UN rights chief Volker Türk urges urgent action as fears grow of ethnically-driven atrocities in Darfur’s last army-held city
The United Nations has issued a stark warning that Sudan’s conflict-ravaged city of El-Fasher could face “large-scale, ethnically-driven attacks and atrocities” if urgent action is not taken, raising fresh alarm about a possible escalation in the country’s already devastating civil war.
The call came on Thursday from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) following reports that Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) are positioning long-range drones in neighbouring South Darfur, apparently in preparation for a major assault.
El-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, is the last major city in the vast western region still under the control of Sudan’s regular army. For more than 500 days, it has been under siege by RSF forces, which broke away from the military in a brutal power struggle that erupted in April 2023.
Volker Türk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, warned that the humanitarian situation had reached breaking point. “After over 500 days of unremitting siege by the RSF and incessant fighting, El-Fasher is on the precipice of an even greater catastrophe if urgent measures are not taken to loosen the armed vice upon the city and to protect civilians,” he said in a statement.
The UN has repeatedly raised concerns over the conduct of RSF fighters, who have been accused of carrying out atrocities in Darfur reminiscent of the early 2000s conflict that drew international condemnation and charges of genocide.
Türk said atrocities in El-Fasher were “not inevitable” but could only be averted if both sides respected international law and safeguarded civilian lives. He urged all actors to take “concrete action” to prevent further crimes, including summary executions, torture and ethnically-motivated violence.
His office cited reports of civilians being targeted as they attempted to flee, with many allegedly killed or tortured by RSF fighters. The situation echoes atrocities committed in April during an RSF offensive on the Zamzam displacement camp, south of El-Fasher, when women and girls from the Zaghawa ethnic group were reportedly subjected to systematic sexual violence.
“The safe and voluntary passage of civilians must be ensured out of El-Fasher, and throughout their movement along key exit routes,” Türk said. He also pressed the warring parties to guarantee unhindered access for humanitarian aid.
The war between the RSF, led by General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, and the Sudanese Armed Forces under General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, has plunged Sudan into one of the world’s worst humanitarian emergencies.
Since fighting broke out in April last year, tens of thousands have been killed, and millions have been forced from their homes, creating what the UN describes as the world’s largest hunger and displacement crisis.
Between 19 and 29 September alone, Türk’s office reported that at least 91 civilians were killed in El-Fasher in artillery shelling, drone strikes and ground assaults carried out by the RSF. The attacks, it said, appeared aimed at forcing civilians to flee en masse.
Those who remain face dire shortages of food, medicine and essential supplies. The RSF has reportedly imposed arbitrary restrictions on the delivery of aid into the city, further tightening the siege. According to credible accounts, civilians have been tortured or even killed for trying to bring food into El-Fasher.
Türk described the situation as “unimaginably difficult” for civilians, particularly the elderly and disabled, who may be unable to leave. “The protection of civilians, particularly those who are unable to move, must be prioritised,” he said.
International observers fear El-Fasher could become the site of a new wave of mass atrocities similar to those witnessed in Darfur two decades ago, when Janjaweed militias—later reconstituted as the RSF—were accused of widespread killings, rapes and displacement of ethnic African communities.
Human rights groups say the current conflict risks reigniting those divisions, with reports of ethnically targeted violence already surfacing across Darfur.
Despite repeated UN warnings, diplomatic efforts to halt the fighting have stalled. Ceasefire negotiations brokered by the United States and Saudi Arabia collapsed earlier this year, and the conflict has since spread, with civilians bearing the brunt.
Aid agencies have also struggled to access populations in need. The UN says more than half of Sudan’s 48 million people require humanitarian assistance, but deliveries remain obstructed by insecurity and restrictions imposed by both warring sides.
Türk insisted that accountability for atrocities was essential to breaking the cycle of violence in Darfur. He called on the international community to maintain pressure on Sudan’s warring factions to respect human rights and allow civilians safe passage.
“Atrocities are not inevitable,” he stressed. “They can be averted if the parties, and the international community, act with urgency and resolve.”
For the people of El-Fasher, the coming days may prove decisive. With the RSF poised for what observers fear could be its most ferocious assault yet, the UN’s warning underscores the precariousness of a city that has become a symbol of both resilience and suffering in Sudan’s spiralling war.
