ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia – The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) has condemned the intensifying violence in Sudan’s North Darfur region, warning that civilians in the besieged city of El-Fasher are facing catastrophic conditions as Rapid Support Forces (RSF) move to consolidate control.
In a statement issued Tuesday, IGAD Executive Secretary Workneh Gebeyehu said he was “deeply concerned” by reports that the RSF has overtaken key positions in El-Fasher, the last major stronghold of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) in Darfur.
He urged all sides to halt hostilities and uphold international humanitarian law.
“The suffering of civilians in Sudan must end,” Workneh said. “All parties have a moral and legal duty to protect lives and allow unhindered humanitarian access.”
El-Fasher has been under siege for more than a year, trapping nearly one million residents and displaced people in conditions aid agencies describe as famine-level.
The RSF has tightened the blockade in recent weeks, raising a large earth berm around the city to cut remaining supply routes.
Humanitarian groups have reported a surge in deadly attacks on civilian sites. The Sudan Doctors’ Network confirmed that at least 53 people—including 14 children and 15 women—were killed when the al-Arqam Home, a shelter for displaced families, was shelled.
They described the strike as a “massacre” and part of a deliberate campaign targeting non-combatants.
The UN Human Rights Office has also documented widespread abuses, including summary executions, sexual violence, and attacks on aid workers.
Between October 22 and 26 alone, dozens of unarmed men were reportedly executed, and civilians attempting to deliver food were killed.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk has warned that the risk of ethnically motivated mass atrocities is rising as the conflict escalates.
The RSF, originally formed from the Janjaweed militias accused of atrocities during the Darfur conflict in the early 2000s, is battling the Sudanese military for control of the state.
The civil war, which began in April 2023, has displaced more than 14 million people and killed tens of thousands.
Workneh called on regional and global partners to move urgently to support relief operations and to back diplomatic efforts aimed at ending the war.
“Accountability for human rights violations will be essential to break Sudan’s cycle of violence,” he said.
