UN Security Council warns of mass atrocities in El Obeid

The United Nations Security Council has warned of an "imminent risk of mass atrocities" in the Sudanese city of El Obeid as paramilitary forces advance on the strategic urban center. The council demanded that the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) immediately halt its assault on the city, which has been under siege for several months.

In a statement issued on Saturday, June 20, the Security Council expressed grave concern over reports of significant RSF military reinforcements encircling El Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan state. The city is a major commercial and humanitarian hub situated in a strategic buffer zone between RSF-held territory in Darfur and areas controlled by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) in the east.

UN officials fear a repeat of the atrocities committed during the RSF's capture of El Fasher in Darfur in October 2025. A UN fact-finding mission found that offensive, which followed a 500-day siege, included massacres and mass rapes bearing hallmarks of genocide. The UN human rights office estimated more than 6,000 people were killed in El Fasher over three days.

The warning follows calls from UN Secretary-General António Guterres, who last week urged the...