DOHA, Qatar — United Nations Secretary General António Guterres has sounded a grim alarm over the deepening conflict in Sudan, warning that the war is “spiralling out of control” after the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) captured El Fasher in North Darfur last week.
Speaking on the sidelines of the World Summit for Social Development in Qatar on Tuesday, Guterres urged Sudan’s warring factions — the RSF and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) — to “come to the negotiating table and bring an end to this nightmare of violence now.”
His remarks came amid reports of atrocities committed by RSF fighters following an 18-month siege of El Fasher, including videos circulating online showing civilians being shot, some inside a maternity hospital.
Prosecutors at the International Criminal Court (ICC) confirmed on Monday that they were gathering evidence of alleged mass killings, rape, and other crimes against humanity in the city.
“The horrifying crisis in Sudan is spiralling out of control,” Guterres said. “El Fasher and the surrounding areas have been an epicentre of suffering, hunger, violence, and displacement. Hundreds of thousands of civilians are trapped by this siege. People are dying of malnutrition, disease, and violence.”
The two-year civil war between the SAF and the RSF — reportedly backed by the United Arab Emirates — has killed more than 150,000 people and displaced at least 14 million, according to UN estimates. The RSF’s takeover of El Fasher gives it control over all five state capitals in Darfur, fuelling fears of a de facto partition of Sudan along an east-west axis.
However, Sudan’s ambassador to the United Kingdom, Babikir Elamin, dismissed the idea of partition, saying there was little support for such a move within Darfur. Speaking in London, he emphasized that “the priority is not a ceasefire, but action to end the massacres in El Fasher.”
Elamin urged Washington to designate the RSF as a terrorist organization and to impose an international arms embargo on the UAE, which denies supplying weapons to the militia. “The RSF are now openly and publicly vowing to commit yet further crimes,” he said. “They are proudly making videos of themselves murdering innocent civilians.”
Meanwhile, Washington continues to push a US-backed peace initiative involving Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE. The plan proposes a three-month humanitarian truce, followed by a permanent ceasefire and a nine-month transition to a civilian-led government.
But divisions persist. The SAF’s defence and security council, meeting in Port Sudan, is said to have expressed strong reservations about the plan, insisting that any truce must be contingent on RSF withdrawal from major cities, including El Fasher.
Despite mounting international pressure, the implementation of such withdrawals remains uncertain. “Before we can discuss any proposal, the international community must show seriousness in dealing with the genocide taking place in El Fasher,” Elamin said.
As global attention turns back to Sudan, humanitarian agencies warn that time is running out to prevent a complete collapse of the nation, already facing famine, mass displacement, and widespread destruction of civilian infrastructure.
