WASHINGTON

Foreign ministers of G7 countries on Wednesday strongly condemned what they described as “ethnically motivated” attacks by Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on unarmed civilians and aid workers in El-Fasher and North Kordofan.

In a joint statement following a two-day meeting in Niagara, Canada, the top diplomats of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the US — along with the European Union’s High Representative — deplored the “devastating impact of this war on civilians, including the famine that has led to the world’s largest humanitarian crisis.”

“We unequivocally condemn sexual violence. We urged the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) to respect human rights, de-escalate, commit to an immediate and permanent ceasefire, and ensure rapid and unimpeded passage of humanitarian assistance,” the statement said.

The ministers also expressed their support for “diplomatic efforts underway to restore peace and security” and called on external actors to contribute to those efforts.

It came as the UN warned that the situation in Sudan is worsening for civilians, while aid groups indicate that access to affected areas remains severely restricted by the conflict.

The bloody conflict between the army and the RSF, which began in April 2023, has killed at least 40,000 people and displaced some 12 million, according to the World Health Organization.

Last month, the RSF seized North Darfur state’s capital, El-Fasher, and was accused of massacres. The group controls all five Darfur states out of Sudan’s 18 states, while the army holds most of the remaining 13 states, including Khartoum.

Darfur makes up about one-fifth of Sudan’s territory, but most of the country’s 50 million people live in army-held areas.