Calls for civilian safe passage after RSF says it captured army HQ in El Fasher

Unimpeded humanitarian access must be allowed to reach all those in need, says UN aid chief Tom Fletcher

Sudanese people gather to receive free meals in El Fasher. AFP

The UN has called for safe passage for “trapped and terrified” civilians in Sudan's El Fasher after the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces said its fighters had captured the army headquarters in the city, completing its takeover of the area.

UN aid chief Tom Fletcher said he was deeply alarmed by reports of civilian casualties and forced displacement amid the fighting.

“With fighters pushing further into the city and escape routes cut off, hundreds of thousands of civilians are trapped and terrified – shelled, starving and without access to food, health care or safety,” Mr Fletcher said. “Civilians must be allowed safe passage and be able to access aid. Those fleeing to safer areas must be allowed to do so safely and in dignity.”

People who stay, including local responders, had to be protected, Mr Fletcher added, stressing that attacks on civilians, hospitals and humanitarian operations “must stop immediately”.

Nearly 30 million people in Sudan are said by the UN to be facing food shortages as a result of the country's civil war. About 260,000 civilians, half of them children, remain trapped in El Fasher without aid or food.

“Safe, rapid and unimpeded humanitarian access must be allowed to reach all civilians in need,” Mr Fletcher said. “We have life-saving supplies ready, but intensified attacks have made it impossible for us to get aid in.”

UN aid chief Tom Fletcher has said he was deeply alarmed by reports of civilian casualties and forced displacement. EPA

El Fasher was the last major urban centre in Sudan's western Darfur region that was not in the RSF's hands. Mr Fletcher called for an immediate ceasefire in the city, across Darfur and throughout Sudan, and said those responsible for breaches of international humanitarian and human rights law had to be held to account.

The Sudanese army has not yet confirmed the RSF's capture of its El Fasher headquarters, but Darfur Governor Minni Minnawi, who is allied with the army, called for the "protection of civilians" in the area. The capture of the headquarters by the RSF would be a major setback for the army.

The garrison was home to the army's 6th Division and allied militias made up of former rebels and local fighters. It had been running short on supplies and had been receiving food and ammunition via air drops as the RSF in recent months intensified its attacks on the city.

The fall of the headquarters also enshrines the de facto division of Sudan. The country is now effectively run by two rival governments – one backed by the army in Port Sudan on the Red Sea, and the other, loyal to the RSF, in the city of Neyala, also in Darfur.

The war in Sudan is halfway through its third year. It broke out in April 2023 and has resulted in tens of thousands of people being killed and more than 13 million people being displaced.

The conflict is essentially a fight for domination between army chief and de factor leader of Sudan, Gen Abdel Fattah Al Burhan, and RSF commander, Gen Mohamed Dagalo.

The RSF claims to be fighting the army on behalf of what it calls the marginalised inhabitants of outlying regions such as Darfur, Kordofan and Blue Nile in Sudan's south. The army said the RSF must be entirely defeated before peace can return to the country.