The Sudanese government has called on the United Nations to stop talking and take "urgent and decisive measures" to break the months-long siege of the city of El Fasher, the historic capital of the western Darfur region, by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The capture of the RSF would virtually represent a victory for the armed group throughout the territory.
The Sudanese army and paramilitaries have been engaged in intense fighting since last Friday to seize control of the city's international airport, while the entire region is also experiencing a severe cholera outbreak that has already left more than 300 dead and 7,400 cases, primarily among the hundreds of thousands of displaced people fleeing the fighting.
The Sudanese Army confirmed on Friday that paramilitaries had launched a multi-pronged attack on the airport's vicinity, particularly near the headquarters of the Army's 6th Infantry Division. In a Facebook post, the military claimed they had managed to withstand an initial bombardment and then repelled attacks from the southwest and north of the airport.
In this context, the Sudanese Foreign Ministry has requested in a message published on its X account that both the UN and its competent agencies "move from expressions of concern to urgent and decisive measures against the militia" led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, alias Hemedti.
The Ministry is calling for immediate intervention by the United Nations to, first, force "the lifting of the illegal siege of El Fasher" and, then, "accelerate the designation of the RSF militia as a terrorist organization."
