UN Says Ethnically Driven Killings in Sudan War Have Surged This Year
Sudan Events – Agencies
The UN Human Rights Office said on Friday that Sudan has witnessed a sharp rise in civilian deaths during the first half of this year, driven largely by escalating ethnic violence in the western Darfur region.
The conflict, which erupted in April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), has unleashed waves of ethnically motivated killings, mass displacement, and what the UN describes as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
At least 3,384 civilians were killed between January and June, most of them in Darfur, according to a new report by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). That figure represents nearly 80% of the civilian death toll documented across Sudan last year. Tracking casualties throughout the war has remained difficult due to the collapse of health services, ongoing fighting, and communications blackouts, among other factors.
Ethnicity as a Driver of Violence
“Every day we receive more reports of atrocities on the ground,” said Lee Fong, the OHCHR representative in Sudan, speaking to reporters in Geneva.
The report noted that most killings resulted from artillery bombardments, airstrikes, and drone attacks in densely populated areas. It highlighted that many deaths occurred during RSF assaults on El Fasher — the last stronghold of its rivals in Darfur — as well as on the Zamzam and Abu Shouk displacement camps in April.
At least 990 civilians were summarily executed in the first half of the year, with the number tripling between February and April. The OHCHR said this surge was mainly linked to intensified violence in Khartoum after the army and allied fighters recaptured parts of the capital previously held by the RSF in late March.
Jeremy Laurence, OHCHR spokesperson, said a witness had reported Sudanese Armed Forces conducting searches in civilian neighborhoods of East Nile, Khartoum, between March and April. The witness claimed to have seen children as young as 14 or 15, accused of being RSF members, executed on the spot.
Fong described ethnicity as a “deeply troubling” driver of violence, noting that some communities were targeted because of perceived ties to the leadership of either the army or the RSF, rooted in decades of discrimination and division among Sudan’s diverse groups and identities. Both warring sides have repeatedly denied deliberately attacking civilians.
Patrick Youssef, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Regional Director for Africa, said the humanitarian situation in Sudan is dire and deteriorating. He warned that Sudan is experiencing its worst cholera outbreak in four years, with 2,500 cases reported in Khartoum since June.
“We are really praying that it will be contained within days or weeks… My worst nightmare would be a wider spread in Khartoum, just as people are trying to return,” he said.
