UN warns of looming humanitarian disaster in El-Obeid
The escalating conflict in Sudan's North Kordofan state risks triggering a humanitarian catastrophe on the scale of last year's siege of El-Fasher, UN officials warned the Security Council on Friday. Drone strikes have intensified around the city of El-Obeid, putting an estimated 500,000 civilians at immediate risk.
Rosemary DiCarlo, the UN's under-secretary-general for political and peacebuilding affairs, told council members that drone attacks had increased sharply around El-Obeid over the past two weeks, even as the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) expanded its presence around the city. The RSF, a Sudanese paramilitary group, captured El-Fasher late last year after an 18-month siege, unleashing a wave of ethnic killings, mass executions, and sexual violence. A UN human rights investigation said the violence amounted to possible war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Children paying the highest price
UNICEF's deputy executive director, Hannan Sulieman, told the council that children are paying the highest price in the civil war between the RSF and the Sudanese Armed Forces, which began in April 2023. More than 5,000 children have been killed or maimed since the conflict started. Sulieman said, "The children of Sudan cannot survive on expressions of concern. They need protection. They need food, water, healthcare and education. They need humanitarian access. And above all, they need this war to end."
DiCarlo warned that a full-scale battle for El-Obeid would trigger fresh waves of displacement and further entrench the parties' positions in negotiations, narrowing the space for mediation. She added, "The window to avert a wider escalation in El-Obeid is rapidly narrowing." The UN's high commissioner for human rights, Volker Turk, had previously warned of an impending human rights disaster should the offensive continue.
Comparisons to El-Fasher and wider conflict
Sulieman drew a direct comparison between the current situation and last year's battle for El-Fasher. She said, "We must not allow history to repeat itself. Children cannot endure, and we cannot allow, another El-Fasher." She called on the council to secure humanitarian corridors out of El-Obeid and establish child-protection services for young people separated from their families.
In the wider conflict, DiCarlo noted that fighting continues on several fronts, with Kordofan remaining the epicenter. Intensified clashes have occurred around Dilling, Kadugli, and Babanusa. Drone strikes targeting bridges and transport corridors across Darfur and Kordofan have disrupted humanitarian routes. Fighting also continues in White Nile and Blue Nile states, in places such as Kurmuk, Geissan, and Bau. DiCarlo warned that the rainy season, which traditionally causes fighting to ease, would bring no such respite this year because of the surge in drone warfare.
Cascading toll on infrastructure and hunger crisis
To illustrate the cascading toll of attacks on infrastructure, Sulieman highlighted a strike last year on energy infrastructure in White Nile state that knocked out a major water-treatment facility, forcing families to collect untreated water from a river. Within weeks, thousands of cases of cholera were reported, children died, and schools were forced to close. She said, "In Sudan, one attack does not end when the explosion stops. A single strike can trigger a chain reaction that deprives children of safe water, healthcare, education and protection."
Nearly half of school buildings in Sudan can no longer function as classrooms, forcing at least 8 million children out of school. Nearly 19.5 million people face acute hunger, with several places already at or close to famine thresholds. An estimated 825,000 children under the age of 5 are expected to suffer severe acute malnutrition this year.
Regional tensions and diplomatic efforts
DiCarlo also noted that tensions between Sudan and Ethiopia have been rising since early May over allegations of interference in each other's internal security, as well as continued friction between Sudan and Chad following border clashes this year. She warned, "These tensions risk becoming drivers of further escalation, drawing neighboring states more directly into the conflict."
On the diplomatic track, DiCarlo said the Quintet—a grouping that includes the African Union, the EU, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, the League of Arab States, and the UN—convened consultations early this month in Addis Ababa with a broad range of Sudanese civilians who endorsed the need for a Sudanese-owned process of political dialogue facilitated by the Quintet. However, she cautioned that diplomatic efforts cannot substitute for the political will required to end this war, and urged the council to follow up on the situation in El-Obeid with stronger, unified action.
