Italian writer Alex Zanotelli has expressed deep sorrow and outrage at the strange silence of global media towards the brutal war devastating Sudan — a conflict he described as “the most atrocious war on earth today.”
In his article published on the Italian platform Comune Info, Zanotelli noted that 25 million Sudanese are now suffering from food insecurity, while fierce battles rage across Kordofan and Darfur, where massacres continue to unfold with horrifying regularity.
According to him, massive quantities of weapons continue to flow into Sudan from abroad, fueling the conflict — among them, arms shipped from European countries, including Italy itself.
He cited Italian journalist Massimo Alberizzi, director of Africa Express, who revealed that a meeting took place on 12 January 2022 between the commander of the Rapid Support Forces (Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti), Giovanni Caravelli, head of Italian intelligence, and Colonel Antonio Colella.
During that meeting, an agreement was allegedly made to train the Rapid Support Forces under the pretext of “preventing African migrants from reaching the Mediterranean.”
“Another Gaza” Forgotten by the World
Zanotelli asks pointedly:
“Can we truly understand what the Italian government is doing in Sudan? I direct this question to the political parties represented in the Parliamentary Committee for the Security of the Republic.”
He explains that since April 2023, no humanitarian aid has entered Sudan by land — turning the situation into an unmitigated catastrophe.
The fiercest clashes, he said, are concentrated in El-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, where nearly one million displaced people have sought refuge from the horrors of war.
The city, once under government control, endured a prolonged siege and continuous shelling by the Rapid Support Forces, who deliberately targeted hospitals and journalists before eventually entering the city.
To Zanotelli, El-Fasher is “another Gaza — but one no one talks about.”
He laments the shameful silence of international and Western media, which seem to have abandoned Sudan to its fate.
Media Silence and Moral Failure
Condemning this silence, Zanotelli asks:
“When will Italian media finally begin to speak about this terrifying war in Sudan, about the tragedy taking place in El-Fasher, where entire tribes are being exterminated?”
He warns that Hemedti may soon declare a new state under the name ‘Darfur’ if his forces manage to take full control of the city.
Zanotelli stresses that this massive human tragedy in the heart of Africa places the world before an undeniable moral and humanitarian responsibility.
He asserts that the international community and the Italian government must take real, tangible action rather than issuing hollow statements and maintaining complicit silence.
A City Dying in Silence
After more than 600 days of siege, El-Fasher has become a city dying slowly — its people perishing by every imaginable means.
On Sunday, the Rapid Support Forces announced they had captured the Sudanese army’s headquarters in the city — the last major stronghold of the army in the Darfur region — amid accusations of atrocities committed by the RSF.
This declaration followed days of heavy fighting around the 6th Infantry Division, forcing the Sudanese army to withdraw from several positions “for tactical reasons,” according to a military source who spoke to Al Jazeera.
El-Fasher once housed 1.5 million residents, including 800,000 displaced people from other parts of Darfur due to the decades-long conflict since 2003.
Today, the United Nations estimates that only 260,000 people remain trapped, among them 130,000 children.
Sudanese Prime Minister Kamal Idris has urgently appealed to international organisations to “intervene immediately to end the suffering of civilians.”
Likewise, Darfur’s regional governor, Minni Minnawi, has called for protection of civilians and an end to the ongoing slaughter.
