Germany UN warns of escalation in Sudan - atrocities feared
Following the capture of the last major city controlled by the Sudanese government in the Darfur region by a militia, the United Nations is warning of a further military escalation. UN Secretary-General António Guterres called on the RSF militia and the Sudanese armed forces to negotiate. The German government expressed its shock and called for an immediate end to the violence. The UN describes the situation in the country as the biggest humanitarian crisis in the world.
28.10.2025, 04:51
SDA
The Sudanese army confirmed on Monday that it had withdrawn from El Fascher, the capital of the state of North Darfur. According to UN estimates, up to 300,000 people still live in the city. It is feared that the people in the city are threatened with serious acts of violence, killings, torture and rape as well as ethnically motivated displacement by the RSF. El Fascher had been besieged by the militia for a year and a half.
Guterres deeply concerned
According to his spokesman Stéphane Dujarric, Guterres said that the Sudanese armed forces and the RSF militia must immediately contact his personal envoy for Sudan, Ramtane Lamamra, and take rapid steps towards a negotiated solution. He said he was deeply concerned about the recent military escalation in Sudan and condemned reported violations of international humanitarian law.
Guterres was also deeply alarmed that weapons and fighters were continuing to enter Sudan, further exacerbating the already desperate situation in the country, Dujarric added. This must be stopped immediately. Humanitarian aid for civilians in need must be delivered quickly and unhindered. For more than eighteen months, El Fascher and the surrounding areas in Darfur have been an epicenter of suffering. Malnutrition, disease and violence have claimed lives on a daily basis.
Foreign Office shocked
The Federal Foreign Office announced on Platform X: "We are shocked by the reports from El Fasher, Sudan." RSF fighters had penetrated deep into the city and were indiscriminately killing civilians. "This must stop immediately," it continued. The RSF had publicly pledged to protect civilians. "They will have to answer for these acts."
UN Human Rights Commissioner Volker Türk said: "The risk of further large-scale, ethnically motivated violations and atrocities in El Fascher is increasing by the day." Concrete measures must be taken urgently to ensure the protection of the civilian population.
Reports of arbitrary executions are increasing
The paramilitaries had already announced the capture of the army post and then the entire city on Sunday. According to the UN Human Rights Council, there are increasing reports that the militia is carrying out arbitrary executions in El Fascher. The fighting has led to an increased influx of refugees in recent weeks. According to aid organizations, thousands of displaced people had fled the city to surrounding areas.
A brutal power struggle has been raging in Sudan since April 2023 between de facto ruler Abdel-Fattah al-Burhan and his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the RSF. While the army has since been able to recapture the capital Khartoum, the RSF militia has consolidated its control over the Darfur region on the border with Chad. Observers fear a permanent division of the country.
The RSF emerged from Arab cavalry militias, which are accused of being responsible for a genocide against non-Arab population groups in Darfur a good 20 years ago with up to 300,000 dead. At that time, they were still fighting together with the Sudanese army.
There are no reliable casualty figures for the current civil war since 2023, but according to an estimate quoted by the USA, up to 150,000 people could have lost their lives. More than twelve million people are displaced. More than 26 million people, around half the population, are threatened by hunger.
