United Nations officials have issued a stark warning about the immediate and extreme peril faced by 800,000 individuals in a Sudanese city as escalating violence heightens the risk of triggering deadly communal conflicts across Darfur.
The eruption of war in Sudan a year ago, pitting the Sudanese army (SAF) against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), has resulted in the world’s largest displacement crisis.
Rosemary DiCarlo, the UN’s political affairs chief, informed the 15-member Security Council that clashes between RSF and SAF-supported members of the Joint Protection Forces were encroaching upon the North Darfur capital, El Fasher.
DiCarlo reiterated a warning given by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, stressing that combat in El Fasher could incite bloody communal strife across Darfur.
Nearly 25 million people in Sudan, representing half of the population, are in urgent need of assistance, with around 8 million individuals having been forced to flee their residences, as per the UN.
“The situation presents a critical and immediate threat to the 800,000 civilians residing in El Fasher,” remarked UN aid operations director Edem Wosornu.
Wosornu also cautioned that the violence could spark further conflicts in other parts of Darfur, where over 9 million people are in acute need of humanitarian aid.
A recent statement from a global food security body, backed by the United Nations, emphasized the necessity for swift action to avert widespread fatalities, livelihood collapse, and a looming hunger crisis in Sudan.
During a conference in Paris on Monday, donors pledged over $2 billion to assist war-ravaged Sudan.