UN warns of an 'imminent risk of mass atrocities' in Sudan's Kordofan

The majority-Muslim southern city, in the Kordofan region, has been under siege for several months by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), led by General Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, also known as Hemedti.

The war began in April 2023 after tensions between the RSF and the regular army run by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.

The United Nations Security Council expressed its "grave concern" on Saturday, regarding reports of the deployment of significant military reinforcements by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) around the city and spoke of an "imminent risk of mass atrocities" in El-Obeid, North Kordofan.

It also called on all parties to cease hostilities and urged UN member states to refrain from any interference that could fuel the violence.

The Sudan Doctors Network has been warning in recent weeks of an increase in drone attacks against schools, hospitals, health centres, displacement camps, and, most recently, a power plant in El-Obeid, plunging the town into darkness and disrupting the water pumping system.

"El Obeid is not just a large city, it is a nerve center for commercial and humanitarian activities," Elias Abu Ata, advisor for the Norwegian Refugee Council in Sudan, told RFI.

The region is considered a buffer zone between the territory captured by RSF in Darfur and the areas controlled by al-Burhan's army in eastern Sudan.

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Fear of El-Fasher repeat

The UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy for Sudan, Pekka Haavisto last week called on Hemedti to spare El-Obeid.

Prior to that, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had also warned of the "imminent" risk of an attack. "We must not allow the horrors of El-Fasher to be repeated in El-Obeid," Guterres warned.

The UN fears a repeat of the scenario experienced in El-Fasher where, last October, the RSF launched an offensive against this major city in Darfur after a 500-day siege, committing massacres and mass rapes, atrocities which presented the distinctive signs of genocide, the UN fact-finding mission found.

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The European Union also called on the RSF to immediately cease the massacres of civilians, violence against ethnic groups, and attacks on civilian infrastructure. 

The conflict has killed at least 59,000 people, displaced around 13 million and left more than 30 million in need of humanitarian assistance.