Published On 1/11/2025
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Last update: 23:42 (Mecca time)
The US State Department condemned the “mass atrocities” committed by the Rapid Support Forces in the city of El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state in western Sudan, demanding an immediate end to the acts of revenge and ethnic violence that the city has been witnessing for weeks.
The US State Department said in a statement on Saturday that Washington is “deeply concerned about the safety of civilians inside El Fasher and those fleeing to neighboring areas,” stressing that “the tragedy of El Geneina must not be repeated.”
The ministry called on both parties to the conflict (the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces) to follow a “negotiated path to end the suffering of the Sudanese,” stressing that “there is no military solution to the crisis, and that external military support only leads to prolonging the conflict.”
The statement added that the United States “will continue to work with its regional and international partners to find a peaceful path forward in Sudan,” noting that field reports from North Darfur “indicate a horrific pattern of violence directed against civilians on ethnic grounds.”
The American condemnation comes at a time when the city of El Fasher is witnessing a widespread escalation between the army and the Rapid Support Forces, amid reports of massacres against civilians and the displacement of thousands of families to safer areas in North and West Darfur.
The fighting around El Fasher threatens to collapse what remains of the humanitarian situation in the region, which is experiencing a worsening disaster due to the siege and the lack of medical and food supplies, while relief organizations have warned that the continuation of the fighting may push hundreds of thousands to flee towards the Chadian border in the coming weeks.
The American position comes within the framework of increasing diplomatic pressure to force both parties to the conflict to return to the negotiating table, while international calls for a comprehensive ceasefire and the resumption of the political process under regional sponsorship are increasing.
Tens of thousands of civilians have been displaced since last Sunday from El Fasher due to the fighting, and many of them headed to the city of Tawila, which is 70 kilometers away and originally housed about 650,000 displaced people, according to estimates. United Nations.
The army and the Rapid Support Forces have been waging a war since April 15, 2023, which regional and international mediations have not succeeded in ending, amid worsening humanitarian suffering.