The Sudanese people are living through a “nightmare of violence, hunger and displacement”, and countless others are facing “unspeakable atrocities”, including widespread rapes, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the UN Security Council on Monday.
He singled out “shocking reports of mass killings and sexual violence” in villages in east-central Gezira province. The UN and a doctors’ group noted that paramilitary fighters wreaked havoc in the region in a multi-day attack that killed more than 120 people in one town.
The UN chief said the country’s warring military and paramilitary forces are escalating attacks with outside powers “fueling the fire” and intensifying the nightmare of hunger and disease for millions.
War erupted in Sudan in mid-April 2023 from a power struggle between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) ahead of a planned transition to civilian rule, triggering the world’s largest displacement crisis. More than 11 million people have fled their homes, including three million to neighboring countries.
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