WASHINGTON: The United States has warned of an imminent military offensive in Sudan’s conflict-hit Darfur region.
It said the city of El-Fasher has become a center of a newly opening front in the African nation’s civil war.
Millions have been displaced in Sudan after a year of fighting between the armed forces of Gen. Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan and the paramilitaries of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), under Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo.
Until now, El-Fasher, the last Darfur state capital not under RSF control had been unaffected by the fighting and hosting a large number of refugees.
Since mid-April, clashes and bombardments have been reported in the city and surrounding areas.
The State Department has called on all armed forces in Sudan to stop attacks in El-Fasher. It said the US is alarmed by the signals of an imminent offensive by the Rapid Support Forces and its affiliated militias.
A pro-democracy lawyers’ committee last week reported that at least 25 civilians had been killed after several days of shelling and airstrikes in the city.
According to the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, clashes in northern and eastern parts of El-Fasher have already displaced 36,000 people.
As the conflict enters its second year, the UN and US have warned the fragile peace in El-Fasher would be catastrophic.
The State Department said it had seen reliable reports that the RSF and affiliated militias had destroyed several villages. It also condemned reported i aerial bombardments in the region by the armed forces of Sudan.
