U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed deep concern over reports of a major offensive by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on the Sudanese city of al-Fashir and urged its leader to stop the assault immediately, according to a U.N. spokesperson on Saturday.
Guterres cautioned that further escalation could lead to the conflict expanding across Sudan’s western Darfur region.
U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric stated that Lt. General Mohamed Hamdan ‘Hemedti’ Dagalo must act responsibly and immediately halt the RSF assault.
“It is unconscionable that the warring parties have repeatedly ignored calls for a cessation of hostilities,” Dujarric said.
Since the conflict between Sudan’s army and the RSF began in April last year, it has caused the world’s largest displacement crisis. U.N.
Officials have warned that the increasing violence near al-Fashir could ignite further intercommunal conflicts.
Meanwhile, U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan announced that Sudan’s conflict would be a topic of discussion when President Biden meets UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
The Sudanese government, aligned with the army, has accused the UAE of arming and supporting the RSF. Sullivan said the U.S. aims to redirect Sudan’s conflict through “intense but sensitive diplomatic conversations with several players”.
In a June resolution, the U.N. Security Council demanded an end to the RSF’s siege of al-Fashir, a city of 1.8 million in Sudan’s North Darfur region, and called for an immediate halt to the fighting.
The resolution also urged the withdrawal of fighters posing a threat to the safety of civilians in al-Fashir, the last major city in Darfur not under RSF control.
In the early 2000s, an estimated 300,000 people were killed in Darfur, where “Janjaweed” militias—later forming the RSF—assisted the army in quelling a rebellion by mostly non-Arab groups.
Sudanese leaders remain wanted by the International Criminal Court for genocide and crimes against humanity.
YOU MAY ALSO READ: Somalia accuses Ethiopia of providing arms to Puntland state