UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. political chief accused allies of Sudan’s warring military and paramilitary forces on Tuesday of “enabling the slaughter” that has killed more than 24,000 people and created the world’s worst displacement crisis.

“This is unconscionable,” Rosemary DiCarlo told the U.N. Security Council. “It is illegal, and it must end.”

She didn’t name the countries funding and providing weapons to Sudan’s military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, but she said they have a responsibility to press both sides to work for a negotiated settlement of the war.

Sudan plunged into conflict in mid-April 2023, when long-simmering tensions between its military and paramilitary leaders broke out in the capital, Khartoum, and spread to other regions, including western Darfur, which was wracked by bloodshed and atrocities in 2003. The U.N. recently warned that the country has been pushed to the brink of famine.

Last month, the RSF rampaged through the province of Gezira, attacking towns and villages, killing dozens of people and raping women and girls, according to the U.N. and local groups.

DiCarlo told the council that nongovernmental organizations say those attacks have been marked by “some of the most extreme violence in the last 18 months.”

She strongly condemned the RSF’s continuing attacks against civilians and said the U.N. is also “appalled by the attacks against civilians perpetrated by forces affiliated with the Sudanese Armed Forces in the Khartoum area.”

DiCarlo said it is long past time for the rival forces to come to the negotiating table, but she said both sides seem convinced they can win on the battlefield, and this is being fueled by outside support and weapons.

“As the end of the rainy season approaches, the parties continue to escalate their military operations, recruit new fighters and intensify their attacks,” she said. “This is possible thanks to considerable external support, including a steady flow of weapons into the country.”

Sudan has accused the United Arab Emirates of arming the RSF, which the UAE vehemently denies. The RSF has also reportedly received support from Russia’s Wagner mercenary group. And U.N. experts said in a report earlier this year that the RSF received support from Arab-allied communities and new military supply lines running through Chad, Libya and South Sudan.

As for the government, Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan, who led a military takeover of Sudan in 2021, is a close ally of neighboring Egypt and its president, former army chief Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi. In February, Sudan’s foreign minister held talks in Tehran with his Iranian counterpart amid unconfirmed reports of drone purchases for government forces.

DiCarlo called for stepped up international action to protect civilians and promote talks.

She said U.N. special envoy for Sudan Ramtane Lamamra “is considering the next phase of his engagement with the warring parties, including another round of 'proximity talks’ focused on commitments related to the protection of civilians.”

Sudan’s military boycotted proximity talks in Geneva, Switzerland, in July aimed at spurring humanitarian aid and starting peace talks despite international pleas that it take part. The RSF sent a delegation to Geneva.

DiCarlo said Lamamra will travel to Sudan and other places in the region in the coming weeks to meet key stakeholders to discuss a new attempt at talks.

Ramesh Rajasingham, coordination director in the U.N. humanitarian office, told the council the “shocking atrocities” in Gezira and fighting in West Darfur and North Darfur are causing more people to flee.

Since April 2023, more than 11 million people have fled their homes, with 3 million crossing into neighboring countries, he said. Last month, 58,000 people from the two Darfur states crossed into neighboring Chad, which is now hosting more than 710,000 refugees, he said.

Rajasingham said fighting continues to intensify around North Darfur’s capital, El Fasher — the only capital in Darfur that the RSF doesn’t hold. In July, hunger experts confirmed famine conditions in the Zamzam displacement camp nearby.

Rajasingham said a recent nutrition screening in the camp found about 34% of children malnourished including 10% who are severely malnourished.

“And we are now seeing troubling indications that deepening food insecurity is spreading to other areas, with reports in recent weeks of particularly alarming levels of hunger in South Kordofan,” he said.

“I just cannot put strongly enough how serious this situation is,” Rajasingham said, urging the international community to take immediate action.

News from © The Associated Press, 2024