UN issues urgent warning over Kordofan - Assalamu alaikum
Assalamu alaikum. The UN has issued a stark warning about preparations for heavier fighting in Sudan’s Kordofan region and again urged an end to the violence.
The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, which have been fighting Sudan’s regular army since April 2023, said they accepted a humanitarian truce proposal from mediators. After taking El-Fasher in late October - the last major army-held city in western Darfur - the paramilitaries seem to be shifting focus east toward Khartoum and Kordofan.
UN human rights chief Volker Turk said civilians in El-Fasher are traumatized and trapped, and many are being prevented from leaving. “I fear that the abominable atrocities such as summary executions, rape, and ethnically motivated violence are continuing within the city,” he said. For those who do escape, exit routes have seen “unimaginable cruelty.”
Turk warned that since the fall of El-Fasher, civilian deaths, destruction, and mass displacement have been increasing, and there’s no sign of de-escalation. Instead, he said, the situation on the ground points to preparations for intensified hostilities, which would bring further suffering for the local people.
The RSF has been accused of mass killings, looting, and sexual violence in El-Fasher. Turk cautioned that without swift and decisive action, more carnage and atrocities could follow, and he urged that military support to forces committing serious violations must stop. He renewed the plea for an immediate end to the violence in Darfur and Kordofan and called for bold, urgent international action.
The fall of El-Fasher gave the paramilitaries control of all five state capitals in Darfur, raising fears of a de facto partition of Sudan. Witnesses described horrific scenes during the takeover: civilians shot in the streets, targeted by strikes, and crushed by vehicles. One witness, who fled to Tawila, said a group trying to escape intense shelling was surrounded by RSF trucks that opened fire and ran over people - young, elderly, and children among them.
May Allah protect the innocent and bring a swift end to the suffering. Please keep the victims in your duas.
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