A senior adviser to Rapid Support Forces (RSF) commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo “Hemedti” has warned that recent comments by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on cutting foreign military support to the Sudanese group could jeopardise international efforts to secure a ceasefire in Sudan.
According to remarks reported by Agence France-Presse, Rubio told a news conference on Wednesday night that Washington is pressuring countries supplying weapons to the RSF, which has been fighting General al-Burhan’s army (SAF) for more than two years.
Rubio said the humanitarian situation in Sudan had reached “dangerous” levels, stressing the need for urgent steps to halt the flow of weapons and other forms of support to the RSF in a bid to curb the escalation of the conflict.
Aid agencies and UN officials say the RSF’s recent capture of El Fasher, capital of North Darfur state, left hundreds dead and forced tens of thousands of civilians to flee atrocities blamed on the Sudanese force. Humanitarian reports describe a sharp deterioration in living conditions in the city, where residents face acute shortages of food, water and medical care amid ongoing violence that has driven families from their homes in search of safety.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) estimates that heavy shelling and ground attacks in and around El Fasher have displaced nearly 90,000 people over the past two weeks. The agency says families were forced to escape along unsafe routes with almost no access to food, clean water or medical assistance, warning that the new waves of displacement highlight the scale of an unfolding humanitarian catastrophe in North Darfur as military operations continue and security risks mount for civilians.
Basha Tibeeq, an adviser to RSF chief Hemedti, rejected Rubio’s statements, calling them a “misguided step” that does not serve international efforts to secure a humanitarian ceasefire. He argued that the US position could obstruct ongoing attempts to reach a political settlement to end the fighting, and said Washington’s approach was out of step with broader global efforts to resolve the conflict through negotiations and international mediation.
