As it attempts to ease tensions in the final significant city in the area not under the authority of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), al-Fashir, in Sudan’s North Darfur, the UN has issued a warning about a potential impending attack.
The RSF is apparently encircling al-Fashir, “suggesting a coordinated move to attack the city may be imminent,” according to a UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres spokesperson on Friday.
The spokesperson added in a statement that “the Sudanese Armed Forces appear to be positioning themselves simultaneously.”
According to the spokeswoman, Guterres urged all sides to avoid fighting in the al-Fashir area and stated that his ambassador to Sudan, Ramtane Lamamra, was attempting to defuse the situation.
“The civilian population would suffer greatly from an attack on the city. The spokeswoman continued, “This escalation of tensions is in an area that is already on the verge of famine.”
The world’s largest displacement catastrophe began a year ago when the paramilitary RSF and the Sudanese army went to war in Sudan.
After storming through four more Darfur state capitals last year, the RSF and its supporters were held accountable for a wave of abuses and racially motivated killings in West Darfur against non-Arab populations.
Locals, relief organizations, and experts have cautioned that the struggle for al-Fashir, a historically significant center of authority, may take longer than expected.
Additionally, it might spread across Sudan’s border with Chad and exacerbate ethnic tensions that first arose during the fighting in the early 2000s in the region.
Additionally, the US demanded on Wednesday that all of Sudan’s military forces immediately stop their strikes in al-Fashir.
Volker Turk, the UN’s High Commissioner for Human Rights, had earlier on Friday expressed “grave concern” over fighting close to the capital.
About 800,000 people in al-Fashir are in “extreme and immediate danger,” according to top UN officials, who also warned the Security Council last week that the violence’s threat to “unleash bloody intercommunal strife throughout Darfur” is a serious one.
According to the UN, eight million people have fled their homes and about 25 million people, or half of Sudan’s population, require relief.
During a summit in Paris last week, donors committed more than $2 billion for the war-torn nation.
