The US Ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, has called for an international halt to support for both sides of the ongoing war in Sudan, warning of an impending “massacre” in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur.
Addressing reporters on Monday, Thomas-Greenfield said, “As I’ve said before, history is repeating itself in Darfur in the worst possible way,” indicating that El Fasher is “on the brink of a large-scale massacre.”
The international community has expressed growing concerns over a potential imminent attack by the Rapid Support Forces on El Fasher.
Residents, relief agencies, and analysts have suggested that the battle for control of El Fasher, the historic capital of the Darfur region, could prolong and exacerbate ethnic tensions that surfaced during the conflict in the early 2000s.
On Friday, senior UN officials and the Security Council warned that approximately 800,000 people in El Fasher face a severe and direct risk amid escalating violence and the potential for a bloody tribal conflict across Darfur, as reported by Reuters.
The war in Sudan, which erupted a year ago between the Sudanese Army and the Rapid Support Forces, has created the world’s largest displacement crisis.
The UN’s Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Rosemary DiCarlo, told the Security Council that clashes between the Rapid Support Forces and elements of the Sudanese Army’s Popular Defense Forces are nearing El Fasher, North Darfur’s capital.
DiCarlo stated, “The fighting in El Fasher could unleash a bloody tribal conflict throughout Darfur,” echoing a warning issued by UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Monday.
The UN has reported that nearly 25 million people, half of Sudan’s population, need assistance, with about eight million displaced from their homes.
Adeem Wosorno, Director of Operations and Advocacy at the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, explained, “The violence poses a severe and immediate risk to 800,000 civilians residing in El Fasher and threatens to ignite further violence in other parts of Darfur, where over nine million people are in desperate need of humanitarian aid.”
El Fasher remains the last major city in Western Sudan’s Darfur region not under the control of the Rapid Support Forces.
Last year, the Rapid Support Forces and their allies swept through four other state capitals in Darfur, facing accusations of involvement in an ethnically motivated killing campaign against non-Arab groups and other abuses in West Darfur.
