UN warns Sudan paramilitary forces are encircling a capital in western Darfur, urges against attack
UNITED NATIONS — Sudanese paramilitary forces are surrounding the only capital they have not yet captured in the western region of Darfur, the United Nations said on Friday, warning that an attack would have “devastating consequences” for the city’s 800,000 residents.
At the same time, the UN said, rival Sudanese forces appear to be “positioning themselves.”
UN Secretary-General António Guterres has again called on the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and government forces to refrain from fighting in the North Darfur area around the capital El Fasher, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
The year-old war in Sudan between rival paramilitary generals and government forces vying for power has led to “a crisis of epic proportions,” UN political chief Rosemary DiCarlo said on Friday. It is fueled by weapons from foreign supporters who continue to ignore U.N. sanctions aimed at helping end the conflict, she said, stressing that “this is illegal, it is immoral and it must stop.”
The UN humanitarian agency said on Friday that escalating tensions and clashes around El Fasher over the past two weeks have already resulted in the displacement of 40,000 people, as well as a number of civilian casualties.
“The security situation has effectively cut off humanitarian access to El Fasher,” the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, known as OCHA, said.
Humanitarian officials say El Fasher is a key location for reaching other parts of the vast Darfur region, including for aid shipments from neighboring Chad and via a northern route from Port Sudan on Sudan’s northeast coast.
“Currently, more than a dozen trucks carrying life-saving supplies for 122,000 people are stranded in Ad Dabbah in the neighboring northern state, unable to continue to El Fasher due to insecurity and lack of guarantees of safe passage,” OCHA said.
Dujarric said the Secretary-General’s personal envoy to Sudan, Ramtane Lamamra, is working with the rival sides to de-escalate tensions, which have reportedly escalated dramatically.
OCHA also said it is “absolutely necessary that the parties allow safe passage for citizens to leave El Fasher to safer areas.”
In mid-April 2023, Sudan plunged into chaos as long-simmering tensions between the army, led by General Abdel Fattah Burhan, and the paramilitaries of the Rapid Support Forces commanded by Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo erupted into street fighting in the capital Khartoum. The fighting has spread to other parts of the country, especially urban areas and the western region of Darfur.
The UN’s DiCarlo painted a bleak picture of the war’s impact: more than 14,000 dead, tens of thousands injured, a looming famine with 25 million people needing life-saving aid, and more than 8.6 million people forced to flee their homes.
During the war, the Arab-dominated Rapid Support Forces have carried out brutal attacks in Darfur against ethnic African civilians, especially the ethnic Masalit, and have taken control of most of the vast region – with El Fasher as the latest target.
Twenty years ago, Darfur became synonymous with genocide and war crimes, especially by the infamous Arab Janjaweed militias, against populations who identify as Central or East African.
That legacy seems to have returned. International Criminal Court prosecutor Karim Khan said in late January that there are reasons to believe both sides may be committing war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide in Darfur.
The Rapid Support Forces were formed from Janjaweed fighters by former Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who ruled the country for 30 years before being overthrown in a popular uprising in 2019. He is wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of genocide and other crimes. during the Darfur conflict in the 2000s.