Senior United Nations officials warned on Wednesday that the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in El Fasher are at risk due to ongoing conflict in the city, which is located in western Sudan and besieged by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The officials expressed their concerns about the escalating conflict in the Darfur region, as reported by Agence France-Presse.
Violent battles resumed last Saturday in El Fasher, where the Rapid Support Forces launched an attack to seize control of the city—the only one of the five state capitals in Darfur not yet under RSF control, although it has been surrounded since May.
Since April 2023, Sudan has been engulfed in a fierce war between the army, led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the Rapid Support Forces, led by his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.
The UN Deputy Secretary-General for African Affairs, Martha Pobi, stated before the International Security Council that “hundreds of thousands of civilians trapped in El Fasher are now facing the risks of mass violence.”
Pobi added, “The battles spreading across the city endanger these already vulnerable groups, including many displaced persons living in massive camps near El Fasher.”
Joyce Msuya, Acting Head of the UN’s Humanitarian Office, reported that civilian infrastructure in El Fasher, including hospitals and camps for displaced people, had been targeted. “Hundreds of thousands are facing an imminent threat, including over 700,000 displaced persons in and around El Fasher,” she said.
Msuya also noted that the ongoing fighting has claimed a large number of women and children, and expressed increased concern after reports of bombings targeting central and western districts of the city and the deployment of additional armed forces.
The war in Sudan has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced millions, causing one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world, according to the United Nations.
Experts from the UN Human Rights Council called in early September for the “immediate deployment” of an “independent and neutral” force to protect civilians in Sudan, a recommendation rejected by the country’s leaders.
President Joe Biden urged the conflicting parties in Sudan to resume negotiations aimed at ending the ongoing war since April 2023, which has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths and pushed the country to the brink of famine.
