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According to a senior United Nations official, violence against civilians in Sudan is “verging on pure evil.” The humanitarian crisis in the country is worsening, and ethnic violence is escalating in the western region of Darfur.
A war broke out on April 15 between the Sudanese army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) after weeks of growing tension over a plan to integrate forces as part of a transition from military rule to civilian democracy.
Clementine Nkweta-Salami, the top UN aid official in Sudan, stated, “We continue to receive unrelenting and appalling reports of sexual and gender-based violence and forced disappearance, arbitrary detentions and grave violations of human and children’s rights.” She emphasized the urgent need for the protection of civilians, as the situation is approaching “pure evil.”
Nkweta-Salami also reported that more than 25 million people, over half of the population, require humanitarian assistance and protection, with over six million displaced within Sudan or in neighboring countries. She expressed concern over escalating violence and attacks against civilians, including apparent ethnic-based violence in Darfur.
Reports from people fleeing to Chad indicate a surge in ethnically driven killings in Sudan’s West Darfur as the RSF took over the main army base in the state capital, El Geneina.
