People in Darfur used ‘as pawns in Sudan civil war’, says UN | BBC News

“Darfur has seen the worst of the worst,” the UN’s new relief chief Tom Fletcher has said.

It marked the first time a senior UN official was able to visit this territory since Sudan’s civil war erupted 19 months ago.

His visit only became possible after extensive negotiations with Sudan’s two main rival forces – those headed by Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, head of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), who heads the government recognised by the UN, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, who are now in charge in most of Darfur.

UN officials refer to the RSF as “those in control of the area”.

Few journalists have made it to el-Geneina to see its plight, including the aftermath of what were two massacres over a period of several months last year, which the UN says killed up to 15,000 people.

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