Briefing the council, UN Relief Chief Tom Fletcher warned, “El-Fasher – already the scene of catastrophic levels of human suffering – has descended into an even darker hell, with credible reports of widespread executions after Rapid Support Forces fighters entered the city.”
He continued, “Women and girls are being raped, people being mutilated and killed – with utter impunity.” Fletcher also questioned, “Can anyone here say we did not know this was coming?”
Sudanese residents and aid workers revealed harrowing details of atrocities by the RSF after it seized the army’s last stronghold in Darfur following more than 500 days of siege.
Fighters from the RSF “cold-bloodedly killed everyone they found inside the Saudi Hospital, including patients, their companions, and anyone else present in the wards,” according to the Sudan Doctors Network, a medical group tracking the war.
“The Janjaweed showed no mercy for anyone,” said Umm Amena, a mother of four children who fled the city on Monday after two days, using a Sudanese term for the RSF.
The capture of El-Fasher follows more than 18 months of brutal siege by the RSF, sparking fears of a return to the ethnically targeted atrocities seen two decades ago.
Sudan’s UN envoy condemned the RSF for the killings of 450 patients and their companions at the Saudi Hospital, the last functioning medical facility in the city. He described the militia’s violence as a continuation of systematic ethnic cleansing and called the acts “genocide.”
“The city of El-Fasher has become a new symbol of the humanitarian tragedy caused by the RSF,” he said, warning that the RSF “act with barbarity and without any standards of civilized conduct.”
“Silence in the face of these crimes is not neutrality — it is complicity,” Sudan’s representative added, rejecting any attempt to equate “the sovereign State of Sudan with this rebel militia.”
Martha Pobee, Assistant Secretary-General of the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, said, “After more than 500 days under siege, the city of El-Fasher in North Darfur has been captured by the Rapid Support Forces. Only small pockets of resistance remain.”
“The risk of mass atrocities, ethnically targeted violence and further violations of international humanitarian law, including sexual violence, remains alarmingly high,” Pobee told the Council.
“Despite commitments to protect civilians, the reality is that no one is safe in El-Fasher. There is no safe passage for civilians to leave the city,” she added. “The fall of the city marks a significant shift in the security dynamics and has major implications for the people of Sudan and the region.”
Fletcher emphasized the need for the Council to act “with immediate and robust action” to stop atrocities, ensure safe humanitarian access, and halt the flow of weapons fueling the war. “I urge colleagues to study the latest satellite imagery of El-Fasher; blood on the sand,” he said.
“And I urge colleagues to study the world’s continued failure to stop this. Blood on the hands,” Fletcher added.
In an official statement, the UNSC emphasized that “genuine national reconciliation is the way to end the crisis in Sudan,” rejecting “any parallel structures of power” and calling on member states to engage constructively with the conflict.
It also stressed the importance of “coordination with the Sudanese government regarding humanitarian aid” and warned that continued violence in Sudan could spread to neighboring countries.
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