UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Sudan’s warring military and paramilitary forces are escalating attacks, with outside powers “fanning the flames,” exacerbating the nightmare of hunger and disease for millions of people, the United Nations chief said Monday.
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned the UN Security Council that the 18-month war has the serious potential to “fuel regional instability from the Sahel to the Horn of Africa and the Red Sea.”
In a grim report, Guterres said the Sudanese people are suffering countless “nightmares” – from killings and “unspeakable atrocities”, including widespread rape, to fast-spreading diseases, mass ethnic violence and 750,000 people facing “catastrophic food insecurity” and famine. at the displaced persons locations in North Darfur.
He cited “shocking reports of mass killings and sexual violence” in villages in the east-central province of Gezira in recent days. The UN and a doctors’ group said paramilitary fighters in the region mutinied in a multi-day attack that killed more than 120 people in one town.
Sudan became embroiled in conflict in mid-April 2023, when long-simmering tensions between its military and paramilitary leaders erupted in the capital Khartoum and spread to other regions, including West Darfur.
More than 24,000 people have been killed in the war so far, according to Armed Conflict Location and Event Data, a group that has been monitoring the conflict since it began. It has caused the world’s worst displacement crisis, with more than 11 million people fleeing their homes, including 3 million to neighboring countries.
Guterres urged both sides to immediately agree to the cessation of hostilities, guarantee the protection of civilians for whom they bear primary responsibility, and ensure the flow of humanitarian aid to millions in need.
The Secretary-General said he is “shocked” by reports that paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) continue to attack civilians in North Darfur’s capital El Fasher and surrounding areas, including displaced persons sites where there is famine confirmed.
“And I am also shocked by reports of attacks on civilians committed by forces affiliated with the Sudanese Armed Forces in Khartoum, and by continued massive civilian casualties as a result of apparently indiscriminate airstrikes in populated areas,” he said.
Guterres said those who violate international humanitarian law must be held accountable.
The war began four years after a pro-democracy uprising forced the military to oust Sudan’s longtime dictator Omar al-Bashir, followed by a short-lived transition to democracy.
The country was characterized by atrocities such as mass rape and ethnically motivated murders. The United Nations and international rights groups say these acts amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, especially in the western region of Darfur, which has suffered a bitter attack by the RSF, which emerged from the Janjaweed.
Twenty years ago, Darfur became synonymous with genocide and war crimes, especially by the infamous Arab Janjaweed militias, against populations who identify as Central or East African. Up to 300,000 people were killed and 2.7 million people were driven from their homes.
That legacy seems to have returned. International Criminal Court prosecutor Karim Khan said in January that there are reasons to believe both sides may be committing war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide in Darfur.
