UN Security Council Condemns RSF Assault on El-Fasher - A Grave Warning for Sudan
Assalamu alaikum. The UN Security Council has voiced deep alarm over a brutal assault by Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces on El-Fasher, North Darfur, warning that attacks on civilians could escalate into widespread, ethnically driven killings. The council’s statement condemned the RSF offensive and its devastating effect on ordinary people, recalling Resolution 2736 (2024) which demands the siege be lifted and hostilities stop.
Members urged all parties to protect civilians and follow international humanitarian obligations, and they stressed the need for safe routes for those trying to flee. The statement also called for unhindered humanitarian access and reiterated opposition to any parallel governing authorities in RSF-held areas, while urging countries to avoid external interference that fuels conflict.
Senior UN officials painted a catastrophic picture from the ground. UN Humanitarian Chief Tom Fletcher said El-Fasher, after more than a year under siege, has “descended into an even darker hell,” citing reports of mass executions, rape, and mutilations. He reported nearly 500 killed this week at the Saudi Maternity Hospital, including patients and companions, calling it further proof of the brutality of this war.
Fletcher emphasized that those wishing to leave El-Fasher must be allowed to do so safely and those who remain must be protected. He demanded accountability for those committing killings and sexual violence, for the commanders giving orders, and for those supplying the weapons. He also said UN aid deliveries have been repeatedly blocked by the RSF even as tens of thousands of terrified, hungry civilians walk toward Tawila, which is itself overflowing with displaced people.
“This is not just a crisis of violence - it is a crisis of hunger,” he warned, noting confirmed famine and spreading severe food insecurity. He condemned the expulsion of World Food Programme staff and warned that humanitarian pleas to be allowed to save lives are not being heeded.
Assistant Secretary-General Martha Ama Akyaa Pobee reported that El-Fasher fell to the RSF after more than 500 days of siege, with only small pockets of resistance left. She described widespread and serious violations in recent days, including mass killings and summary executions during house-to-house searches and as civilians tried to flee. Communications with the city have been cut, making casualty assessments difficult, and there is effectively no safe passage for civilians.
Pobee also pointed to atrocities in North Kordofan, where reports say 50 civilians and five Red Crescent volunteers were killed in Bara after the RSF took the town - acts often described as ethnically motivated reprisals.
The UN political chief warned the conflict is widening, with drone strikes and fighting spreading across Kordofan, Blue Nile, Sennar, and Khartoum, and said the risk of mass atrocities remains alarmingly high. She repeated the secretary-general’s call for an immediate ceasefire and cautioned against foreign meddling, saying weapons and fighters continue to enter Sudan and urging states with influence to press for de-escalation.
Fletcher closed with a somber reminder of the world’s moral duty: what is happening in El-Fasher echoes the horrors Darfur faced two decades ago, yet global response today seems marked by indifference. He challenged the international community: where is our diplomacy, our values, our conscience? He warned the council that failure to act now would be a failure for Sudan’s children.
May Allah protect the innocent, grant patience to those suffering, and guide leaders to stop the bloodshed and allow humanitarian relief to reach those in need.
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