US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has urged a coordinated global effort to cut off weapons supplies to Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF), accusing the paramilitary group of carrying out “horrifying atrocities” in the recently captured city of El Fasher.
Speaking at the close of a G7 foreign ministers’ summit in Canada, Rubio issued one of the Trump administration’s strongest condemnations yet of the RSF, saying the group has engaged in systematic violence against civilians, including mass killings, sexual assaults, and targeted attacks on women and children.
The RSF has been fighting Sudan’s army since April 2023, when a power struggle between rival military leaders plunged the country into a devastating civil war. The fall of El Fasher last month, after an 18-month siege, means the RSF now controls all major cities in Darfur. Satellite imagery shows bodies lying in streets and widespread destruction, confirming reports of large-scale massacres.
Humanitarian groups and U.S. officials say non-Arab communities in Darfur are being deliberately targeted, warning that the violence amounts to genocide.
Rubio called on allies to help shut down the RSF’s arms pipeline.
“They’re committing acts of sexual violence and atrocities — truly horrifying atrocities — against women, children, innocent civilians,” Rubio said. “It needs to end immediately. We’re going to do everything we can to bring it to an end, and we’re encouraging partner nations to join us.”
Sudan’s military accuses the United Arab Emirates of supplying the RSF with weapons and foreign fighters through neighboring countries — allegations denied by both the RSF and the UAE. Rubio avoided directly criticizing Abu Dhabi, noting that the U.S. is working with the UAE, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia through the “Quad” negotiation framework.
“I don’t want to call anyone out today,” he said. “We know who is involved… that’s why they’re part of the Quad.”
Repeated U.S.-backed ceasefire attempts have failed, including a humanitarian truce the RSF broke just days after signing it. Despite renewed diplomatic pressure for a transition to civilian rule, fighting continues largely unabated.
As violence intensifies, only a fraction of El Fasher’s population has managed to escape, leaving hundreds of thousands trapped amid soaring casualties and a rapidly deteriorating humanitarian crisis.
