Sudan

The United States on Wednesday imposed sanctions on two commanders of Sudan's paramilitary force, vowing pressure to stop the unit from an offensive on the Darfur city of el-Fasher.

A deadly battle for control of El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, has entered its fourth day, raising fears of a full-blown war. The clashes between the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and a combined force of the Sudanese army and allied armed movements have resulted in a growing number of civilian casualties.

UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Sudan, Clementine Nkweta-Salami, warned that “time is running out” as famine, disease and fighting close in on the population “and there’s no end in sight”.

UN agencies issued a joint warning on Friday that time is running out to prevent starvation in Sudan’s Darfur region due to intensifying clashes around the northern capital of El Fasher, which are hindering efforts to deliver lifesaving aid.

Discussions between Sudan and Russia last week in Port Sudan covered political support, economic and military cooperation, with Russia offering “uncapped” military assistance to the Sudanese army.

The United States on Monday implored all countries supplying weapons to Sudan’s warring parties to halt arms sales, warning that history in the vast western Darfur region where there was a genocide 20 years ago “is repeating itself.”

UN Security Council members on Saturday called on the warring parties in Sudan to immediately halt the military build-up and take steps to de-escalate the situation in El Fasher, the provincial capital of North Darfur.

Sudan had the world’s largest number of people facing extreme food shortages in 2023 as conflict and displacement drove food insecurity globally, according to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). … Globally, more than 281 million people in 59 countries faced high levels of acute food insecurity according to the Global Report on Food Crises, published today, with economic crises and extreme weather also contributing.

As the security situation in Abyei deteriorates, the Peace and Security Council [of the African Union] should allocate it appropriate attention. 

Attacks around the Sudanese city of al-Fashir have shattered a truce that protected it from a year-old war, leading to warnings of a new wave of inter-communal violence and humanitarian risks for 1.6 million residents crammed into the North Darfur capital. Al-Fashir is the last major city in the vast, western Darfur region not under control of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).