Barely a week after calling for a ceasefire, alarmed by the consequences of a prolonged siege of El-Fasher in Sudan, the ambassadors of the UN Security Council received a briefing on the latest developments in the conflict between General al-Burhan and his former deputy-turned-rival, General Daglo.
During the meeting, the Assistant Secretary-General for Africa reiterated the failure of negotiations aimed at halting the escalating violence that is crippling Sudan. Fighting has intensified around Khartoum, Kordofan, and Gezira regions. Across the country, respect for human rights is deteriorating.
The UN specifically condemned the attack on the hospital south of El-Fasher by General Daglo’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) ten days ago. This hospital was the primary medical center available to civilians.
Filippo Grandi, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, visited South Sudan to meet civilians who had fled neighboring Sudan. “In Kosti, I met people recently displaced from Kordofan, where Sudan’s war is raging, terrorizing civilians and forcing them to flee. Their accounts of violence and abuse are painful testimonies to the total disregard for the rules of war by the parties involved in this conflict,” he stated on his X account on June 18.
Beyond acknowledging the stalemate, the Sudanese ambassador used the meeting to explicitly accuse the United Arab Emirates (UAE) of perpetuating the war in Sudan by supporting the RSF, arming them, and sending mercenaries already present in the Sahel, according to his claims.
Sudan had requested an emergency meeting of the Council on these accusations two months ago, but the request was not heeded. Meanwhile, the Emirati ambassador dismissed these accusations as “ridiculous.” The UN hopes to see progress during the mediators’ retreat for this conflict, which will be held in Djibouti next month.