US Ambassador: ‘Darfur is on the precipice of a large-scale massacre’

US Ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, has warned that “a large-scale massacre” is imminent in El Fasher, capital of North Darfur. In a post on her X account, she said: “There will be direct and immediate consequences for those responsible for an offensive on El Fasher.”

Urging the belligerents to return to the negotiating table and protect civilians at all costs, she argued that the resolution of this conflict does not ly on the battlefield. She also said that both sides claim to liberate the country while destroying it instead. The ambassador demands that the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) lift their siege of the city and that the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) protect critical infrastructure.

This follows the latest skirmishes on El Fasher between the RSF and the city’s defenders, the joint force of Darfur rebel groups and SAF, with the city already facing 4 waves of attacks in 5 days. The US ambassador to the UN follows similar calls from the US Special Envoy for Sudan, Tom Perriello, whom testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (SFRC) in Washington D.C., issuing a stark warning about the dire humanitarian crisis unfolding in Sudan. Perriello emphasised the urgent need for action to prevent further escalation of conflict and humanitarian suffering.

Also as previously reported, The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) convened a private closed session on the 29/04 in New York to address the mounting military operations in North Darfur’s capital of El Fasher. Ambassador Greenfield presented multiple proposals during the session aimed at de-escalating the crisis, including a call for an immediate cessation of arms shipments to both the military and the RSF from foreign nations, particularly the UAE.

Furthermore the INGO, Human Rights Watch (HRW) released a report providing new evidence of atrocities committed by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in West Darfur. The 218-page report indicates that the paramilitary RSF and allied militias deliberately targeted non-Arab Masalit people in El Geneina, the state capital,last year.