Foreign secretary calls for immediate ceasefire in Sudan after reported massacre

Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper has joined calls for an immediate ceasefire in Sudan after tens of thousands of people were reportedly killed in the city of Al Fashir.

Some 260,000 people, half of them children, are now feared to be trapped in the Darfur capital after the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) captured it. Speaking in Bahrain on Saturday, Ms 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".

"In Sudan right now, there is just despair," she told the Manama Dialogue Conference. She noted that while "progress" had been made on Gaza, the international community "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. The foreign secretary also announced that the UK will send £5m in aid to Sudan, with £2m to be focused on supporting survivors of sexual violence.

Read more:Sudanese militia leader convicted of war crimes in DarfurUAE is 'main backer' behind Sudan war - intelligence officer Tens of thousands killed in two days The aid announcement came after RSF forces swept into Al Fashir. Analysts believe tens of thousands of people were killed in the city in a two-day window, Sky News' Africa correspondent Yousra Elbagir reported.

Stains and shapes resembling blood and corpses can be seen from space in satellite images analysed by Yale Humanitarian Labs. The Sudan Doctors Network has also shared that the RSF "cold-bloodedly killed everyone they found inside Al Saudi Hospital, including patients, their companions, and anyone else present in the wards".

In the early hours of Saturday morning, an RSF drone hit the North Darfur town of Tine on the border with Chad. An eyewitness told Sky News the drone dropped at least 5 bombs, injuring civilians and remains in the sky over the town.

On Wednesday, an RSF drone dropped three bombs. Two hit military sites and a third hit a displacement shelter but did not detonate..