UN Security Council Calls for End to Siege of Sudan’s Darfur Region Holding 1.8M

The United Nations Security Council has issued a strong call for an end to the siege of al-Fashir, a city of 1.8 million people in Sudan’s North Darfur region, Reuters reported yesterday.

The 15-member council adopted a British-drafted resolution demanding a halt to the siege by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and an immediate end to the fighting in the area.

“An attack on the city would be catastrophic,” warned Britain’s UN Ambassador Barbara Woodward. “This brutal and unjust conflict needs to end.”

The resolution also calls for the withdrawal of all fighters threatening the safety and security of civilians in al-Fashir, the last major city in the Darfur region not under RSF control. The Security Council urged countries to refrain from interfering in the conflict and reminded all parties of their obligations under the arms embargo.

The worsening violence around al-Fashir threatens to unleash widespread intercommunal strife throughout Darfur, UN officials have warned. The city’s main hospital has been attacked, leaving it out of service, and an estimated 130,000 residents have fled due to the fighting.

With famine setting in and the risk of a large-scale massacre, the US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield described the situation as “a precarious moment.”

The Security Council called on the warring parties to allow civilians to move to safer areas within and outside al-Fashir.