New York [US], October 29: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for immediate talks to end the fighting in Sudan after the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) captured the city of El Fasher on Monday.
Guterres urged both the Sudanese Armed Forces and the RSF to contact his envoy for Sudan, Ramtane Lamamra, without delay and "take swift, tangible steps toward a negotiated settlement," his spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement. The UN chief was "gravely concerned" by the recent escalation of fighting and condemned reported violations of international humanitarian law. Dujarric added that Guterres was "deeply alarmed" by the continued flow of weapons and fighters into Sudan, which he said was worsening an already desperate situation.
Late on Monday local time, the RSF captured El Fasher, the last major city in the embattled western region of Darfur that had remained under army control. The army said it had withdrawn from the city, where up to 300,000 people still live, according to UN estimates.
Dujarric said humanitarian aid must be allowed to reach civilians quickly and without obstruction. El Fasher and the surrounding areas have been "an epicentre of suffering" for more than 18 months, with hunger, disease and violence claiming lives daily, he said.
Sudan has been gripped by a brutal power struggle since April 2023 between de facto ruler Abdel-Fattah al-Burhan and his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, who commands the RSF.
Source: Qatar Tribune