Sudanese refugee girls carry water supplies near a polling station in the refugee camp of Zamam in the outskirts of El Fasher, Darfur. Sudan... AP
The RSF attack on Mosteriha on Monday, which destroyed the town’s only health facility and targeted medical staff, came as the war between the Sudanese army and the militias nears entering its fourth year, leaving tens of thousands killed, 12 million internally-displaced, four million refugees, and triggering widespread hunger among more than 20 million people.
In a statement, the Egyptian foreign ministry said it “completely rejects all forms of violence and transgressions against civilians and medical facilities,” describing the assault as a blatant breach of international humanitarian law. The foreign ministry called for the protection of health facilities and medical personnel at all times.
In recent months, regional and international powers and rights groups have condemned growing atrocities committed by the RSF militias against civilians in El-Fasher and Kordofan.
In its statement, the foreign ministry reaffirmed Cairo's support for Sudan’s unity, sovereignty, and territorial integrity, its commitment to the country’s stability, and its rejection of any attempts to undermine national institutions or threaten their cohesion.
The ministry also stressed the importance of securing an urgent humanitarian truce as a step toward a sustainable ceasefire, and of pursuing comprehensive political solutions that meet the aspirations of the Sudanese people.
It stressed that Cairo continues to engage at the regional and international levels to support initiatives aimed at ending the conflict, particularly through its role in the international Quad.
On Thursday, the United Nations' independent fact-finding mission on Sudan said the siege and capture of El-Fasher by the RSF militias bore "the hallmarks of genocide".
Its investigation concluded that the RSF seizure of the city in Darfur state in October had inflicted "three days of absolute horror" and called for those responsible to be brought to justice.
The mission warned that "urgent protection of civilians is needed, now more than ever" in neighbouring Kordofan state, the flashpoint of fighting since the RSF's capture of El-Fasher, which was marked by ethnic massacres, sexual violence, and detention.
"The scale, coordination and public endorsement of the operation by senior RSF leadership demonstrate that the crimes committed in and around El-Fasher were not random excesses of war," said mission chairman Mohamad Chande Othman.
"They formed part of a planned and organised operation that bears the defining characteristics of genocide."
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