MSF details violence against civilians in Sudan's Darfur region

Civilians in Sudan's war-torn western region of Darfur are subject to systematic violence, including mass murder, sexual violence, abduction and looting, Doctors without Borders (MSF) head Olivier Lacharité said on Thursday.

MSF has issued a report focusing in particular on El Fasher, a city in south-western Sudan that has been under siege for 14 months. The report is based on observations by MSF staff and more than 80 interviews with survivors of violence.

El Fasher is the last major centre in North Darfur held by the government forces led by de facto leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan. The government forces have for the past three years been engaged in a conflict with the RSF militia of Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, formerly deputy to al-Burhan.

Hundreds of thousands of internally displaced Sudanese have sought refuge there under dire conditions.

The UN puts the total number of people displaced by the violence in Sudan at more than 12 million.

The North Darfur population is not only caught between the frontlines but actively targeted by the RSF, Lacharité says.

The MSF called on the RSF and its allies to immediately halt all ethnically motivated attacks on non-Arab communities and to lift its siege of El Fasher. Safe escape routes for civilians had to be established, it said.