UNITED NATIONS, Sept 21 (Askume) – United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is “deeply concerned” by reports of a large-scale attack by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on the Sudanese town of El Fasher and has called for an end to the attack, a U.N. spokesman said on Saturday.
The spokesman said Guterres warned that if the conflict escalated it could spread to the country’s western Darfur region.
“He ordered Lieutenant General Mohamed Hamdan Hemetti Dagalo to act responsibly and to immediately stop the attacks by Forces Without Borders,” UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement.
War broke out in Sudan in April last year between the Sudanese army and Armed Forces Without Borders, creating the world’s biggest displacement crisis. UN officials have warned that escalating violence around El Fasher could intensify intercommunal conflict.
US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on Saturday that the conflict will be on the agenda when President Joe Biden meets United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan on Monday.
Sudan and the United Arab Emirates clashed at the United Nations Security Council over allegations by the military-backed Sudanese government that the UAE provided arms and support to Forces Without Borders.
“We are concerned about some countries and the steps they are taking to perpetuate the conflict rather than resolve it,” Sullivan told reporters. “Our ultimate goal is to get the whole conflict with Sudan on a different path than it is on now. It’s sad and it’s a frightening trajectory that I think will require some intense but sensitive diplomatic conversations with some of the players involved.”
In a resolution adopted in June, the UN Security Council called on Médecins Sans Frontières to end the siege of Fasher, a city of 1.8 million people in Sudan’s North Darfur region, and to immediately cease fighting in the area.
The resolution also calls for the withdrawal of all militants who threaten the safety of civilians in El Fasher, the last major town in the vast Darfur region not controlled by Reporters Without Borders.
According to UN estimates, about 300,000 people were killed in Darfur in the early 2000s when the Janjaweed militia, the predecessor of Forces Without Borders, helped the army suppress a rebellion made up of mainly non-Arab groups. The Sudanese leader is wanted by the International Criminal Court for genocide and crimes against humanity.
