UN Warns Sudan War Turning More Dangerous

US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on leaders of warring parties

Fri Jan 17 2025
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PORT SUDAN: The United Nations human rights chief on Friday warned that the war in Sudan is becoming more dangerous for civilians, after reports of attacks in Al-Jazira state.

The “Sudan conflict (is) taking more dangerous turn for civilians,” UN Human Rights Commissioner Volker Turk said on social media platform X, adding that “there is evidence of… war crimes and other atrocity crimes”.

The Sudanese army, at war with rival paramilitaries since April 2023, led an offensive this week on Al-Jazira state, recapturing its capital Wad Madani from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

Rights groups said on Monday that at least 13 people including two children were killed in ethnically-targeted attacks against minority communities in the agricultural state.

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South Sudanese returnees and Sudanese refugees entering South Sudan through the Joda crossing point in November 2023.
—Photo by UNHCR/Ala Kheir

Though the RSF has become notorious for alleged ethnic-based violence, reports have also emerged of civilians being targeted on the basis of ethnicity in army-controlled areas.

On Thursday, the US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, accusing the army of attacking schools, markets, and hospitals, as well as using food deprivation as a weapon of war.

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Across Sudan, more than 24.6 million people – around half the population – face high levels of acute food insecurity. —Photo by AFP

This announcement came just a week after the US imposed sanctions on RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, accusing his group of committing genocide.

In response to recent reports from US officials claiming that the Sudanese army has used chemical weapons, UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani stated on Friday that due to limited access, the UN “has not specifically documented” such practices during the conflict.

She said what the UN has documented”the use of extremely heavy weaponry in populated areas”, including air strikes on marketplaces.

ALSO READ: Sudan Rescuers Say Over 120 killed by Shelling Around Khartoum

Both sides have been accused of targeting civilians and indiscriminately shelling residential areas, with the RSF specifically accused of ethnic cleansing, systematic sexual violence and laying siege to entire towns.

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Chadian cart owners transport belongings of Sudanese people who fled the conflict in Sudan’s Darfur region, while crossing the border between Sudan and Chad in Adre —Photo by AFP

The war has killed tens of thousands, uprooted over 12 million and pushed the country to the brink of famine, creating what the United Nations describes as one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

In its latest reports, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said that over 120,000 people have fled the ongoing violence in the southern Sudanese states of Blue Nile, White Nile and Sennar to South Sudan since early December 2024.

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