United Nations Expresses Deep Concern Over Escalating Conflict in Sudan

The spokesperson for UN Secretary-General António Guterres announced that the Secretary-General has expressed deep concern over the worsening conflict in Sudan, emphasizing the need to ensure the safe delivery of humanitarian aid.

In a statement, the spokesperson said, “The Secretary-General strongly condemns reports of violations of international humanitarian law and human rights abuses in El Fasher, including indiscriminate attacks, targeting of civilians and civilian infrastructure, as well as gender-based violence, ethnically motivated attacks, and mistreatment.”

Earlier, Guterres told reporters that foreign interference in Sudan undermines prospects for peace.

Sudan’s Sovereign Council leader, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, said on Monday that the army’s “withdrawal” from the city of El Fasher was due to “the systematic destruction and killing of civilians,” following the Rapid Support Forces’ (RSF) announcement of full control over the capital of North Darfur State.

In a televised speech, al-Burhan explained that “everyone has seen what happened in El Fasher. The leadership there, including the security committee, decided to leave the city due to the systematic destruction and killing of civilians. They believed it necessary to withdraw to a safe location to spare the remaining citizens and the rest of the city from further devastation.”

He stressed the army’s determination “to avenge what happened to the people of El Fasher,” adding that “the crimes committed now and previously in El Fasher and across Sudan are taking place before the eyes of the world. Violations of Security Council resolutions and international norms continue without accountability or condemnation.”

Civilians Detained

The RSF’s advance has raised fears of potential reprisals against about 250,000 people still in El Fasher, amid warnings of escalating fighting in other parts of the country.

Witnesses and humanitarian and military sources told Reuters that RSF fighters have been detaining fleeing civilians in nearby towns and villages since declaring control over the army’s headquarters in El Fasher on Sunday.

Two military and two humanitarian sources said RSF forces appear to be directing displaced civilians to nearby towns in an attempt to establish new displacement camps there.

Witnesses who reached the town of Tawila, east of El Fasher and controlled by a neutral force, said they were sent on foot to the nearby village of Garni, where hundreds of people, including women and children, remain detained by the RSF.

Denise Brown, the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan, said adults and children who fled El Fasher through unsafe routes “are suffering from dehydration, malnutrition, physical injuries, and psychological trauma.”

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported that the fighting has displaced about 26,000 people.

Risk of Division

Massad Boulos, Senior Advisor to the White House for Arab and African Affairs, said in a press statement, “If the RSF takes full control of the Darfur region, it could have dangerous and worrying implications for the future, particularly regarding potential fragmentation.”

Boulos compared the situation to Libya, where competing governments tied to military factions in the east and west have led to a de facto geographic division.

Analysts noted that the RSF, engaged in a civil war with the army for more than two and a half years, may exploit its momentum to try to regain control over other regions in Sudan.

If the latest U.S.-mediated peace talks fail to achieve progress—after numerous previous attempts—the conflict could further deteriorate, deepening famine, intensifying ethnically driven violence, and displacing millions more.

The army had earlier succeeded in expelling the RSF from the capital, Khartoum, but according to both military and RSF sources, the paramilitary group has recently acquired advanced weaponry, including long-range drones, which could enable it to attempt a counteroffensive.