Saudi Arabia urges Sudan’s RSF to halt violations ‘immediately’

ISTANBUL

Saudi Arabia urged late Monday Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to "immediately" stop the serious violations in the country and to meet their moral and humanitarian obligation to ensure aid reaches civilians in need, the Saudi press reported.

The call came during the participation of the kingdom’s permanent mission to the UN and other international organizations in Geneva at an interactive session following an oral briefing by the UN high commissioner for human rights on the human rights situation in and around El Fasher, Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said.

UN rights chief Volker Turk said during the briefing that the “atrocities” committed in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state in western Sudan, rest “entirely” with the RSF and their allies and backers.

Saudi Arabia renewed its condemnation in a statement delivered by its permanent representative, Ambassador Abdulmohsen bin Khothaila, denouncing the “grave humanitarian violations” committed during RSF attacks on El Fasher in October 2025.

Riyadh also condemned RSF's “criminal attacks” on health facilities, aid convoys, and civilian objects that led to the deaths of dozens of displaced people and unarmed civilians, including women and children.

Saudi Arabia reaffirmed its call for Sudan’s unity, security, and stability and for the preservation of its legitimate institutions, while demanding that the RSF “immediately” halt their violations and ensure safe access to humanitarian assistance in line with international humanitarian law, the SPA added.

The RSF seized control of El Fasher on Oct. 26, 2025, and carried out massacres against civilians, according to local and international organizations.

Fighting has also intensified in recent weeks in Sudan’s three Kordofan states -- North, West, and South -- where clashes between the Sudanese army and the RSF have displaced tens of thousands.

Sudan’s government on Saturday accused the RSF of targeting a World Food Program aid convoy with drones in North Kordofan state, killing people and destroying humanitarian supplies.

The RSF has been fighting the Sudanese army since April 2023 over a dispute on integrating the force into the military, a conflict that has fueled famine, one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, killed tens of thousands, and displaced about 13 million people.

*Writing by Lina Altawell