Politics: UN Security Council Warns: Another City in Sudan Is Being Targeted by the Militia

In light of the impending advance of the RSF militia toward the Sudanese city of Al-Obeid, members of the UN Security Council are warning of atrocities and a humanitarian catastrophe that is set to worsen even further. The most powerful body of the United Nations called on the militia not to launch a ground offensive to capture the major city in the state of Kordofan. A civil war has been raging in Sudan for more than three years.

Just last Thursday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres appealed to the international community to exert pressure on the parties to the conflict to prevent further bloodshed. He warned that atrocities like those committed during the RSF militia’s capture of El Fasher in Darfur late last year must not be repeated in El Obeid. According to the UN Human Rights Office, more than 6,000 people were killed there within three days.

In the Sudanese civil war, the government army (SAF) led by de facto ruler Abdel-Fattah al-Burhan and the RSF militia led by Mohamed Hamdan Daglo are fighting for control of the country. The UN describes it as the world’s largest humanitarian crisis. More than 11.5 million people have been displaced by the war, and about half of the country’s population is at risk of starvation. Human rights organizations accuse both sides of the conflict of committing serious crimes.