Hostilities continue to escalate across Sudan's North Darfur and Kordofan regions, with reports of civilian casualties, sexual violence, abductions and looting, the UN human rights chief warned on Friday, describing the consequences as disastrous.
Since civil war erupted in April 2023 between the generals of the national army and their former allies-turned rivals, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia, vast areas of the country have been left in ruins.
The conflict has fuelled the world's largest displacement crisis, with more than 12 million people forcibly displaced , the majority of them women and children.
The recent escalation poses a grave risk of further deterioration in what is already a "brutal and deadly conflict", raising serious concerns for civilian protection, said Volker Türk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights ( OHCHR ), in a statement .
Displacement camps under siege
Following a year-long siege, the RSF launched a renewed assault on the displacement camps around El Fasher on Monday, after months of intensified mobilisation, including the recruitment of children across Darfur.
The operation echoed the RSF's ground offensive on Zamzam camp in April, which resulted in hundreds of civilian deaths, widespread sexual violence, and a deepening humanitarian emergency.
Between 10 and 13 April alone, the RSF reportedly killed more than 100 civilians in areas around El Fasher.
