United Nations says more than 90 people were killed in paramilitary attacks on the city over 10 days last month.
At least 91 people have been killed in Sudan’s besieged city of el-Fasher in attacks by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) over 10 days last month, the United Nations says.
The attacks took place during intensified fighting between the RSF and Sudan’s army around the city, the largest urban centre in the Darfur region that remains under the control of the military and its allies, known as the Joint Forces.
El-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state, has been under siege for more than a year by the RSF, which launched a renewed offensive on the city in recent weeks, raising fears of potential atrocities.
UN rights chief Volker Turk said on Thursday that the city’s Daraja Oula neighbourhood was repeatedly attacked and subjected to RSF artillery shelling, drone strikes and ground incursions from September 19 to 29.
He called for urgent action to prevent “large-scale, ethnically driven attacks and atrocities in el-Fasher.”
He said “atrocities are not inevitable”, adding that “they can be averted if all actors take concrete action to uphold international law, demand respect for civilian life and property, and prevent the continued commission of atrocity crimes”.
Since the army recaptured Sudan’s capital, Khartoum, in March, the focus of the fighting has shifted to el-Fasher.
In recent weeks, the RSF has tightened its nearly 500-day siege of the city, one of the longest in modern urban warfare, and has stepped up the tempo and intensity of its attacks, including the frequent use of drones, according to the Sudanese army and residents of the city.
