Conflict in Sudan: Marco Rubio calls for international action to cut off arms supplies to RSF

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has called for international action to cut off weapons supplies to Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), following reports of mass killings in el-Fasher.

At the end of a meeting of G7 foreign ministers in Canada, Rubio said the RSF had committed systematic atrocities, including murder, rape and sexual violence against civilians.

Sudan’s military accuses the United Arab Emirates of supporting the group with weapons and mercenaries sent through African nations. The United Arab Emirates has repeatedly denied the allegations.

The RSF has been fighting the Sudanese army since April 2023, when a power struggle between its leaders erupted into civil war.

El-Fasher was captured last month by the RSF after an 18-month siege, meaning they now control all towns in the western Darfur region.

At talks near Niagara Falls, America’s top diplomat said women and children had been targeted by the RSF in el-Fasher in acts of the most horrendous kind.

Rubio told reporters: “They are committing acts of sexual violence and atrocities, just horrible atrocities, against women, children and innocent civilians of the most horrible kind. And this must end immediately.”

“And we will do everything we can to put an end to it, and we have encouraged partner countries to join us in this fight.”

The Secretary of State rejected the paramilitary group’s attempt to blame the killings on rebel elements, saying it was false and that the attacks were systematic.

Asked by the BBC for his assessment of the likely scale of the atrocities, he said the United States feared that thousands of people expected to flee El Fasher were dead or too malnourished to move.

He said the RSF, lacking its own weapons manufacturing facilities, was dependent on external support and called on countries to stop supplying weapons.

The G7 joint statement also condemned the growing violence in Sudan, saying the conflict between the army and the RSF had triggered “the world’s largest humanitarian crisis.”