Aid Groups Urge UN Action As RSF Prepares To Attack Sudan’s El-Obeid

Civil society groups urged swift international action to avert “atrocities” in Sudan’s el-Obeid, warning that paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) are preparing to attack the city.

“Civil society groups have issued an urgent call for international action to prevent “atrocities” as fears mount that paramilitary forces are preparing to attack the city of el-Obeid in Sudan”

Al Jazeera

An open letter released on Friday by 38 NGOs called on the United Nations Human Rights Council to take “bold steps towards atrocity prevention and accountability” and to convene an urgent debate during its ongoing session due to conclude on July 7.

Al Jazeera

The letter said el-Obeid, a strategic hub in South Kordofan, has been encircled for months by the RSF, which has been fighting Sudan’s army since April 2023.

The UN has voiced fears of a repeat of atrocities committed during the RSF’s October 2025 assault on el-Fasher, which it said bore “hallmarks of genocide.”

UN officials warned on Friday of increasing risks to civilians as fighting rises in the city of Al-Abyad in North Kordofan, with Rosmary DiCarlo saying the Rapid Support Forces have strengthened their presence around the city.

DiCarlo told a Security Council session that any escalation in Al-Abyad would put hundreds of thousands of civilians at imminent risk, and she warned that the chance of avoiding a broader escalation diminishes as the battle is expected to be “violent and long.”

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The UN official said the Kordofan region is the main area of conflict where fighting is intensifying in Deling, Kadugli, and Babanusa, and she linked the danger to drone strikes on bridges and transport corridors that harm aid delivery.

In the same session, Hanane Suleiman, UNICEF’s Deputy Executive Director, said Sudan remains the world’s worst humanitarian crisis and that UNHCR talks of more than 3.5 million refugees and about 6.5 million internally displaced.

Masaad Pauls, Senior Advisor to the American President for African and Arab Affairs, said the United States has imposed new sanctions on Sudan for using chemical weapons, violating international law and failing to comply with its obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention.

“UN officials warned on Friday of increasing risks to civilians in Sudan due to the rising fighting in the city of Al-Abyad in North Kordofan State, stressing that external military support enhances the ability of both sides to continue fighting”

Al-Jazeera Net

Pauls said the sanctions included eight individuals and entities linked to procurement and recruitment networks that enabled the Sudanese army and RSF to escalate the fighting, and he warned, “We cannot stand by and watch this happen again.”

He accused the RSF of “committed atrocities including genocide,” while saying the Sudanese army used chemical weapons, and he argued that attacks by both sides cause severe damage to humanitarian infrastructure.

Pauls also said the RSF and the Sudanese army “resort to drones provided by external parties to wage a remote war,” and he warned that the use of these drones “worsens the harm caused to civilians.”