Tensions in northern Sudan: UN calls for restraint

In a note to correspondents sent by his spokesman, the UN chief referred to “increasingly alarming reports of a dramatic escalation of tensions” in El Fasher, North Darfur, stressing that an attack on the town “would have devastating consequences for the civilian population.”

“This escalation of tensions is happening in a region that is already on the brink of famine,” he said, repeating his call for all parties to refrain from any fighting in this part of the country.

At a press conference marking the first anniversary of the conflict in Sudan in early April, Guterres emphasized that the El Fasher region is a United Nations humanitarian platform “that ensures that vital aid is distributed to the five states of Darfur as needed.”

For its part, the UN Office for Human Rights indicated on Friday that at least 43 civilians have been killed in the region since April 14 in clashes between the Sudanese army and paramilitary formations.

“High Commissioner Volker Türk is seriously concerned about the escalation of violence in and around the town of El Fasher in North Darfur, where dozens of people have been killed in the past two weeks, following “an intensification of hostilities between the Sudanese armed forces and the Rapid Support Force,” said Seif Magango, the spokesperson of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, at a press briefing.