Rubio urges cutting off weapons support to Sudan’s RSF

WASHINGTON

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday that action is needed to halt weapons support to Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) as the humanitarian situation for civilians in the country is deteriorating rapidly.

“I think something needs to be done to cut off the weapons and support that the RSF is getting as they continue with their advances,” Rubio told reporters after a G7 foreign ministers’ meeting in Niagara, Canada.

He said Washington has been working with Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, stressing that “pressure is being applied to the relevant parties.”

“I don't want to get into calling anybody out in a press conference today, because what we want is a good outcome here. This needs to stop,” he added.

“They’re clearly receiving assistance from outside...and that needs to stop,” he stressed.

Rubio described the situation in Sudan as “horrifying,” citing reports from humanitarian groups that the levels of malnutrition and suffering among displaced people are “unprecedented.”

He added that the RSF “agrees to things and never follows through with it,” calling their atrocities systematic.

El-Basha Tibeig, an adviser to RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, denounced Rubio’s remarks, claiming that they represent “an unfortunate step” undermining the efforts by the US-led Quad to reach a humanitarian truce in Sudan.

On Sept. 12, the international Quad of the US, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Egypt called for a three-month humanitarian truce in Sudan to enable the delivery of emergency aid to all areas as a step toward a permanent ceasefire.

The UN has 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.