Pakistan condemns RSF siege of Al-Fashir at UN Security Council meeting

NEW YORK (Dunya News/Reuters) - The United Nations Security Council convened an emergency meeting following the Rapid Support Forces (RSF)’s capture of Al-Fashir in Sudan.

Speaking at the session, Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Asim Iftikhar, strongly condemned the RSF’s takeover, describing it as “a glimpse of war crimes.”

He emphasised that the humanitarian violations in Darfur were unacceptable, adding that escalating tensions had left women, children, and the elderly unsafe. “Sudan’s sovereignty and regional stability are at risk,” he warned.

Asim Iftikhar urged the international community to ensure accountability for the RSF, calling for an end to the civil war, a political solution, and transparent judicial proceedings. He also demanded immediate global action on the Darfur crisis and urged all parties to uphold international humanitarian law.

Pakistan further called for an investigation into obstructions in aid delivery to Sudan and reaffirmed its commitment to supporting peace and humanitarian efforts in the region.

Separately, in a statement, the United Nations Security Council on Thursday condemned an assault by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces on al-Fashir in Sudan's North Darfur, expressing grave concern "at the heightened risk of large-scale atrocities, including ethnically motivated atrocities."

Meanwhile, the last functioning hospital in the Sudanese city of al-Fashir was raided and hundreds are feared to have been killed there after a paramilitary force overran the city this week, the World Health Organization and a Sudanese official said.

Reuters could not immediately verify the deaths, as communications inside the city are cut off and doctors from the hospital have been offline since the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces seized the Sudanese army's last stronghold in the city on Sunday.

It was unclear when exactly the raid, which the Sudanese official as well as doctors and activists blamed on the RSF, took place. The RSF dismissed the reports as disinformation, saying in a statement that all al-Fashir's hospitals had been abandoned.

More than 36,000 people have fled al-Fashir since Sunday, according to the International Organisation for Migration, but little is known about the fate of the more than 200,000 others thought to have remained there during an 18-month RSF assault and siege of the city.

Rights groups have long feared that an RSF takeover of famine-stricken al-Fashir could trigger mass revenge killings, and escapees from the city have reported summary killings.