The Sudanese people are living through a “nightmare of violence, hunger and displacement”, and countless others are facing “unspeakable atrocities”, including widespread rapes, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the UN Security Council on Monday.

He singled out “shocking reports of mass killings and sexual violence” in villages in east-central Gezira province. The UN and a doctors’ group noted that paramilitary fighters wreaked havoc in the region in a multi-day attack that killed more than 120 people in one town.

The UN chief said the country’s warring military and paramilitary forces are escalating attacks with outside powers “fuelling the fire” and intensifying the nightmare of hunger and disease for millions.

Guterres warned that the 18-month war faces the serious possibility of “igniting regional instability from the Sahel to the Horn of Africa to the Red Sea.”

War erupted in Sudan in mid-April 2023 from a power struggle between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) ahead of a planned transition to civilian rule, triggering the world’s largest displacement crisis. More than 11 million people have fled their homes, including three million to neighbouring countries.

The war has killed more than 24,000 people so far, according to Armed Conflict Location and Event Data, a group monitoring the conflict since it started.

“Sudan is, once again, rapidly becoming a nightmare of mass ethnic violence,” Guterres said, referring to a conflict in Sudan’s Darfur region about 20 years ago that led to the International Criminal Court charging former Sudanese leaders with genocide and crimes against humanity.

Up to 750,000 people are facing “catastrophic food insecurity” and famine conditions in North Darfur displacement sites, he said.

The UN chief urged both sides to agree to a cessation of hostilities immediately, ensure the protection of civilians for which they bear primary responsibility, and enable humanitarian aid to flow to millions in need.

Guterres added that he is “horrified” by reports that the paramilitary RSF continues to attack civilians in North Darfur’s capital, El Fasher, and surrounding areas, including displacement sites where famine has been confirmed.

He said those who violate international humanitarian law must be held accountable.

Insufficient aid?

Moreover, the UN noted that nearly 25 million people – half of Sudan’s population – need aid as famine has taken hold in displacement camps, and 11 million people have fled their homes. Nearly three million of those people have left for other countries.

“This is not just a matter of insufficient funding. Millions are going hungry because of access,” US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the council.

Thomas-Greenfield said Washington was alarmed that instead of facilitating aid, the Sudanese authorities “continue to undermine, intimidate, and target humanitarian officials.” She said they need to expand and streamline humanitarian movements.

The Sudanese army-backed government is committed to facilitating aid deliveries across the country, including in areas controlled by the RSF, according to Sudan’s UN Ambassador Al-Harith Idriss Al-Harith Mohamed. He said 10 border crossings and seven airports had been opened for aid deliveries.

A three-month approval given by Sudanese authorities for the UN and aid groups to use the Adre border crossing with Chad to reach Darfur is due to expire in mid-November.

“There are 30 trucks that went through the Adre border crossing loaded with advanced weaponry and ammunition, and this led to serious escalation in al-Fashir and in other places,” Mohamed said. “We noticed that thousands of mercenaries from Africa and Sahel entered the country … through Adre. The border crossing Adre is really a threat to national security.”

Russia’s UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia told the UN Security Council it was up to the Sudanese government to decide whether the Adre crossing would remain open beyond mid-November and that it would be “inappropriate to put pressure on” the government.

“We’re categorically opposed to the politicisation of humanitarian assistance,” he said. “We believe that any humanitarian assistance should be conducted and delivered solely with the central authorities in the loop.”