airport last week. Source: @HkZuk on X

A week after RSF drone strikes returned to Khartoum, the RSF stepped up its aerial campaign, launching attacks over four days on military and civilian infrastructure in Khartoum, Sennar and Blue Nile states.

In the capital, Khartoum International Airport was hit a day before it was due to reopen after more than two years out of service.

Eyewitnesses in the city told Mada Masr that, between Tuesday and Friday, they heard repeated explosions coming from the direction of the airport and military sites in central and southern Khartoum. Residents also said they could hear anti-aircraft fire and the humming of low-flying drones.

Footage documenting the RSF’s attack on Khartoum Airport last week. Source: Sudan War Updates on X

Air defenses shot down several drones attacking the airport on Tuesday and Wednesday, but others caused partial damage to several buildings, forcing the suspension of the planned reopening, a military source told Mada Masr.

The RSF also attempted to strike the General Command in the heart of Khartoum and other military positions in the city’s south, according to the source.

The strikes came just hours after the Sudan Civil Aviation Authority announced that domestic flights at Khartoum airport would resume on Wednesday. The authority said technical and operational preparations had been completed and confirmed the airport’s readiness to gradually receive flights.

The airport’s runways and terminals had sustained heavy damage after turning into battlegrounds with the outbreak of war in April 2023.

Following the military’s recapture of Khartoum city in March, the Transport Ministry put the initial estimates of damage to Sudan’s transport sector at US$2.7 billion.

Maintenance teams had since carried out limited restoration work on the airport’s terminals, navigation systems and power infrastructure and cleared wartime debris so that domestic flights could resume.

But an official at Sudan Airports Company told Mada Masr that some buildings and equipment were damaged again by last week’s RSF drone strikes, prompting the civil aviation authority to pause the reopening temporarily.

The official said the RSF understands that reopening Khartoum airport would serve as a victory for the state and the military in restoring normal life and has sought to prevent it by escalating drone attacks.

On Tuesday, following the first round of strikes, Transitional Sovereignty Council head and military Commander-in-Chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan visited the airport.

In a video released by the TSC, Burhan drew attention to the months-old achievement, saying, “We thank God for the improvement in our circumstances and our daily lives. We were in one situation, and today we are in a completely different one. This land was occupied [by the RSF] and now it is in the hands of the Sudanese people.”

In the southeast, the Sennar and Blue Nile states also came under a wave of RSF drone attacks starting Tuesday, causing loud explosions and power outages.

In Sennar, an RSF drone struck near the Sennar reservoir and the hydroelectric plant on Tuesday, a local source in the state’s resistance committees told Mada Masr.

On Friday, drones struck a power transformer in Singa, the state capital, witnesses told Mada Masr. The National Electricity Corporation confirmed a power outage caused by the attack and said its teams were conducting a technical assessment and repairs to restore service.

In Damazin, the capital of Blue Nile State, activist Mohamed Sadig Wad al-Giyo told Mada Masr the RSF continued to strike the city for a fourth consecutive day on Friday. The military’s air defense units managed to shoot down many drones, aided by jamming equipment, he said. But several others struck their targets.

A drone hit a power transformer near the Roseires reservoir on Tuesday, triggering power cuts across the region and in parts of South Sudan, according to Wad al-Giyo. Two people were wounded by shrapnel from a downed drone, he said, both of whom received immediate treatment and are in stable condition.

A senior military officer told Mada Masr that intelligence services have identified RSF launch platforms along the southern borders of Blue Nile and Sennar states, as well as within South Sudanese territory.

The officer said the RSF used Iranian and Chinese-made drones in the recent attacks on Khartoum, Damazin and Sennar.

He described the strikes as having little military value and said their purpose is primarily political and propagandistic: to shore up the RSF’s position on the battlefield and demonstrate its continued ability to hit key targets, thereby strengthening its leverage and claims to parity in negotiations.

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