The United Nations has issued a stark warning about a looming humanitarian crisis in the Sudanese city of El Obeid, where paramilitary forces are tightening a siege reminiscent of last year’s deadly assault on El Fasher in Darfur. The Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a militia led by renegade general Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, have been encircling El Obeid while launching artillery and drone strikes, raising fears of widespread violence and atrocities.

Volker Türk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, highlighted the urgent situation during an emergency session of the UN Human Rights Commission held in Geneva. Türk noted that more than 500,000 civilians in and around El Obeid have endured siege-like conditions for approximately 18 months, with access increasingly restricted by the RSF. The mounting military pressure has prompted concerns of a repeat of the mass killings and human rights abuses witnessed in El Fasher last October.

The capture of El Fasher by the RSF was one of the deadliest episodes in Sudan’s ongoing civil conflict, which has spanned three years. That conflict pits Sudan’s regular armed forces, backed by Saudi Arabia and Egypt, against the RSF, which receives support from the United Arab Emirates. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that at least 6,000 people were killed in three days during the RSF’s takeover of El Fasher. Investigations have documented war crimes including mass executions, sexual violence, and torture carried out by the militia.

El Obeid, a major commercial and administrative hub located about 250 kilometers southwest of Khartoum, remains under government control but is increasingly threatened by RSF advances. Control of the city would strengthen the RSF’s hold over central Sudan and potentially deepen the conflict there.

Mona Rishmawi, a member of the UN’s Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Sudan, reported that drone strikes on essential infrastructure in El Obeid have become frequent. Attacks have targeted markets, schools, and residential areas, resulting in civilian casualties.

Türk called on the international community to take urgent and decisive measures to prevent a catastrophe similar to that in Darfur. He urged world leaders to leverage their influence to pressure all parties, particularly the RSF, to halt offensives against El Obeid, stop attacks on civilians and critical infrastructure, and end arms flows fueling the conflict.