Nairobi, Kenya — November 11, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has raised alarm over the fate of at least 13 journalists and media workers who have gone missing in El-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, following its capture by Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
In a statement issued on October 31, CPJ said several rights groups reported that two of the missing journalists were abducted by the RSF, while five others managed to flee the city amid a communication blackout.
“We’re reporting in the dark,” a Sudanese journalist who escaped El-Fasher told CPJ. “Every hour, we lose another voice.”
El-Fasher, besieged by the RSF for 18 months, fell to the group on October 26 in one of the deadliest escalations since Sudan’s conflict erupted in April 2023. The Sudanese government accused the RSF of killing up to 2,000 civilians and abducting those attempting to flee.
Among the missing is freelance journalist Muammar Ibrahim, who appeared in an RSF-linked video surrounded by armed men after disappearing on October 26. The RSF later claimed he was being investigated for “bias” after describing the group as a militia. Other journalists still unaccounted for include Ibrahim Gibril Abkar of Sudan TV and Taj Al-Sir Ahmed Suleiman of the Sudan News Agency.
CPJ confirmed that at least five journalists — Abdelmajeed Al-Ahnaf, Fayhaa Mohamed el-Helw, Mohy Eldin Al-Sahhaf, and others — managed to flee the city and relocate to safer areas.
The watchdog warned that what distinguishes Sudan’s war is the RSF’s open documentation of its own crimes, with fighters filming, sharing, and celebrating atrocities online with total impunity.
Since the start of the conflict, CPJ has recorded at least 14 journalists killed, others abducted, female journalists raped, and media offices converted into detention centers.
“The video of Muammar Ibrahim’s abduction — filmed and shared as RSF propaganda — shows the absolute collapse of accountability in Sudan,” said CPJ Regional Director Sara Qudah. “Journalists can be kidnapped and their suffering broadcast to the world, and still no action is taken.”
The press freedom group urged the international community to demand the immediate release of all detained journalists, facilitate humanitarian access and communication restoration, and impose sanctions on RSF leaders and others responsible for attacks on the press.
Both the RSF and the Sudanese army have been accused of serious human rights violations, including airstrikes, abductions, and arbitrary detentions of journalists.
