18 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY NOVEMBER 6-12, 2025 www.montereycountynow.com Sounds of Silence As Sudan’s El-Fasher falls in violent takeover, the world loses sight of its journalists. By CPJ Middle East and North Africa Staff FORUM On Oct. 26, the Rapid Support Forces, a paramilitary group born from the Janjaweed militias and accused by the European Union of ethnically-motivated crimes, claimed full control of El-Fasher, the North Darfur capital. The city, besieged by the RSF for 18 months, was the group’s final barrier to controlling all of Darfur and establishing a parallel government in the region. Over just two days, the RSF have been accused by the Sudanese government of killing up to 2,000 civilians, abducting those attempting to flee and committing grave human rights violations. It marks one of the deadliest escalations since the group began fighting the Sudanese army for power in April 2023. “We’re reporting in the dark,” said a Sudanese journalist who managed to flee El-Fasher, speaking anonymously for fear of reprisal. “Every hour, we lose another voice.” Following the RSF’s capture of El-Fasher, the Committee to Protect Journalists received reports that at least 13 journalists had gone missing. Muammar Ibrahim, who most recently contributed to Al Jazeera, disappeared on Oct. 26. Later that day he appeared in a short video circulated by RSF-linked Telegram channels, surrounded by armed men thought to be RSF fighters. The next day, an RSF spokesperson told Al Jazeera he had no knowledge of Ibrahim’s whereabouts. CPJ has verified that journalists Abdelmajeed Al-Ahnaf, Mohamed Ahmed Nazar, Mohamed Suleiman Taher Shuaib, Fayhaa Mohamed el-Helw and Mohy Eldin Al-Sahhaf managed to escape El-Fasher and relocate to a safer location. The fate of the rest of the missing press—Khalid Abu Warqa, Magdi Youssef, Mohamed Al-Refaey, Taj Al-Sir Ahmed Suleiman, Mohamed Hussein Shalabi, Atta Mohamed and Ismail Mohamed Ahmed—remains uncertain. With internet and phone networks cut off in El-Fasher, colleagues and families have no way to confirm whether the journalists are in RSF custody, or even alive. What sets this war apart from most is the RSF’s brazen documentation of its own crimes, with fighters filming, sharing and celebrating their war crimes online with complete impunity. This year, CPJ has documented a trail of abuses by the RSF across Sudan: at least 14 journalists killed, female journalists raped, homes seized. In El-Fasher, RSF blockades have starved the city and silenced what remained of local media. What has emerged from the blackout is a stream of videos filmed by RSF fighters and posted online, showing them hunting down and executing civilians, and trenches full of bodies. No one has yet to be held accountable for Ibrahim’s abduction or previous crimes against journalists. “The video of Muammar Ibrahim’s abduction—filmed and shared as RSF propaganda—shows the absolute collapse of accountability in Sudan,” CPJ Regional Director Sara Qudah says. “Journalists can be kidnapped and their suffering broadcast to the world, and still no action is taken.” This story was published by the Committee to Protect Journalists, which has called for the protection of all journalists in El-Fasher and the immediate release of those detained. OPINION “Every hour, we lose another voice.”
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