UN warns of 'imminent risk of mass atrocities' in Sudan

UNITED NATIONS, June 21 (AFP): The United Nations Security Council said Saturday it is concerned over the "imminent risk of mass atrocities" in Sudan as it called on paramilitary forces encircling El-Obeid to back down.
The majority-Muslim southern city, in the Kordofan region, has been under siege for several months by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which has been at war with the regular army since April 2023.
"The members of the Security Council expressed concern at the imminent risk of mass atrocities and demanded the RSF immediately halt its assault on El-Obeid," the Security Council said in a statement.
"Council members called on the parties to the conflict to immediately halt the fighting."
The UN has voiced fears that there could be a repeat of the atrocities committed during the October 2025 assault on the city of El-Fasher, which it said bore "hallmarks of genocide."
The UN said Friday that Pekka Haavisto, the secretary-general's special envoy for Sudan, had called rebel paramilitary forces chief Mohamed Hamdan Daglo to urge him not to attack El-Obeid.