Cooper announces £5m in aid for Sudan amid ‘horrifying’ scenes in El Fasher

The UK will send £5 million of aid to Sudan after the fall of a major city brought scenes of “horrifying” atrocities, the Foreign Secretary has said.

El Fasher, the last major city in the country’s western Darfur region, was seized by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) this week, leading to reports of ethnically-targeted killings, sexual violence and starvation.

Some 260,000 people, half of them children, are now said to be trapped in El Fasher.

Speaking at a conference in Bahrain on Saturday, Yvette Cooper condemned “atrocities, mass executions, starvation and the devastating use of rape as a weapon of war” in Darfur, describing reports from the region as “truly horrifying”.

Announcing extra humanitarian support, she also warned women and children were “bearing the brunt of the largest humanitarian crisis in the 21st century”.

The £5 million announced by Ms Cooper on Saturday will pay for support such as emergency food supplies and medical care.

Some £2 million will be focused on supporting survivors of sexual violence.

Ms Cooper also joined with her counterparts from Germany and Jordan in calling for an immediate ceasefire in Darfur.

She told the Manama Dialogue Conference: “In Sudan right now, there is just despair.

“And just as the combination of leadership and international co-operation has made progress on Gaza, it is currently failing to deal with the humanitarian crisis and the devastating conflict in Sudan.”

The RSF has been waging a civil war against the Sudanese government since 2023 and has been accused of multiple human rights violations over the course of the conflict.

Last year, the UK sanctioned a number of companies linked to both the RSF and the Sudanese Armed Forces in an attempt to bring about a negotiated end to the war.

On Thursday, Foreign Office minister Stephen Doughty declined to comment on future sanctions, but said they would be kept “under review”.

He also acknowledged reports that “UK-made items” had been found in Sudan, but said there was no evidence of British weapons or ammunition being used in the country in breach of an arms embargo.

The Government has so far resisted calls from the Liberal Democrats to halt arms exports to the UAE, which is widely accused of supporting the RSF, accusations which the country denies.

Ms Cooper’s appearance at the Manama Dialogue came at the start of a wider Middle East trip, during which she will step up calls to increase the flow of aid into Gaza.

While in Bahrain, she met US director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, and the foreign ministers of Greece, Cyprus, Yemen, Oman, Bahrain and Palestine.