By Nathan Morley
The U.N. human rights chief has warned of another wave of atrocities in Sudan as fighting intensifies across the Kordofan region.
Volker Turk said clashes between the Sudanese Armed Forces, the Rapid Support Forces and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North have forced more than 45,000 people from their homes in the past month.
He called for safe passage for civilians, protection of aid workers and the restoration of telecommunications.
Since late October, when the RSF seized Bara in North Kordofan, the U.N. rights office has documented at least 269 civilian deaths from airstrikes, artillery fire and summary executions.
Turk said the true toll is likely far higher, with internet and phone outages hampering reporting.
The office has also received accounts of retaliatory killings, arbitrary detention, abductions, sexual violence and forced recruitment, including of children.
Civilians have been detained on accusations of collaborating with rival groups, Turk said, while divisive rhetoric is fueling fears of further violence.
“It is truly shocking to see history repeating itself in Kordofan so soon after the horrific events in El Fasher,” Turk said. “We must not allow Kordofan to become another El Fasher.”
Deadly attacks have continued across the three Kordofan states. On Nov 3, an RSF drone strike on a mourning tent in El Obeid reportedly killed 45 people, mostly women. On Nov 29, an SAF airstrike in Kauda, South Kordofan, killed at least 48, most of them civilians, according to the U.N. – Vatican News
