A report by the American network “NBC News” stated that fire is being used as a “weapon of war” in Sudan, where hundreds of villages and towns have been burned to the ground across the country. Satellite images and open-source reports, according to the network, show that “hundreds of villages and towns across Sudan have been completely burned and turned to rubble,” and these fires are likely “deliberate.”
The war, which broke out more than a year ago between the army led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo “Hemedti,” has destroyed large parts of the country, killing thousands and displacing about 10 million people, leading to the world’s largest displacement crisis, according to the United Nations. As the fighting intensifies, experts and analysts told “NBC News” that “deliberate fires have destroyed homes and aid camps.”
The network quoted Mark Snook, an open-source investigator, saying, “When we see reports of fighting coinciding with clusters of fires, it suggests that fire is possibly being used as a weapon of war.” Snook, who tracks fires via satellites with his colleagues at the Center for Information Resilience (CIR), a non-profit organization dedicated to uncovering human rights abuses and war crimes, added, “The repeated burning of more than 50 residential clusters indicates a deliberate intention and potential forced displacement.”
Snook and his team from the “Witness to Sudan” project, part of the Center for Information Resilience, partially rely on heat-sensing satellites developed by NASA to monitor wildfires globally. They have documented more than 235 fires in Sudanese villages and towns since the war began in April 2023, according to “NBC News.” The CIR combines satellite images and open-source reports, including verifying social media content, maps, and publicly available data, to determine the extent of the destruction across Sudan.
Battle of El Fasher: The CIR revealed, according to the network, that much of the violence is now concentrated in Darfur, the westernmost region of Sudan, which hosts the largest number of displaced persons’ shelters. Recent data shows fires approaching El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state, with a population of 1.5 million, including many who have fled other conflict areas.
El Fasher has become a focal point for the latest clashes between the warring parties, as it is the last major city in Darfur where the army is present. Snook told “NBC News,” “The pattern of fires around El Fasher coincided with the attack by the RSF and allied militias to encircle the city.” A video recorded between April 28 and 29, and posted on a pro-RSF channel on the Telegram app, shows burning houses in southeast El Fasher, with armed men in RSF uniforms celebrating.
Inside the city, “there is no food in the markets, no access to healthcare, or nutrition centers,” said American obstetrician-gynecologist Jillian Burkhardt, who worked for two months in a hospital in El Fasher as part of a Doctors Without Borders team. Her husband, Paul Clark, the logistics team leader for Doctors Without Borders, who left El Fasher last month, said it is “extremely difficult” to transport humanitarian supplies to the city. He told the network, “With no working airports, trucks loaded with ready-to-eat meals from neighboring Chad take a month to reach the city, which is the best-case scenario.”
Last week, Doctors Without Borders suspended all activities in the southern hospital in El Fasher after RSF soldiers “looted” the facility and “stole an ambulance.”
According to Doctors Without Borders, “at least 192 people have been killed and more than 1,230 injured since May 10 in El Fasher.”
The UN Security Council demanded on Thursday an end to the “siege” of El Fasher by the RSF in Sudan, calling for an end to the fighting around this large city in Darfur. The resolution called for “the withdrawal of all fighters threatening the security of civilians,” urging all parties to allow civilians wishing to leave the city to do so.
“More Brutal War”: The “DNA” of the conflict in Darfur from 20 years ago is still present in the fighting today, according to former Acting Foreign Minister in Sudan’s transitional government, Omer Ismail. The RSF is an extension of the “Janjaweed,” an Arab militia previously supported by the Sudanese government, accused by the UN of committing ethnic cleansing in Darfur between 2003 and 2005. However, Ismail warned in his comments to “NBC News” that “this war is more brutal.”
Ismail, now a researcher at the Yale Humanitarian Research Lab at the School of Public Health, added, “The atrocities committed in this war are unlike anything Sudan has seen before.” His comments came after a report from the Yale lab earlier this month concluded that the RSF is “systematically destroying civilian homes” in areas with a significant Zaghawa population, an ethnic minority in Darfur.
The report stated, “This is the first specific evidence of alleged ethnically motivated targeting within El Fasher by the RSF.” Reports this year from the UN Expert Panel on Sudan and Human Rights Watch have accused RSF elements and allied militias of targeting the Masalit minority during fighting in West Darfur last year.
Ismail, who was born in El Fasher, said his family members were displaced from the city due to the recent fighting, noting that “if ethnically motivated clashes occur, many people will die, as there are many civilians in El Fasher and the surrounding villages.”
While many analysts and observers told the network that the RSF “bears the greatest responsibility” for targeting and killing ethnic minorities in Darfur, the army has also faced criticism. In a statement following the UN Security Council meeting on Sudan last month, U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield accused the Sudanese Armed Forces of systematically obstructing life-saving aid and starving millions of innocent civilians caught in the midst of this war.
The United States announced on Friday $315 million in emergency aid for Sudanese, warning of a potentially historic famine and holding both sides of the conflict responsible for the humanitarian disaster. The Sudanese government, the army, and the RSF did not respond to NBC News’ requests for comment.
