UN Warns of Imminent Mass Atrocities in Sudan as RSF Advances on El-Obeid

The United Nations Security Council has issued a stark warning about the "imminent risk of mass atrocities" in Sudan, as paramilitary forces known as the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) advance towards El-Obeid. The city, a crucial link between central and western Sudan, has been encircled by the RSF for months.

The Security Council's statement expressed deep concern over the escalating fighting in the Kordofan region, highlighting that it risks worsening an "already dire humanitarian situation." The RSF and the Sudanese Army have been locked in a brutal civil war since April 2023, a conflict the UN has labeled the world's largest displacement and hunger crisis. Over 11 million people have been displaced, tens of thousands have been killed, and nearly half of Sudan's population faces food insecurity.

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The members of the Security Council expressed concern at the imminent risk of mass atrocities and demanded the RSF immediately halt its assault on El-Obeid.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged the international community to press Sudan's warring parties to prevent further bloodshed. He specifically warned against allowing "the horrors of El Fasher to be repeated in El Obeid." Last year, the RSF's capture of El Fasher in the Darfur region resulted in an estimated 6,000 deaths over three days, a takeover the UN described as bearing "hallmarks of genocide."

The UNSC's call for an immediate halt to the RSF's assault on El-Obeid underscores the international community's growing alarm over the escalating violence and its devastating humanitarian consequences in Sudan. The situation remains critical as the conflict continues to displace millions and threaten widespread atrocities.

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We must not allow the horrors of El Fasher to be repeated in El Obeid.