Security Council condemns El-Fasher ‘atrocities’ as Sudan activists seek aid

‘Rape, pillaging and killings’

More than 36,000 people have fled El-Fasher since Sunday, with many heading for Tawila, which was already hosting more than 650,000 displaced people, according to UN estimates. 

Those fleeing “have faced serious abuses along the way, including rape, pillaging and killings”, HRW said, adding that it had verified social media videos showing executions of apparent civilians. 

The so-called Quad group, comprising the United States, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, has held talks over several months aimed at securing a truce in the war, which has been raging since April 2023.

But those talks have reached an impasse, according to an official close to the negotiations.

The UAE has been accused by the UN of supplying arms to the RSF, allegations it denies, while the Sudanese national army has received support from Egypt and Saudi Arabia, as well as Turkey and Iran, according to observers.

During their latest meetings, the Quad countries reiterated a peace proposal made in September, which the army-aligned government immediately rejected.

The fall of El-Fasher gave paramilitaries control over all five state capitals in Darfur, risking partitioning the country. 

Analysts say that Sudan is now effectively split on an east-west axis, with the RSF dominating all of Darfur and parts of the south while the army is entrenched along the Nile and Red Sea in the north, east and centre.