He told the world what was happening in El Fasher. Then they sought him out. How Sudan lost ‘a true hero of the war’

Mohamed Khamis Douda, who was the official spokesperson for the Zamzam displacement camp in Sudan’s Darfur region, has been killed in El Fasher by the Rapid Support Forces Photograph: supplied

For months, militiamen on the perimeters of El Fasher have asked those few who managed to escape the besieged Sudanese city whether Mohamed Khamis Douda was still inside. They shared videos threatening to kill him, which, as they hoped, made their way to the activist.

Even as the hunger and fear of living under siege and bombardment made him desperate to leave, Douda remained inside El Fasher, constantly working to let the outside world know what was happening to the people there. Then, on Sunday 26 October, Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces overran the city and it was too late. His friends and family have confirmed to the Guardian that Douda has been killed.