An attack on al-Fashir would have “devastating consequences” for civilians in the region who are already on the brink of famine, the United Nations says.
The United Nations has sounded the alarm over a possible impending attack on al-Fashir in Sudan’s North Darfur, as the global body seeks to calm tensions in the region’s last major city not under the control of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). to reduce. .
A spokesman for U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Friday that the RSF had reportedly surrounded al-Fashir, “suggesting that a coordinated attack on the city may be imminent.”
“At the same time, the Sudanese armed forces appear to be positioning themselves,” the spokesman said in a statement.
Guterres called on all parties to refrain from fighting in the al-Fashir area, the spokesman said, adding that his envoy to Sudan, Ramtane Lamamra, was working to de-escalate tensions.
“An attack on the city would have devastating consequences for the civilian population. “This escalation of tensions is taking place in an area that is already on the brink of famine,” the spokesman added.
A year ago, a war broke out in Sudan between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary RSF, triggering the world’s largest displacement crisis.
The RSF and its allies swept through four other Darfur state capitals last year and were blamed for a campaign of ethnically motivated killings against non-Arab groups and other abuses in West Darfur.
Residents, aid groups and analysts have warned that the battle for al-Fashir, a historic center of power, could last longer.
It could also further exacerbate ethnic tensions that emerged in the region’s early 2000s conflict and extend across Sudan’s border with Chad.
The United States also called on all forces in Sudan on Wednesday to immediately stop attacks in al-Fashir.
Meanwhile, Volker Turk, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, expressed “grave concern” earlier Friday about fighting near the city. A statement from Turk’s office said dozens of people had been killed in and around al-Fashir in the past two weeks.
“Civilians are trapped in the town, the only one in Darfur still in SAF hands, and fear being killed if they try to escape,” the statement said.
“This dire situation is compounded by a severe shortage of essential supplies, as the delivery of commercial goods and humanitarian aid has been severely restricted by the fighting and delivery trucks are unable to move freely through RSF-controlled territory.”
Senior U.N. officials warned the Security Council last week that some 800,000 people in al-Fashir were in “extreme and imminent danger” as increasing violence threatened to “trigger bloody intercommunal clashes across Darfur.”
According to the United Nations, nearly 25 million people – half of Sudan’s population – need assistance and about eight million have fled their homes.
Donors pledged more than $2 billion to the war-torn country at a conference in Paris last week.