UN warns of ‘darker hell’ in El-Fasher after RSF seizes city
The Security Council previously sanctioned RSF commanders for violence and human-rights violations.
United Nations officials have sounded the alarm over mass killings and widespread atrocities in Sudan's El-Fasher, warning the UN Security Council that the city has plunged into an even "darker hell" after falling to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
The RSF seized El-Fasher, the last army stronghold in Darfur, on Sunday after forcing Sudanese troops to withdraw - a major turning point in a war that has already displaced more than 15 million people.
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"The situation is simply horrifying," Martha Ama Akyaa Pobee, the UN's Assistant Secretary-General for Africa, told an emergency Council session on Thursday.
She said the UN had received credible reports of mass killings, summary executions, and house-to-house searches as civilians attempted to flee.
"There is no safe passage. No one is safe in El-Fasher," she said, describing chaos and widespread fear as reports mount of civilians being hunted in their homes.
Tom Fletcher, the UN humanitarian chief, painted an equally grim picture.
The city, he warned, "has descended into an even darker hell" amid "credible reports of widespread executions" after RSF fighters entered.
"We cannot hear the screams, but - as we sit here today - the horror is continuing," Fletcher said. "Women and girls are being raped, people mutilated and killed with utter impunity."
Sudan's ambassador urged the Council to formally condemn the RSF, label it a terrorist organisation, force its withdrawal from the city, and enforce the arms embargo tied to the conflict.
He also called for sanctions against any external backers of the RSF.
Last year, the UN appealed to all countries to stop supplying weapons to the warring parties. The Security Council has previously sanctioned RSF commanders for violence and human-rights violations.
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