AN extensive earthen wall is being built around the besieged Sudanese city of el-Fasher and is intended to trap people inside, according to research from Yale University.
From satellite images, the university’s Humanitarian Research Lab (HRL) has identified more than 31km (19 miles) of berms – or raised banks – constructed since May in territory outside the city occupied by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
El-Fasher, under siege for more than a year, is the last major foothold in Darfur for Sudan’s army, which has been battling the RSF since April 2023.
The Sudan Doctors Network has told the BBC that the RSF was intensifying its offensive there and deliberately targeting civilians.
“Yesterday there was a shelling in a civilian area down in the city centre that ended up killing almost 24 civilians and injuring 55 people, among them five women,” Dr Mohamed Faisal Hassan, from the medics association, told the BBC’s Newsday programme.
The attacks on the central market and a residential area were “deliberate” and “heinous”, he said.
“Three days ago they targeted one of the biggest hospitals in el-Fasher and resulted in a massive massacre of patients and medical staff.”
But the analysis by Yale’s Humanitarian Research Lab (HRL), which has been closely monitoring the conflict, suggests that the RSF “is creating a literal kill box around el-Fasher”.
The HRL report notes that the physical boundary deepens siege conditions and control of who and what can enter or leave the city, where about 300,000 people live.
Since the conflict erupted, RSF fighters and allied Arab militia in Darfur have been accused of targeting people from non-Arab ethnic groups.
“Some civilians are trying to escape the city but sadly they are being targeted and killed by the RSF forces,” Dr Hassan said.
The RSF has previously denied charges of targeting civilians and carrying out ethnic cleansing.
The berms complicate things for civilians trying to flee or those seeking to bring in food, medicine and other essential items.
Humanitarian organisations have been unable to access el-Fasher for months and the remaining civilians are enduring constant bombardment, food scarcity and difficulties in accessing medical care.
“We have no money,” 37-year-old Halima Hashim, a schoolteacher and mother of four, told the news agency AFP.
Staying behind was like a slow death, but “leaving is dangerous”, she said.