US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has emphasised the need for a humanitarian ceasefire in Sudan during a call with United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, days after warning that action was needed to cut off the flow of weapons to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said Rubio "emphasised the importance of achieving a humanitarian ceasefire in Sudan" during the call.

Sudan’s army has repeatedly accused the UAE of supplying weapons and mercenaries to the RSF, claims that UN experts and some US lawmakers have deemed credible.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Rubio said Washington was doing "everything it could" to end the fighting.

"Something needs to be done to cut off the weapons and the support that the RSF is getting as they continue with their advances," he said.

Asked whether the UAE was among the countries supplying weapons, Rubio declined to name it directly but added: "We know who the parties are that are involved … that’s why they’re part of the Quad, along with other countries involved. I can just tell you at the highest levels of our government that case is being made and that pressure is being applied to the relevant parties. This needs to stop."

He did not rule out designating the RSF a terrorist organisation if it would help end the conflict.

UN launches investigation, Türkiye calls for ceasefire

The developments came as the UN Human Rights Council on Friday unanimously approved a resolution establishing a fact-finding mission to investigate violations in al Fasher, capital of North Darfur, which was seized by the RSF.

The council ordered investigators to identify those suspected of involvement in atrocities to help bring them to justice.

Türkiye, in a statement delivered by its permanent representative in Geneva, Burak Akçapar, called for an immediate halt to fighting in al Fasher and surrounding areas, an end to attacks on civilians, and safe humanitarian corridors as violence spreads across Darfur and Kordofan.

Mass mobilisation in Sudan

On Friday, Sudan’s Transitional Sovereignty Council head Abdel Fattah al Burhan declared general mobilisation in the army and called on all Sudanese capable of bearing arms to join the fight against the RSF.

Speaking in Sariqa in Gezira State, he said he would not accept "the rebels and those who stood with them", vowing that the rights of civilians killed by the RSF "will not be lost."

Burhan said Sudanese "will exact retribution" and that the war will not end except with "the end of the rebellion."

He rejected any mediation before the RSF "hands over its weapons."