UNITED NATIONS (AP) – Sudan’s warring militias and militias are increasingly attacking foreign countries, “fueling the fire,” and increasing hunger and disease for millions of people, a United Nations official said Monday.
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned the UN Security Council that the 18-month-old war has the potential to “exacerbate regional instability from the Sahel to the Horn of Africa to the Red Sea.”
In a grim report, Guterres said Sudanese people were living through many “nightmares” – from killings and “unspeakable atrocities” including widespread rape to rampant disease, ethnic violence and 750,000 people facing “catastrophic food shortages” and starvation conditions. in the displacement areas of North Darfur.
He cited “shocking reports of mass killings and sexual violence” in villages in the east-central Gezira province in recent days. The UN and a group of doctors said that paramilitary fighters have unleashed violence in an area where more than 120 people have died in one city.
Sudan plunged into conflict in mid-April 2023, when a long-running conflict between its military leaders and the military erupted in the capital Khartoum and spread to other regions including western Darfur.
The war has killed more than 24,000 people so far, according to Armed Conflict Location and Event Data, a group that has monitored the conflict since it began. It has created the worst situation of human migration, as more than 11 million people have left their homes including 3 million to neighboring countries.
Guterres called on both sides to quickly agree to end the war, ensure the protection of civilians who bear the brunt of the burden, and make humanitarian aid flow to the millions who need it.
The secretary-general said he was “horrified” by reports that the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, continue to attack civilians in and around North Darfur’s capital El Fasher, including evacuation sites where famine is guaranteed.
“I am also appalled by reports of attacks on civilians by forces allied with the Sudan Armed Forces in Khartoum, and the continued killing of many people due to indiscriminate airstrikes in populated areas,” he said.
Guterres said that those who violate humanitarian law around the world must be held accountable.
The war began four years after a democratic uprising forced the military to oust longtime Sudanese dictator Omar al-Bashir, followed by a short-lived democratic transition.
It has been characterized by atrocities such as mass rape and ethnic killings. The United Nations and human rights organizations say these actions amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, especially in the western region of Darfur, which is facing brutal attacks by the RSF, which originated from the Janjaweed.
For the past two decades, Darfur has been synonymous with genocide and war crimes, particularly by the notorious Janjaweed Arab militia, against a population that identifies as Central or East African. An estimated 300,000 people were killed and 2.7 million were driven from their homes.
That history seems to have returned, as the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan, said in January that there are reasons to believe that both sides may be committing war crimes, crimes against humanity, or genocide in Darfur.
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