LONDON: Sudanese journalist Muammar Ibrahim was detained by the Rapid Support Forces on Sunday as the paramilitary group consolidated its advance in El-Fasher, the besieged capital of North Darfur.
Ibrahim, a freelance reporter and regular contributor to Al Jazeera Mubasher, was taken into custody just hours after the RSF announced it had seized control of the city, the last remaining Sudanese military stronghold in Darfur, which became the center of fighting in recent months as the RSF sought to consolidate control over the vast western region.
Described by fellow colleagues as “the last voice of Darfur,” Ibrahim was among the few journalists still documenting events from inside El-Fasher amid relentless airstrikes, a communications blackout, and a dire humanitarian situation that left over 200,000 civilians trapped since the onset of the RSF siege in April 2024.
A video that first circulated on RSF social media groups on Sunday showed Ibrahim surrounded by RSF fighters, identifying himself and confirming that he had been detained while attempting to leave the city.
In the clip, Ibrahim declares he is a neutral journalist, with loyalties to neither the Sudanese Armed Forces nor the RSF.
The Sudanese Journalists Syndicate and the Sudanese online community have called on the RSF to release him and said they will hold the RSF accountable for any harm done to Ibrahim.
Ataf Mohamed, editor-in-chief of local independent newspaper Al-Sudani, called on the international community “to take all necessary measures to secure his release.
“Muammar was only reporting the stark realities and tragic conditions faced by El-Fasher’s citizens, enduring hunger, thirst, death, and siege. Journalism is not a crime,” he said.
The Committee to Protect Journalists’ regional director, Sara Qudah, also called for his release on Monday, saying that Ibrahim’s abduction “exposes the group (RSF)’s blatant disregard for press freedom and human rights. It demonstrates the extreme dangers reporters continue to face in El-Fasher.”
Ibrahim’s detention coincided with intense fighting across El-Fasher and reports that the RSF had seized the Sudanese Armed Forces’ 6th Division base, its final stronghold in the region.
Medical groups reported dozens of civilians killed and the destruction of healthcare infrastructure during renewed violence in the city, where hundreds of thousands remain besieged and have endured severe deprivation for more than a year.
Sudan has been mired in conflict since April 2023, when longstanding tensions between the RSF and the military erupted into full-scale war.
The fighting has since claimed over 140,000 lives and created the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, with nearly 14 million people displaced — many forced to flee Sudan altogether.
