UN condemns escalating violence and civilian suffering in Sudan amid armed conflict News
Henry Wilkins/VOA, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
UN condemns escalating violence and civilian suffering in Sudan amid armed conflict

The UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) condemned Thursday the rising civilian death toll in Sudan. The statement follows the intensified fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Khartoum and beyond.

The statement indicated that both parties disregarded international humanitarian law in and around Khartoum, the capital of Sudan. The agency suggested that both RSF fighters and SAF-affiliated fighters looted civilian supplies, and committed arbitrary detentions and summary executions during the conflict. 

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) also reported that a drone strike in East Khartoum’s Imtedaad Nasir area on Tuesday killed five women and injured several others. One day earlier, artillery shelling in Karari, north of Omdurman, killed multiple people and left over 40 injured, including children. Residential areas are being increasingly targeted, further compounding the humanitarian crisis.

Outside the capital, conditions in North Darfur have become catastrophic. Armed clashes in and around El Fasher have displaced thousands, forcing many to flee to Zamzam camp. OCHA reported that checkpoints surrounding the camp are blocking civilian movement, and cutting off access to food, water, and medical supplies. Aid agencies are overwhelmed, and without immediate intervention, the crisis seems to deepen. The UN warned of the famine crisis in North Darfur in February 2025, after a recent attack launched by RSF fighters against White Nile state villages. 

The principle of distinction is one of the most fundamental doctrines in international humanitarian law. The doctrine requires all conflicting parties to distinguish between civilians and combatants and that military operations can only be directed to combatants and military infrastructure. Serious violations of the principle can amount to a war crime according to the Rome Statute.

Relatedly, the UN warned of the deteriorating humanitarian crisis in Sudan on March 11. The intense conflict has forced the UN World Food Programme to suspend its humanitarian assistance temporarily. The African Union described Sudan as facing one of the worst crises in the world.

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