UN warns of atrocities in Sudan as RSF advances on city
UN Security Council members are warning of possible atrocities and a worsening humanitarian crisis in Sudan as paramilitary Rapid Support Forces advance towards the city of El-Obeid in Kordofan state.
The council called on the RSF not to attack the city, which is located in a strategic area connecting central and western Sudan.
The warning came just days after UN Secretary-General António Guterres called on the international community to pressure Sudan’s warring parties to prevent further bloodshed.
He warned against a repeat of the atrocities reported during the RSF capture of Al Fashir in the Darfur region late last year. More than 6,000 people were killed in the city in three days, according to the UN human rights office.
Sudan has been grappling with civil war for more than three years, with the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) led by de facto ruler Abdel Fattah al-Burhan fighting the RSF under Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo for control of the country.
The United Nations has described the conflict as the world’s largest humanitarian crisis.
More than 11.5 million people have been displaced due to conflict, while nearly half of Sudan’s population faces hunger.
Human rights groups have accused both sides of serious abuses during the conflict.
