Khartoum (Nabaa Sudan) – Professor Hafez Mohamed Abdullah Ibrahim, Secretary for Academic Affairs at the University of El Fasher, has revealed that more than 60 university affiliates have been killed and over 150 remain missing among academic staff, employees, workers and students, including eight faculty deans, as a result of violations committed by the Dagalo family militia during its siege of the city and following its capture.
Speaking to the Sudan News Agency (SUNA) on Friday, marking the first anniversary of the fall of El Fasher, Professor Hafez said the militia had committed systematic violations against the university, including the complete destruction of lecture halls, laboratories and the central library, as well as the looting of their contents.
Professor Hafez explained that the library housed thousands of valuable reference works and books, as well as rare academic journals covering various disciplines. These included rare studies on the history and environment of Darfur that could not be replaced. He added that the militia had looted educational models and desecrated bodies at the mortuary of the Faculty of Medicine.
He stressed that the University of El Fasher is one of Sudan’s oldest universities and a major academic institution serving Darfur and Sudan as a whole. The destruction of its libraries and laboratories, he said, represents a grave loss to scientific research and forms part of the militia’s systematic policy of destroying the country’s educational institutions and erasing its identity.
Professor Hafez added that the militia had turned university buildings into military barracks and lecture halls into detention and torture facilities, in addition to looting the homes and personal belongings of academic staff.
Professor Hafez stressed that turning the university into military barracks constitutes an explicit violation of international conventions and international humanitarian law, which prohibit the use of civilian objects and educational institutions for military purposes. He said this places the militia under potential criminal liability before international courts.
He said what the university had endured was not merely an attack on buildings, but a systematic assault on the memory of a nation.
Despite the devastation, he affirmed, the university remains committed to its educational and research mission and its service to the community. It will return to its main campus in El Fasher stronger and more resilient, in honour of the blood of its martyrs, whose sacrifice has made it an enduring beacon.
Professor Hafez paid tribute to the souls of the university’s fallen members, praying that they be granted divine mercy, and expressing hope for the safe return of those missing and the release of those held captive.
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