The US ambassador to the United Nations warned on Monday that a “large-scale massacre” is at risk in El Fasher, the capital of Sudan’s North Darfur state, a key hub for international aid organizations.

The town of El Fasser “is on the brink of a large-scale massacre,” Linda Thomas-Greenfield told reporters after a UN Security Council meeting.

“This is not speculation. This is the harsh reality faced by millions of people,” the diplomat continued.

El Fasher has become the main hub for humanitarian operations in Darfur, the vast region of western Sudan that is home to about a quarter of the African country’s 48 million people.

The city, where many internally displaced people have taken refuge and previously remained relatively unscathed by Sudan’s now more than a year-long war, is under threat: since mid-April, shelling and fighting have been reported in villages around it.

On Friday, the UN estimated that at least 42 people, including women and children, were killed in fighting between SED (Sudan Armed Forces) and RDF (Rapid Support Forces) units, which also involved militias supporting the wars. places, from April 14.

Then the DTY began to advance towards El Fasher.

Since the outbreak of war on April 15, 2023, between the armed forces under General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the DTY under General Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, sexual violence, ethnically and racially motivated violence and scorched earth tactics have returned in Darfur.

“Reliable sources report that the DTY and militias allied with them leveled villages west of El Fasser,” said Linda Thomas-Greenfield yesterday.

And “as we speak, the DTY is planning to launch an immediate attack” on the city, the ambassador added, which will cause “a disaster to be added to another disaster”.