UN Security Council warns of mass atrocities in Sudan's El Obeid

The United Nations Security Council expressed intense concern on Saturday over the "immediate risk" of mass atrocities in El Obeid, the capital of North (South) Kordofan in Sudan. Council members called on the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to "immediately stop their attack" on the city, noting intelligence that the RSF had gathered extensive military reinforcements around the urban centre. El Obeid has been under a months‑long siege by the RSF since the war between the RSF and the regular Sudanese army erupted in April 2023.

UN special envoy Peka Khabisto phoned RSF commander General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, urging him not to order an assault and stressing the "urgent need to de‑escalate" the situation. UN Secretary‑General Antonio Guterres and Human‑Rights chief Volker Turk warned that "we must not allow the atrocities of El Fasher to be repeated in El Obeid." The conflict, now in its fourth year, has killed an estimated 200,000 people and created what the UN calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis.