The men facing torture and death to smuggle food into famine-ridden Sudan city

Published

4 weeks ago

September 25, 2025

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Inside a dimly-lit storeroom in Tine’s central market, near the border of North Darfur and Chad, we are shown a haunting video.

Young men crouched on the ground and covered in sand stare up at a phone camera helplessly.

A loud male voice interrogates them and demands to know what they are smuggling into Al Fashir, the regional capital besieged by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

One responds with “rice” and another says “pasta”.

“I will swat all of you like flies,” the man says from behind the camera, before pointing his gun at each of their heads and feigning lethal headshots in a mock execution.

We are shown the clip by Ahmed* and Hassan*, who are using pseudonyms for their protection.

The young men in the video are just one of the many teams they coordinate to smuggle food and lifesaving supplies into Sudan‘s Al Fashir, where around 900,000 people are being forced into famine by an RSF blockade while being bombarded by deadly drone strikes and shelling.

The dangers of this work are extreme as smuggling routes rapidly open and close, and battles for control rage inside the city.

Some of the teams they send make it to Al Fashir, but many do not. The three men in the video are still missing and are feared dead.

“The situation in Al Fashir is catastrophic – you cannot afford to watch and do nothing,” says Ahmed in front of a stack of flour sacks piled up to the ceiling.

“We have no option but to offer what we can for people to eat and survive the shelling.”

As we drive to the storeroom, their phones constantly ping with messages, voice notes and phone calls.

As Ahmed fires back a voice note requesting costings on bulk food items, Hassan brings his phone to his ear and listens.

He sighs with frustration and says: “We just received a message from HQ that one of our guys smuggling in insulin hasn’t arrived and was likely killed.

“He has been missing for three days. We have to count him among the dead.”

Hassan tells us they are being targeted by the RSF, adamant to uphold their siege.

“It happens a lot. Three days ago, we had a group of 12 people break up into three teams of four. Two of the teams arrived, but one group never surfaced.”

The number of dead is mounting and uncountable. They tell us they have lost 30 volunteers in the first week of September alone.

Their network of fearless first responders was born out of the resistance committees created to organise and assist targeted protesters during Sudan’s 2019 revolution.

Now, they carry the burden of feeding and treating war-impacted civilians across the country through the Nobel Peace Prize nominated Emergency Response Rooms.

The battle for Al Fashir – and Sudan

Al Fashir is being suffocated to death by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) as they push to claim full control of the Darfur region as a base for their parallel government, after the military recaptured the capital Khartoum and other key sites in central Sudan.

Close to a million people are facing famine in Al Fashir and surrounding camps as the RSF enforces a full blockade, launching armed attacks on volunteers and aid workers risking their lives to bring in food.

Inside the city, thousands are bombarded by almost daily shelling from surrounding RSF troops.

The RSF have physically reinforced their siege with a berm – a raised earth mound. First spotted by Yale Humanitarian Research Lab, the berm is visible from space.

The Sudan war started in April 2023, when long-simmering tensions between the Sudanese army and the RSF broke out in Khartoum.

The US special envoy to Sudan estimates that 150,000 have been killed, but the exact figure is unknown. Close to 12 million people have been displaced.

Several mediation attempts have failed to secure a humanitarian access mechanism or any lulls in fighting.

The RSF are not just targeting these civilian volunteers but also aid convoys attempting to deliver food.

On 3 June, a World Food Programme (WFP)-UNICEF aid convoy approaching Al Fashir was attacked, with five convoy personnel being killed and several food trucks destroyed.

Last month, another WFP convoy approaching an RSF-held town, Mellit, was attacked, and three trucks were set on fire.

Near a makeshift displacement shelter in Tine, 24 WFP trucks full of food are parked at a transshipment point under the sun.

The trucks will set off to towns in North Darfur that are controlled by the RSF: Mellit, Kutum and Korma.

Korma is only 43 miles from Al Fashir, but aid trucks will not brave facing the RSF by approaching the besieged capital.

WFP Sudan’s country director Laurent Bukera says: “For months, the UN has been trying to secure guarantees for a humanitarian pause allowing safe delivery to the city.

“We received clearances from the government of Sudan’s humanitarian aid commission to deliver aid into Al Fashir and are renewing these, but the RSF has yet to communicate support for a humanitarian pause.”

Volunteers call for aid airdrops

Hassan, Ahmed and other volunteers we met are calling for food air drops, similar to those in Gaza and South Sudan.

“We need safe humanitarian passage for the delivery of aid – by road or by air drop,” says Hassan. “That is the responsibility of the international community as a neutral entity that can navigate the belligerents.”

But navigating these belligerents has proven difficult for mediators and the United Nations.

Since the start of the war in April 2023, there has not been a single humanitarian pause or ceasefire that would allow for the guaranteed safe passage of aid.

“We are exploring every option to get aid into Al Fashir,” says Mr Bukera. “Airdrops are up to 10 times more expensive and extremely risky due to high risk of drone strikes, anti-aircraft weapons and shelling in and around Al Fashir.

“Also with the absence of humanitarian pause, to date, no aircraft and pilot have been willing to take the risk.”

Until a safe corridor for aid is established, Al Fashir’s young volunteers will continue to face death to get food to their besieged and bombarded relatives in friends inside the city.

“If we don’t do it – it’ll be a slow genocide. So, better to die trying,” says Hassan.

“We have no other option but to take these risks.”

World

Police helicopter targeted with lasers by ‘mob intent on violence’ in Dublin

Published

28 mins ago

October 22, 2025

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Police helicopter targeted with lasers by 'mob intent on violence' in Dublin

A police officer has been injured after a night of violent protests outside an asylum hotel in Dublin – with six arrests made.

Bricks were thrown and fireworks were discharged outside the Citywest Hotel – with glass bottles used as missiles and a police van set on fire.

A Garda helicopter was also targeted with lasers, and the police service says some of those on the streets were seen carrying garden forks.

Commissioner Justin Kelly added: “This was obviously not a peaceful protest. The actions this evening can only be described as thuggery. This was a mob intent on violence.

“We will now begin the process of identifying those who committed crimes and we will bring those involved in this violence to justice.”

It is the second night of demonstrations after an alleged sexual assault in its vicinity in the early hours of Monday morning.

Some of the crowd threw stones and other missiles at the public order officers as they moved the protesters back – and water cannon was deployed at the scene.

A line of officers was preventing the protesters from approaching the hotel.

This protest felt different

There had been a small protest on Monday outside the former Citywest Hotel, now an asylum centre, but last night’s felt very different.

The 26-year-old man who allegedly attacked the young girl had appeared in court yesterday morning, charged with sexual assault. He can’t be named but an Arabic translator was requested. Anger grew online, and another protest was called.

It’s hard to get a clear estimate of numbers, partly due to the street geography around the former hotel, but it’s thought up to 2,000 attended. Most were peaceful, some were not. After a Garda van was torched, a major policing operation began.

The smell of fireworks hung in the air as youths hurled missiles at the Gardai. A Garda water cannon truck was deployed for the first time in the Republic of Ireland, parked visibly behind the riot officers.

I spoke to local residents who had reasonable concerns about the influx of asylum seekers to the community in recent years. Most did not approve of violent protest, but they articulated the anger and pain felt by many here after the attack on the young girl.

Although it has not been confirmed officially that the accused is an asylum seeker, most of the local residents had the same message: the enemy is not necessarily those who come to Ireland, rather it’s the perceived open-doors policy of the Irish government.

‘Those involved will be brought to justice’

Ireland’s premier, Taoiseach Micheál Martin, paid tribute to the officers who were on the frontline of the protests.

“There can be no justification for the vile abuse against them, or the attempted assaults and attacks on members of the force that will shock all right-thinking people,” he said.

Justice minister Jim O’Callaghan said those involved in the violence will be brought to justice.

“The scenes of public disorder we have witnessed at Citywest must be condemned,” he said.

“People threw missiles at Gardai, threw fireworks at them and set a Garda vehicle on fire.

“This is unacceptable and will result in a forceful response from the Gardai.

“Those involved will be brought to justice.”

‘No excuse’ for violence

The minister said a man had been arrested and had appeared in court in relation to the alleged assault in the vicinity of the hotel.

He added: “While I am not in a position to comment any further on this criminal investigation, I have been advised that there is no ongoing threat to public safety in the area.”

He said attacks on officers would “not be tolerated”, adding: “Peaceful protest is a cornerstone of our democracy. Violence is not.

“There is no excuse for the scenes we have witnessed.”

The demonstration on Monday night passed without a significant incident.

It comes two years after anti-immigrant demonstrators triggered a major riot in the centre of Dublin after three young children were stabbed.

World

Violent protests at Dublin hotel housing asylum seekers after alleged sexual assault

Published

5 hours ago

October 21, 2025

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Violent protests at Dublin hotel housing asylum seekers after alleged sexual assault

A police van has been set on fire and missiles have been thrown at officers as protesters gathered outside a hotel used to house asylum seekers in Dublin.

It is the second night of demonstrations outside the Citywest Hotel after an alleged sexual assault in its vicinity in the early hours of Monday morning.

A large crowd has gathered in the area and members of the Garda’s public order unit have been deployed.

Footage from the scene showed a Garda vehicle on fire as well as several protesters displaying Irish flags.

Some of the crowd threw stones and other missiles at the public order officers as they moved the protesters back.

A Garda helicopter hovered overhead and a water cannon was deployed on the scene.

Ireland’s justice minister, Jim O’Callaghan, said those involved will be brought to justice.

“The scenes of public disorder we have witnessed at Citywest tonight must be condemned,” he said.

“People threw missiles at Gardai, threw fireworks at them and set a Garda vehicle on fire.

“This is unacceptable and will result in a forceful response from the Gardai.

“Those involved will be brought to justice.”

The minister said a man had been arrested and had appeared in court in relation to the alleged assault in the vicinity of the hotel.

He added: “While I am not in a position to comment any further on this criminal investigation, I have been advised that there is no ongoing threat to public safety in the area.

He said attacks on gardai will “not be tolerated”, adding: “Peaceful protest is a cornerstone of our democracy. Violence is not.

“There is no excuse for the scenes we have witnessed tonight.”

It was the second night of protest outside the hotel, which is being used as state accommodation for people seeking international protection. The demonstration on Monday night passed without a significant incident.

It comes two years after anti-immigrant demonstrators triggered a major riot in the centre of Dublin after three young children were stabbed.

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World

Putin-Trump Budapest meeting in doubt as official says ‘no plan for immediate future’

Published

6 hours ago

October 21, 2025

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Putin-Trump Budapest meeting in doubt as official says 'no plan for immediate future'

There are no plans for Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin to meet in person in the near future, according to a White House official.

The presidents last week agreed to meet in Budapest after a phone call Mr Trump called “extremely frank and trustful”.

The US leader suggested it was possible it could happen within a fortnight, though no date was set.

However, it appears that’s now off the table – and there are fears the meeting could be shelved altogether due to Russia‘s rigid stance on the Ukraine war.

The White House official, speaking to Sky’s US partner network NBC, said secretary of state Marco Rubio and Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov had spoken on Tuesday.

The call was described as “productive” but the official added there was no plan for the presidents to meet “in the immediate future”.

The last Trump-Putin meeting was in Alaska in August, but it ended without any meaningful progress towards a ceasefire.

The Budapest plan was announced shortly before Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy travelled to Washington last Friday to try to get approval for long-range Tomahawk missiles.

Mr Zelenskyy accused the Russian leader of acting out of fear Ukraine could get the green light and the ability to hit targets far deeper into Russia.

In his nightly address on Tuesday, he said Russia “almost automatically became less interested in diplomacy” after it became clear Mr Trump had backed away from any decision on the Tomahawks.

Two US officials told Reuters that plans for the Budapest meeting had stalled over Russia’s insistence any peace deal must give it control of all of the Donbas region.

Those terms are said to have been reiterated over the weekend in a private communique known as a “no paper”.

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The Kremlin’s refusal to budge effectively rejects Mr Trump’s latest assessment that the frontlines should be frozen as they are.

The president shifted position last week after previously telling the UN General Assembly that Ukraine could win back all the land it has lost.

Ukraine and European nations issued a joint statement on Tuesday insisting “international borders must not be changed by force” and accusing Russia of “stalling tactics”.

But, in an apparent effort to keep the US leader onside, it added: “We strongly support President Trump’s position that the fighting should stop immediately, and that the current line of contact should be the starting point of negotiations.”

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov gave the impression his country was in no rush to arrange another Trump-Putin meeting, saying on Tuesday “preparation is needed, serious preparation”.

Such talk is likely to increase concerns Russia does not want to stop fighting and is “playing” President Trump – all while continuing to launch drone barrages at Ukrainian cities.

Russia currently holds about a fifth of Ukraine after its invasion in February in 2022. It also annexed the Crimean peninsula in 2014.

Meanwhile, NATO’s secretary general Mark Rutte is travelling to Washington to meet with President Trump on Wednesday.

He will “discuss various aspects related to NATO’s support to Ukraine and to the US-led efforts towards lasting peace”, an official for the alliance said.