The United Nations human rights chief, Volker Türk, on Thursday warned of the risk of a further escalation of the war in Sudan, stating that there was a growing risk of deaths from starvation on a wide scale.
The warning came a day after the UN World Food Programme temporarily halted food aid distribution in a famine-struck camp for displaced people in North Darfur amid escalating violence.
Sudan is a powder keg, on the verge of a further explosion into chaos, and at increasing risk of atrocity crimes and mass deaths from famine. The danger of escalation has never been higher,” he told the Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland.
Recall that war erupted in April 2023 amid a power struggle between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) ahead of a planned transition to civilian rule, sparking the world’s largest displacement and hunger crisis.
According to the United Nations, famine conditions have already been reported in at least five locations in Sudan, including displacement camps in Darfur.
Türk said that recent moves by the RSF towards establishing governing authority in areas it controls were likely to further entrench divisions and increase the risk of continued hostilities.
