UN chief urges end to 'nightmare of violence' in Sudan
GENEVA
Makeshift shelters erected by displaced Sudanese who fled El-Fasher after the city fell to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), make up the Um Yanqur camp, located on the southwestern edge of Tawila, in war-torn Sudan's western Darfur region on Nov. 3, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres Tuesday called for a halt to fighting in Sudan, warning that the crisis was rapidly deteriorating after paramilitaries overran a key city.
Guterres urged the warring parties to "come to the negotiating table, bring an end to this nightmare of violence, now."
"The horrifying crisis in Sudan is spiraling out of control," he told reporters on the sidelines of the World Summit for Social Development in Doha.
At the end of October the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), at war with the Sudanese army since 2023, seized control of the strategic city of El-Fasher, following an 18-month siege.
Reports have emerged of executions, sexual violence, looting, attacks on aid workers and abductions in and around el Fasher, where communications remain largely cut off.
"El-Fasher and the surrounding areas in North Darfur have been an epicenter of suffering, hunger, violence and displacement," Guterres said.
"And since the Rapid Support Forces entered El-Fasher last weekend, the situation is growing worse by the day," he added.
"Hundreds of thousands of civilians are trapped by this siege. People are dying of malnutrition, disease and violence."
Guterres also said there were "continued reports of violations of international humanitarian law and human rights."
The war, which has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced millions more over the past two years, has spread to new areas of Sudan in recent days, sparking fears of an even graver humanitarian catastrophe.
After mediating in other conflicts in Africa and the Middle East in recent months, the U.S. administration under Donald Trump is pushing for a ceasefire in Sudan.
Sudan's army-backed authorities were to meet Tuesday to discuss a U.S. proposal for a ceasefire in the war with the paramilitary.
After mediating in other conflicts in Africa and the Middle East in recent months, the U.S. administration under Donald Trump is pushing for a ceasefire in Sudan.
The army-aligned authorities had rejected an earlier truce proposal under which both they and the paramilitaries they are fighting would be excluded from a transitional political process.
Trump's envoy to Africa, Massad Boulos, held talks in Sudan's neighbor Egypt on Nov. 2 with Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty and then on Nov. 3 with the Arab League.
During the talks, Abdelatty stressed "the importance of concerted efforts to reach a humanitarian truce and a ceasefire throughout Sudan, paving the way for a comprehensive political process in the country," according to a Foreign Ministry statement.
According to the Arab League, Boulos met the regional body's chief Ahmed Aboul-Gheit and briefed him on recent U.S. efforts in Sudan to "halt the war, expedite aid delivery and initiate a political process."
