The President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) says the violence in Sudan’s Darfur region is showing alarming similarities to atrocities committed two decades ago, after reports of mass killings during the Rapid Support Forces’ (RSF) capture of al-Fashir, the Sudanese army’s final stronghold in the region.
The seizure of al-Fashir last week gave the RSF effective control over more than 25% of Sudan’s territory, marking one of the most significant shifts in the country’s two-and-a-half-year civil war. The UN human rights office says hundreds of civilians and demobilised fighters may have been killed during the takeover — with witnesses claiming RSF fighters separated men from women before gunfire was heard. The RSF denies committing any abuses.
ICRC chief Mirjana Spoljaric, speaking to Reuters during a visit to Saudi Arabia, described the humanitarian conditions as “horrific” and said tens of thousands of people had already fled the city, while many others remain trapped without access to food, water or healthcare.
“This is history repeating itself — and every time it happens, the scale of suffering becomes worse,” she said, referring to the mass ethnically-driven killings of the 2000s, widely described as genocide. The RSF was formed out of the Janjaweed militias accused of those earlier atrocities.
Spoljaric added that the ICRC was highly alarmed by unverified reports of deadly attacks at the Saudi Hospital — the last functioning medical centre in al-Fashir before the city fell — and said the organisation was trying to confirm claims of a possible massacre there.
The United States has previously accused the RSF and allied militias of carrying out genocide in the Darfur city of Geneina earlier in the war — allegations the RSF rejects. Rights groups have also documented repeated episodes of targeted ethnic killings throughout the conflict.
More than 70,000 people have escaped al-Fashir since late October, according to the International Organization for Migration, but aid agencies say roughly 200,000 civilians are still unaccounted for after months of siege and bombardment.
Spoljaric urged foreign governments believed to be supplying or influencing armed groups — on both sides — to use their leverage to stop attacks on civilians. The UAE has repeatedly denied accusations that it has militarily supported the RSF, while Sudan’s army has received backing from Egypt and has deployed Iranian-made drones to attempt to regain advantage on the battlefield.
The ICRC President said the world is now living through “a decade of war,” warning that the spread of drones and other rapidly evolving weapons technology means “nowhere is safe” in modern conflicts. Residents of al-Fashir had earlier told Reuters they were sheltering in underground bunkers to escape drone strikes, artillery fire and attacks on displacement camps, health centres and mosques.
Independent analysts say the humanitarian consequences in Sudan could become catastrophic without urgent international intervention and accountability mechanisms.
Source:Africa Publicity
