UN Chief Warns: Sudan Civil War Escalating

By Staff, Agencies

The UN secretary general, Antonio Guterres, said the war in Sudan is spiraling out of control as he called for a halt to the fighting and an end to the violence.

The Rapid Support Forces [RSF], which are reportedly backed by the United Arab Emirates, seized El Fasher in Darfur last week after a near 18-month siege. Some of its troops have posted videos of civilians being shot, including in the town’s maternity hospital.

The two-year civil war between the Sudanese armed forces [SAF] and the RSF has created what the UN has described as one of the worst humanitarian crises of the 21st century. More than 150,000 people have been killed and more than 14 million displaced from their homes.

Prosecutors at the international criminal court said on Monday that they were collecting evidence of alleged mass killings, rape and other crimes in El Fasher.

Guterres urged the warring parties to “come to the negotiating table, bring an end to this nightmare of violence – now”.

“The horrifying crisis in Sudan … is spiraling out of control,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the World Summit for Social Development in Qatar.

Guterres highlighted that El Fasher in North Darfur has become a "suffering epicenter," with the situation worsening since the Rapid Support Forces' arrival, trapping civilians and causing deaths from malnutrition, disease, and violence.

His call at the Doha conference came as the SAF, based in Port Sudan, discussed whether to support a US-proposed truce, or to insist any ceasefire be dependent on the RSF withdrawing from Sudan’s cities, including El Fasher.

At the Doha conference, he urged the SAF to decide whether to support a US-proposed truce or condition any ceasefire on the RSF's withdrawal from Sudan's cities, including El Fasher.

He said the priority was not a ceasefire, but action to end the massacres in El Fasher.

Since September, the US has been urging both sides to support a peace plan backed by Egypt, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia, starting with a three-month humanitarian pause and a transition to a civilian-led government.

Washington is hoping that with the two-year civil war finally attracting greater world attention, the publicity may force the warring parties and their external supporters to relent on their maximalist positions.

Initial signs from a lengthy SAF security and defense council meeting, however, are that there is strong resistance to the US plan developed by Donald Trump’s envoy to Africa, Massad Boulos.

Some SAF sources, admitting they were under new pressure from Egypt to accept a ceasefire, countered with a call for the RSF to be confined to camps outside cities. It is not clear how such RSF withdrawals could be enforced.

Speaking in London, Elamin called on Washington to designate the RSF a terrorist organization and for a ban on all arms sales to the UAE. However, the UAE denies supplying weapons to the RSF.

Elamin said: “The RSF are now openly and publicly vowing to commit yet further crimes in cities and parts of the country. They have named the cities, the communities and the ethnic groups they are targeting.

“Parts of the country that have never witnessed violence are now threatened. They are proudly making videos of themselves murdering innocent civilians. Some of them admit they have lost count of the number of people they have killed.”

He said that as the SAF leadership had been exploring the US peace plan, the RSF were attacking El Fasher.

"What is the reason for getting engaged in talks while they are still committing these atrocities?" He asked, adding, "Before discussing any proposal, the international community must show seriousness in addressing the ongoing atrocities in El Fasher. The priority now must be to stop the genocide."