The United Nations has made an urgent call for the protection and safe passage of hundreds of thousands of civilians in Sudan’s el-Fasher as fighters from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group have claimed to have seized control of the besieged city.
UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher on Monday sounded the alarm amid reports of civilian casualties and forced displacement in the capital city of North Darfur state.
The RSF has been laying siege to el-Fasher for nearly 18 months in a bid to take control of the Sudanese army’s last stronghold in the vast western region of Darfur. The fighting has trapped at least 250,000 civilians and forced hundreds of thousands of others to flee their homes.
“With fighters pushing further into the city and escape routes cut off, hundreds of thousands of civilians are trapped and terrified – shelled, starving, and without access to healthcare, food, or safety,” Fletcher said in a statement, describing el-Fasher as being “at breaking point”.
He also called for unimpeded humanitarian access and safe passage for all civilians escaping the fighting. “Ceasefire now, in El Fasher, in Darfur and throughout Sudan,” Fletcher wrote on social media.
Later on Monday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned of a “terrible escalation”, saying the humanitarian situation in Sudan, where a civil war has been raging since April 2023, had become “unbearable”.
Speaking to reporters in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Guterres also urged all countries that are interfering in the conflict and those “providing weapons to the parties to the war” to stop undermining efforts to reach a ceasefire.
RSF solidifying grip on Darfur
Observers said the seizing of el-Fasher could be a potential turning point in Sudan’s civil war, which has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced 12 million and left 30 million in need of aid, making it the world’s largest humanitarian crisis.
Reporting from Sudan’s capital, Khartoum, Al Jazeera’s Hiba Morgan said el-Fasher’s takeover would solidify the RSF’s grip on the entirety of Darfur.
“What this means is that the RSF has more autonomy in the western region,” Morgan explained, adding that the fighters could even move for a “separation” of Darfur from the rest of Sudan.
Despite RSF assurances of civilian protection, the paramilitary group has faced accusations of committing atrocities in el-Fasher.
According to the Sudan Doctors Network, the advancing RSF fighters carried out killings of unarmed civilians on “ethnic grounds”.
“Reports from our field teams indicate that the number of victims exceeds dozens, though it remains difficult to access the affected areas due to the complete security collapse caused by the RSF,” it said.
It was not possible to independently verify the statement.
Meanwhile, Minni Minnawi, the governor of Darfur, who is allied with Sudan’s army, has demanded that civilians be protected from the advancing RSF.
The AFP news agency also quoted Minnawi as calling for an “independent investigation into the violations and massacres” allegedly carried out by the RSF.
Sudan’s official news agency SUNA quoted Information Minister Khaled al-Aisir as refuting the RSF’s claim of an advance in el-Fasher, describing it as “psychological warfare” and saying the “rebellion … has collapsed and been defeated in several locations”.
