United Nations officials reported on Thursday accounts of mass killings, summary executions, and other abuses in el-Fasher, Sudan, during an emergency session of the UN Security Council. The reports followed the capture of the North Darfur capital on Sunday by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) after the Sudanese Armed Forces withdrew from the city.
Martha Ama Akyaa Pobee, the UN’s assistant secretary-general for Africa, informed the council that the UN Human Rights Office had received credible reports of widespread violence as civilians attempted to flee the city.
“The situation is simply horrifying,” Pobee stated. “It is difficult to estimate the number of civilians killed. Despite commitments to protect civilians, the reality is that no one is safe in el-Fasher.”
Tom Fletcher, the UN’s humanitarian chief, also addressed the council, stating there were “credible reports of widespread executions” after RSF forces entered the city. He described incidents of violence against civilians, including women and girls.
The RSF’s takeover of el-Fasher marks a significant development in the conflict that began in April 2023 between the paramilitary group and the Sudanese military. Prior to its fall, the city had been under siege, restricting access to food and essential supplies for its residents.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported that more than 36,000 people have fled el-Fasher since Saturday, many traveling on foot approximately 70 kilometers (43 miles) west to the town of Tawila. Tawila is already host to a large population of displaced persons.
Individuals who fled el-Fasher described conditions in the city. “There was a lot of shelling,” Fatima Abdulrahman told Al Jazeera from Tawila, stating that shelling had killed one of her children and injured others.
Aid organizations have expressed concern over the humanitarian situation in Tawila as it absorbs the new influx of displaced people. Mary Brace, a technical protection advisor for the aid group Nonviolent Peaceforce, described the conditions as “catastrophic.” She said the immediate priorities for aid workers are providing food, water, and emergency medical care to the arrivals.
During the Security Council session, Sudan’s ambassador to the UN, Al-Harith Idriss Al-Harith Mohamed, characterized the events in el-Fasher as part of a “systematic pattern of killing and ethnic cleansing” by the RSF since the conflict began. He called the actions in the city a “genocide by all legal standards and definitions.”
The Sudanese ambassador urged the Security Council to condemn the RSF’s actions, designate the group as a terrorist organization, and enforce an existing arms embargo on the region. He also called for sanctions against any external parties providing support to the RSF.
The conflict in Sudan has resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of people and the displacement of more than 12 million, according to UN figures.
