Hunger mounts, cemeteries grow

Sudanese residents gathering to receive free meals in al-Fashir, a city besieged by Sudan’s paramilitary RSF for more than a year, in the Darfur region. — AFP

HUNDREDS of thousands of people under siege in the Sudanese army’s last holdout in the western Darfur region are running out of food and coming under constant artillery and drone barrages, while those who flee risk cholera and violent attacks.

Al-Fashir, the capital of North Darfur state, is the biggest remaining frontline in the region between Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), under fire at a pivotal point in a civil war now well into its third year.