UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has voiced deep alarm over escalating violence in the besieged Sudanese city of Al Fasher, condemning what he described as “indiscriminate attacks” and “targeting of civilians.”
“The Secretary-General strongly condemns reports of violations of international humanitarian law and abuses of human rights in Al Fasher — including indiscriminate attacks on civilians, gender-based violence, ethnically motivated assaults, and the destruction of civilian infrastructure,” UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said in a statement on Monday.
Guterres urged both the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to “immediately engage” with his personal envoy, Ramtane Lamamra, and take “swift, tangible steps toward a negotiated settlement.”
He warned that Al Fasher and its surroundings have been the epicentre of suffering for over 18 months, with hundreds of thousands of civilians trapped under siege by the RSF.
“Malnutrition, disease, and violence are claiming lives daily,” the statement said.
“End the siege”
The UN chief reiterated his call for an immediate end to the siege and demanded safe, unimpeded humanitarian access to all civilians in need. He also expressed concern about the continued influx of weapons and fighters into Sudan, which he said was worsening the conflict.
Al Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, has seen intense fighting for weeks between the army and the RSF, which has surrounded the city from five directions in an effort to seize it. The RSF began its siege of El-Fasher on May 10, 2024.
Sudan has been engulfed in civil war since April 2023, when fighting broke out between the army and the RSF, killing thousands and displacing millions across the country.
