Sudan army suffers major defeat as El-Fasher division headquarters falls

EL-FASHER – Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) said on Sunday they had captured the headquarters of the army’s 6^th Infantry Division in El-Fasher, the military’s last major stronghold in the Darfur region, in a potential strategic turning point in the country’s protracted war.

The capture, which the RSF described as a “historic victory,” could consolidate the paramilitary group’s control over all five state capitals in Darfur. It followed the loss of the strategic town of Bara in North Kordofan State by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) a day earlier.

Videos reviewed and geolocated by Sudans Post showed RSF fighters inside the division’s headquarters compound amid heavy celebratory gunfire. Local sources said the RSF launched a coordinated, multi-front attack from the south, north, and east, forcing SAF troops and their allies to retreat into the western part of the city.

The Sudanese Armed Forces’ official spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. However, a pro-army militia, the Popular Resistance in North Darfur, warned on social media against what it called a “deceptive media campaign” and insisted that resistance continued in western neighborhoods.

The fall of the headquarters culminates a brutal, protracted siege that had left the garrison cut off from ground supply routes for nearly three years, relying entirely on high-risk aerial resupply missions. The defending force, comprised of regular army troops and allied factions, had faced severe shortages of manpower and ammunition.

The RSF had suffered some of its heaviest losses of the war in repeated, failed attempts to take the base, including the death of senior commander Ali Yacoub in a major offensive in June 2024.

The group later adapted its tactics, increasing its use of drone warfare.

In a statement, the RSF said its fighters had “succeeded in liberating the 6^th Division Headquarters,” which it said broke the “backbone” of the army.  The statement claimed to have inflicted “heavy losses in lives—estimated in the thousands” on retreating forces, though these figures could not be independently verified.

“Today, Sunday, October 26, 2025, the valiant heroes of the Rapid Support Forces have inscribed a new victory that will be forever remembered in the annals of their great heroism. They succeeded in liberating the 6^th Division Headquarters in the city of El-Fasher, North Darfur State, breaking the backbone of the Army of the Islamic Movement terrorists and the mercenary hireling movements by taking full control of this strategic military division,” it said.

The group pledged to coordinate with a civilian administration to “provide full protection for civilians, facilitate the return of displaced persons to their homes, and ensure the provision of their essential needs.”

The fighting triggered a new wave of displacement, with thousands of civilians seen fleeing through the western side of El-Fasher, according to videos, potentially towards neighboring Tawila.

If consolidated, full control of El-Fasher would mark the first time since the war began that all five Darfur state capitals have fallen under RSF control, fundamentally redefining the map of the conflict and cementing the paramilitary’s position in any future negotiations.