AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): Pascal Sim, spokesman for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva, announced on Tuesday that a possible session on El Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan state in western Sudan, may be held on Friday. This request came after reports indicated that the Rapid Support Forces and their allies have concentrated their forces around the city, which could fuel an escalation of hostilities.
El Obeid, with a population of about half a million and hosting nearly 100,000 displaced people, holds particular strategic importance because it lies on a vital route connecting Darfur, controlled by the Rapid Support Forces in the west, to areas under army control in central and eastern Sudan.
Simultaneously, 46 Sudanese, regional, and international organizations, in a joint statement issued by the Emergency Lawyers group, called on the parties to the conflict in Sudan to immediately declare a humanitarian, comprehensive, and unconditional ceasefire across the country. These organizations warned of a "rapid military escalation, particularly in North Kordofan," and described it as a sign of a new humanitarian catastrophe that could replicate the scenario of widespread violations similar to what occurred in El Fasher.
The organizations, citing repeated reports of a massive military buildup by the Rapid Support Forces around El Obeid, warned that the continuation of this situation could lead to a repetition of gross violations that previously occurred in various regions of Sudan, including El Fasher, with catastrophic humanitarian consequences for civilians.
According to this statement, civilians in El Obeid have already been targeted by drone attacks, and vital facilities such as gas stations, fuel tankers, and the power plant have been attacked, leading to power outages, disruption of water supply, a sharp rise in food, medicine, and fuel prices, and the spread of panic among residents.
The organizations called on the Human Rights Council and the UN Security Council to move beyond warnings about the situation in El Obeid and take immediate preventive measures before it is too late.
It is worth noting that since mid-April 2023, Sudan has been the scene of conflict between the army and the Rapid Support Forces, resulting in tens of thousands of deaths and millions of displaced people, which the UN has described as the world's largest humanitarian crisis. Approximately 12 million people have been displaced as a result of this conflict, and half of Sudan's population faces food insecurity.
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