THE U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations warned that millions of people are at risk of a large-scale massacre in Sudan’s North Darfur region as fighting between the armed forces and the paramilitary entered one year.
The ongoing civil war in Sudan has not only made the country a top candidate for the world’s worst hunger crisis but also left millions of vulnerable civilians exposed to violent fighting that could claim more lives in the next few days.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield told journalists that El-Fasher, the capital city of Sudan’s North Darfur region, is “on the precipice of a large-scale massacre” as the paramilitary rapid support forces and its allied militias plan a massive attack.
“Today, the UN Security Council met to discuss the crisis in El Fasher, which is on the precipice of a large-scale massacre. This is not conjecture. This is the grim reality facing millions of people in El Fasher in North Darfur. There are already credible reports that the RSF and its allied militias have razed multiple villages west of El Fasher. And as we speak, the RSF is planning an imminent attack on El Fasher,” Linda Thomas-Greenfield U.S. Ambassador to U.N. said.
Thomas-Greenfield described the looming attack as a “disaster on top of a disaster.” El-Fasher functions as the main humanitarian hub in the western Darfur region which is home to about two million people on top of those hundreds of thousands of others seeking refuge from the war.
“As I’ve said before, history is repeating itself in Darfur in the worst possible way, and an attack on El Fasher would be a disaster on top of a disaster. It would put five hundred thousand internally displaced persons at risk, people who traveled from across Darfur to seek refuge. And that’s on top of the two million Sudanese who call El Fasher home,” Thomas-Greenfield added.
The U.S. envoy proposed five things that need to be enforced immediately to avoid further death and destruction. The proposed points of action include an appeal to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces to stop gathering military personnel in El-Fasher, respect for international law and protection of civilians, for regional powers to stop providing weapons to the warring parties, and for both sides to engage in direct negotiations in Saudi Arabia, among others.
The civil war between two rival factions of the military government of Sudan started on April 15, 2023, as both sides struggle for control of the North African nation that is home to nearly 50 million people.
Thomas-Greenfield asked members of the press to help spread information about the grave dangers facing the people of El Fasher, with the fighting putting about five million people in Sudan on the brink of famine.
