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By Brian Kiprono - Reporter
November, 17 2025 - The United Nations has issued a stark warning that civilians in Sudan’s Kordofan region may soon face violence on the scale of the devastating assault that struck El Fasher weeks ago. Speaking during a special Human Rights Council session in Geneva, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said the signs of an impending catastrophe are “unmistakable” and must not be ignored.
Türk reminded states that the atrocities committed in El Fasher—mass killings, widespread sexual violence, targeted executions and the starvation of a trapped population—were “predictable” and “could have been avoided” if the international community had acted in time. Instead, he said, the world watched as the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) captured the North Darfur capital after a 500-day siege that left the city in ruins.
Now, he warned, the same tragic pattern is unfolding in Kordofan. North Kordofan, a strategic and resource-rich region between Darfur and Khartoum, has become a major battleground between the RSF and the Sudanese army. In late October, RSF forces seized Bara, tightening their grip around El Obeid, the regional capital, where residents are already facing bombings, road blockades and severe shortages of food and medicine.
“The indicators are all there: civilians encircled, aid obstructed, famine looming, and a shocking disregard for human life,” Türk said. Satellite images have even captured bloodstains on the streets of El Fasher, he noted, calling the world’s silence “a stain on the international community’s conscience.”
UN experts also highlighted the scale of sexual violence documented in El Fasher. According to independent investigators, RSF fighters attacked displacement shelters, selecting women and girls at gunpoint, raping dozens and forcing terrified families to flee. Hundreds of women and girls are believed to have been raped—many in public—“without fear of consequence,” said Surya Deva, a UN special rapporteur.
Investigators are now examining similar patterns of abuse and siege tactics in Kordofan. With humanitarian routes blocked and hunger rapidly worsening, they fear the region is on the brink of “another El Fasher.”
The Human Rights Council, backed by 23 member states, is considering a draft resolution condemning the violence and calling for urgent investigations. Türk urged the world to finally act—protect civilians, ensure safe passage for those fleeing, enforce the arms embargo and hold those financing and fueling the war accountable. “Sudan must not be abandoned again,” he said.
