Neues Blutbad droht im Sudan

Im Sudan steht Al Fasher, die Hauptstadt Darfurs, kurz vor der Einnahme durch die Rapid Support Forces. Ein neues Blutbad scheint damit unausweichlich.

Im Bürgerkrieg im Sudan, der eher als Krieg gegen die Bürger bezeichnet werden müsste, haben im Westen des Landes die Rapid Support Forces (RSF), die aus den völkermordenden Janjaweed Milizen hervorgegangen sind, die Oberhand und erobern immer größere Teile Darfurs. Mit den entsprechenden Folgen, die Mord, Vergewaltigung, Hunger, Vertreibung und Versklavung heißen. 

Nun stehen sie wohl kurz vor der Einnahme der strategisch wichtigen Stadt Al Fasher:

Al Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state, is not only the largest and most important city in the entire Darfur region, but also the only one of Darfur’s five state capitals not controlled by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

The other four were seized by the RSF last year.

Its strategic location has for years made it a hub for aid groups operating in western Sudan, providing a key transit stop for aid shipments from neighbouring Chad or Port Sudan on the Red Sea.

“Al Fasher is seen in Sudan as the capital of the entire Darfur region, not just North Darfur,” activist Abdul Rahim Al Sheikh said. “Whoever controls Al Fasher controls Darfur.”

Fighting broke out last April between the national army, headed by Sudan's de facto leader Abdel Fattah Al Burhan, and the RSF, led by his former deputy Mohamed Dagalo.

The war has killed tens of thousands of people, forced more than 8.5 million people to flee their homes and created circumstances for a famine, with 25 million people now in need of life-saving assistance. (...)

On Saturday, the UN Security Council expressed its "deep concern" over an imminent RSF attack on Al Fasher.

In a statement, members “called on the Sudanese Armed Forces and Rapid Support Forces to end the build-up of military forces and to take steps to de-escalate the situation". (...)

The UN humanitarian office said escalating tensions and clashes around Al Fasher in the past two weeks have displaced 40,000 people and caused an unspecified number of civilian casualties.

“The security situation has effectively cut off humanitarian access to Al Fasher,” said the Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha). (...)