UN officials have condemned what they described as “horrifying” mass killings in Sudan, as Rapid
United Nations officials have condemned mass killings reportedly carried out by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Sudan’s el-Fasher, warning the UN Security Council that the city has “descended into an even darker hell.”
The RSF seized control of el-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, on Sunday after forcing Sudan’s army to withdraw from its last major stronghold in the western Darfur region. “The situation is simply horrifying,” said Martha Ama Akyaa Pobee, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Africa, during an emergency Security Council session on Thursday.
Pobee said the UN Human Rights Office had received credible reports of mass executions, house-to-house searches, and summary killings of civilians attempting to flee. “The situation is chaotic. It is difficult to estimate the number of civilians killed. Despite promises to protect civilians, the reality is that no one is safe in el-Fasher,” she warned, adding that there was no safe passage out of the city.
The UN’s humanitarian chief, Tom Fletcher, described el-Fasher as a city already facing “catastrophic human suffering” that has now “descended into an even darker hell.” He cited credible reports of widespread executions following the RSF’s entry into the city. “We cannot hear the screams, but as we sit here today, the horror continues. Women and girls are being raped, people are being mutilated and killed with utter impunity,” he said.
Survivors recall attacks
For 18 months prior to the army’s withdrawal, an RSF siege had trapped hundreds of thousands of civilians without food or essential supplies. According to humanitarian agencies, more than 36,000 people have fled since Saturday—mostly on foot—to Tawila, around 70 kilometres west, which is already sheltering roughly 650,000 displaced people.
“I was struck by shelling,” said one displaced woman from el-Fasher, speaking from Tawila in comments carried by regional media. “Shells killed my daughter, injured another, and paralysed my son. My body is covered with wounds.”
Observers say the fall of el-Fasher could mark another step toward the potential partition of Sudan, more than a decade after South Sudan’s secession. The conflict began in April 2023, when tensions between Sudan’s army and the RSF erupted into full-scale fighting in Khartoum. Since then, tens of thousands have been killed and more than 12 million displaced.
“This is not an isolated incident,” Sudan’s UN Ambassador Al-Harith Idriss Al-Harith Mohamed told the Security Council. “It is a continuation of systematic killing and ethnic cleansing that this militia has carried out since its rebellion in April 2023.”
Regional outlets reported that thousands continue to flee el-Fasher amid relentless bombardment. The International Organization for Migration estimates that over 652,000 people are now internally displaced in the Darfur region.
Fears of worsening conditions
Aid workers in Tawila warn that the humanitarian situation is rapidly deteriorating as more displaced people arrive and food and medical supplies run out. “Conditions are catastrophic,” said Mary Brace, technical protection adviser for the Nonviolent Peaceforce. “The conflict continues, and there is no guarantee of safe passage for civilians trying to escape.”
Brace said aid teams are struggling to provide food, clean water, and emergency medical care to those fleeing the violence. “The last months have been absolutely harrowing,” she added. “People describe living in constant fear of bombardment. The levels of trauma among the displaced are extreme.”
Calls for accountability
In a grim address to the Security Council, Sudan’s ambassador described the events in el-Fasher as “genocide by all legal standards and definitions.” He accused the RSF of committing atrocities in broad daylight and demanded that the UN label the group a “terrorist organization,” enforce the existing arms embargo, and sanction any foreign entities supporting the RSF.
The ambassador urged the Council to take decisive action, asking, “Where is the Security Council?”
The UN has repeatedly called on member states to halt the flow of weapons to all parties in Sudan’s conflict. Last year, a Security Council committee also sanctioned two RSF generals for destabilizing the country through violence and human rights abuses.
