Qualla: Al Zorg https://qualla.com/al-zorg en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:29 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/s/d/9/t/al-zorg-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Al Zorg https://qualla.com/al-zorg Al Zorg: Introduction https://qualla.com/al-zorg/ Photo credit MartinKassemJ120, CC0. Before it was Al Zorg, it was Dogi. The name came from the Fur language, the oldest people of this part of North Darfur. Around 2017, as the Darfur war ground on and Omar al-Bashir's government granted the Rapid Support Forces extraordinary latitude, the RSF took control of this land near the Libyan and Chadian borders. They changed the name. They brought Arab settlers from farther afield, many of them Mahariya, the tribe of Juma Dagalo, the town's mayor and the uncle of RSF commander Hemedti. They claimed the British had gifted the land to the Mahariya long ago. The Zaghawa, the Fur, and other groups claimed otherwise: that more than 140,000 people were forced from their homes to clear the ground.

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]]> Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/d/9/t/al-zorg-wp/sd9t-al-zorg-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Al Zorg: The Town They Built https://qualla.com/al-zorg/ Photo credit MartinKassemJ120, CC0. Al Zorg, also rendered Al Zurq, El Zurug, or simply Zurug, is Sudan's only military base near the border with both Libya and Chad, and it sits within striking distance of El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur. The plans that circulated for the town were ambitious: residential ar...

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]]> Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/d/9/t/al-zorg-wp/sd9t-al-zorg-the-town-they-built.mp3 0:06 2 full Al Zorg: Who the Land Belongs To https://qualla.com/al-zorg/ Photo credit MartinKassemJ120, CC0. The Zaghawa have maintained that clashes between incoming Arab settlers and established Fur and Zaghawa farmers have been ongoing since at least 1997. They argue that the RSF used the same tactics employed by the Janjaweed during the Darfur genocide of the 2000s: terror campaigns...

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]]> Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/d/9/t/al-zorg-wp/sd9t-al-zorg-who-the-land-belongs-to.mp3 0:06 3 full Al Zorg: Strategic Isolation, Strategic Value https://qualla.com/al-zorg/ Photo credit MartinKassemJ120, CC0. Al Zorg's location is a quiet kind of genius, from the RSF perspective. The town sits on supply lines that run from Libya, where weapons and fuel have historically flowed through Mahariya trading networks, toward the interior of Sudan. Chad is right there too, and the Chadian fro...

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]]> Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/d/9/t/al-zorg-wp/sd9t-al-zorg-strategic-isolation-strategic-value.mp3 0:06 4 full Al Zorg: Airstrikes, Barrel Bombs, and the JDF https://qualla.com/al-zorg/ Photo credit MartinKassemJ120, CC0. In January 2024, Sudanese Air Force strikes targeted the village's military base and Juma Dagalo's own home. Six of his assistants were killed along with twelve other people, homes destroyed. In February, more airstrikes near the main market killed dozens. These are the deaths th...

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]]> Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/d/9/t/al-zorg-wp/sd9t-al-zorg-airstrikes-barrel-bombs-and-the-jdf.mp3 0:06 5 full Al Zorg: A Town That Will Keep Changing Hands https://qualla.com/al-zorg/ Photo credit MartinKassemJ120, CC0. Al Zorg is not a city anyone will write a guidebook about. It is a strategic node in a war that has displaced millions of Sudanese, and it is built on the forced displacement of people who had lived here before. The market keeps selling. The clinic keeps stitching wounds as best ...

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]]> Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/d/9/t/al-zorg-wp/sd9t-al-zorg-a-town-that-will-keep-changing-hands.mp3 0:06 6 full