UN rights chief warns of "human rights catastrophe" in Sudan's el-Obeid.
UN rights chief Volker Turk warned that a human rights catastrophe is unfolding in el-Obeid, Sudan, urging urgent international action to prevent an imminent RSF assault. Civilians have endured siege-like conditions for 18 months.
United Nations rights chief Volker Türk has warned that another human rights catastrophe is unfolding in the Sudanese city of El-Obeid, urging the world to act before a feared and imminent paramilitary assault. Addressing an urgent debate at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on Friday, Türk urged world leaders to help prevent atrocities in the city.
The UN warned on Friday that a "human rights catastrophe" was unfolding in Sudan’s El-Obeid, where experts have warned that the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) may be about to launch an offensive. It is a red alert that needs to land on the desks of heads of state and government around the world.
El-Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan state, sits on a key route linking RSF-held areas in the western Darfur region to army-controlled eastern regions. The city of half a million people, which hosts nearly 100,000 refugees displaced by the civil war, has in recent weeks faced its most intense RSF attacks yet.
Sudan’s conflict erupted in April 2023 between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. Kordofan — home to oil deposits and the RSF’s most powerful paramilitary allies — remains a key battleground. After breaking a prolonged siege in February last year, the army has struggled to prevent the RSF from reimposing a blockade through drone attacks on the city and the main highway out.