Gold, Gulf, and the Fall of El Fasher: RSF Redraws Sudan War Map
The fall of El Fasher was more than a military setback. It marked the moment Sudan’s war began to reshape not only the country’s borders but also its identity. When the guns quieted in El Fasher in late October 2025, what followed was not triumph but the weary silence of a broken city.
After eighteen months of siege, North Darfur’s capital—the last major stronghold still under state command—finally succumbed. Streets once filled with displaced families lay still and gray with ash. Hospitals had become morgues, and the horizon carried the breath of burning ruins.
Amid this devastation, a new structure was emerging: the outline of a different order stretching from Darfur’s scorched valleys to the glass towers of the Gulf. The Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, born from the remnants of the Janjaweed, had transformed from local militias into a transnational power network.
What began in 2023 as a struggle between generals Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (Hemedti) and Abdel Fattah al-Burhan evolved into a systematic dismantling of a state long built on patronage, coercion, and the pursuit of gold.
The Roots of Control
The RSF’s origins traced back to 2013 when President Omar al-Bashir sought to bring Darfur under control. He organized a new paramilitary force by arming and funding tribal militias already known for their brutality.
“He paid them, denied them real power, and assumed loyalty would follow.”
Instead, his creation became an autonomous army with its own ambitions. When Jebel Amer’s gold veins were uncovered, the balance of power in the region shifted for good.
Author’s Summary
The fall of El Fasher and the rise of the RSF reveal how Sudan’s war transformed from local conflict into a reordering of power and resources shaped by gold and Gulf ties.