The United Nations secretary-general has known as for a direct ceasefire in Sudan’s Darfur area after a lethal drone assault on Friday killed greater than 70 worshippers in el-Fasher, expressing “grave” alarm in regards to the “quickly deteriorating state of affairs”.
“The preventing should cease now,” Antonio Guterres stated in an announcement issued by his spokesperson on Saturday, urging the fighters to have interaction in dialogue and supply humanitarian corridors, with the brutal civil warfare wracking the nation in its third 12 months.
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“The events should return to the negotiating desk and discover a sustainable resolution to the battle,” he added.
El-Fasher, the capital of the North Darfur area, stays the government-backed Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and its allies’ final main stronghold throughout Darfur. It has been beneath siege for greater than a 12 months by the paramilitary Fast Assist Forces (RSF), which launched a renewed offensive to seize the town in latest weeks.
Humanitarian organisations have raised alarm about rising starvation within the metropolis as a whole lot of 1000’s of individuals stay trapped with out entry to meals, medication and different necessities.
The UN has stated the humanitarian state of affairs in Sudan, the place 1000’s have been killed, and tens of millions displaced throughout the nation, is the worst on the planet. SAF has been preventing the RSF since 2023 in a warfare that has devastated the nation.
Many who’ve left the town have reported being attacked by the RSF whereas making the journey to close by refugee camps. In late August, UNICEF estimated that an estimated 600,000 individuals had been displaced from el-Fasher.
On Friday, a drone attack killed greater than 70 worshippers, together with kids, throughout daybreak prayers at a mosque. The military blamed the RSF for what it known as a “horrific crime” towards individuals praying at Al-Safiya Mosque, placing the loss of life toll at 75, with many extra displaced.
Al Jazeera’s Hiba Morgan, reporting from Sudan’s capital Khartoum, stated it was one of many “bloodiest days within the metropolis for the reason that RSF began its siege in Could final 12 months”.
“Because of the repeated strikes by the RSF, civilian amenities have been hit, resembling hospitals, faculties, and displacement centres,” she stated.
Sudan’s prime minister, Kamil Idris, stated he would elevate the state of affairs in el-Fasher on the UN Normal Meeting, as world leaders collect in New York for its eightieth session.
The assault additionally reportedly hit a UNICEF-supported water truck. Catherine Russell, UNICEF’s govt director, demanded safety for kids, whereas the UN’s humanitarian company OCHA condemned the assault as “unacceptable” and known as for respect for worldwide humanitarian legislation and help employee security.
The chairperson of the African Union, Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, additionally condemned what he known as a “heinous drone strike”, calling it a flagrant violation of worldwide legislation.
The assault got here because the UN launched a report which stated abstract executions, the concentrating on of civilians and ethnic violence had been worsening throughout Sudan and notably the Darfur area.
“A number of tendencies remained constant through the first half of 2025: a continued pervasiveness of sexual violence, indiscriminate assaults, and the widespread use of retaliatory violence towards civilians, notably on an ethnic foundation, concentrating on people accused of ‘collaboration’ with opposing events,” the report stated.
The report stated 3,384 civilians had been killed within the first half of this 12 months, warning that the loss of life toll was possible greater as a result of difficulties in acquiring dependable data on the bottom.
On the finish of August, UNICEF stated it had reported 1,100 grave violations in el-Fasher, and the maiming of greater than 1,000 kids, whereas others had been kidnapped or recruited to armed teams.
In July this 12 months, the Worldwide Prison Courtroom (ICC) briefed the UN Safety Council that it believed warfare crimes and crimes towards humanity had been being dedicated in Darfur.
“Rape and sexual violence are being weaponised. Abductions for ransom or to bolster the ranks of armed teams have grow to be widespread observe,” Nazhat Shameem Khan, a prosecutor for the ICC, stated.
“And but we shouldn’t be beneath any phantasm,” she added, “issues can nonetheless worsen.”
