In a communication directed to journalists on Friday, the United Nations expressed concerns over “increasingly alarming reports” regarding a significant rise in tensions. The statement indicated that the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) are allegedly surrounding El Fasher, indicating a potential coordinated assault on the city may soon occur. Concurrently, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) seem to be positioning themselves strategically, as noted in the announcement.
The UN spokesperson’s office emphasized that an assault on El Fasher would have catastrophic implications for the civilian population. “This escalation of tensions is occurring in a region already teetering on the edge of famine,” the statement continued. The Secretary-General has reiterated his appeal to all involved parties to halt hostilities in the El Fasher vicinity. Approximately 25 million individuals, or half of Sudan’s population, require humanitarian assistance, with over eight million displaced from their homes. The conflict has resulted in more than 14,000 fatalities and tens of thousands of injuries, while around 1.8 million people have sought refuge across national borders to escape the violence.
In an additional warning issued on Friday regarding Darfur, UN rights chief Volker Türk reported that the opposing military factions have initiated indiscriminate assaults utilizing “mortar shells and rockets launched from fighter jets targeting residential areas.” Since the RSF began their advance towards El Fasher, it has been reported that at least 43 individuals, including women and children, have lost their lives. “Civilians are trapped in the city, which remains the only location in Darfur under the control of the Sudanese Armed Forces,” the High Commissioner stated, highlighting their fear of death if they attempt to escape.
Mr. Türk pointed out that the critical situation has been exacerbated by a severe lack of essential supplies, as delivery trucks “are unable to move freely through territories held by the Rapid Support Forces.” He reported that the RSF has destroyed villages in western El Fasher, including Durma, Umoshosh, Sarafaya, and Ozbani, raising concerns about the potential for “further ethnically motivated violence in Darfur, including mass killings.” Last year, clashes and assaults between the ethnic Arab Rizeigat tribe and the ethnic African Masalit community in West Darfur resulted in hundreds of civilian casualties and thousands of displacements, as noted by the High Commissioner, who called for an end to the ongoing conflict, now in its second year.
Describing the situation as a “wholly man-made crisis,” Rosemary DiCarlo, the UN’s head of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, addressed the Security Council last week, declaring the circumstances in Sudan to be “a crisis of epic proportions.” Edem Wosornu, the operations director at the UN humanitarian affairs office (OCHA), cautioned during the same meeting that the RSF’s siege of El Fasher presents an immediate and severe threat to civilians in that area and throughout Darfur, where over nine million people are in urgent need of assistance.
