‘Stop this madness’: Rights chief warns of impending atrocities as militia closes in on El Obeid, Sudan
18 June 2026
Peace and SecurityThe UN’s top human rights official has issued an urgent warning that an imminent offensive against El Obeid, the capital of Sudan’s North Kordofan state, carries the risk of serious international crimes and threatens to deepen an already catastrophic humanitarian crisis.
Volker Türk spoke out on Thursday following reports of a significant build-up of Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia and allied troops around the city, accompanied by intensified drone strikes and artillery shelling. Sudan has been engulfed in war since April 2023, when fighting erupted between the formerly allied Sudanese Armed Forces and the RSF, plunging one of Africa’s largest countries into a conflict that has become one of the world’s worst humanitarian emergencies. According to humanitarian affairs office, OCHA, the war has displaced more than 13 million people internally and driven millions more to the brink of famine, with humanitarian access severely constrained across much of the country.UN chief calls for international interventionUN Secretary-General António Guterres also issued an alert on Thursday via his spokesperson, expressing alarm over the possible “imminent ground offensive”.“Far too many times in this conflict, clear warnings have failed to trigger concerted action by the international community,” the statement continued.
