Sudan facing 'abyss' unless war ends - UN

GENEVA - Sudan is facing the abyss and potentially hundreds of thousands of deaths unless the devastating war in the country ends and aid pours in, the United Nations warned Thursday.

UN human rights chief Volker Turk painted a bleak outlook for Sudan, where famine has already taken hold and millions have fled their homes amid intense fighting between rival forces.

Since April 2023, Sudan has been locked in a brutal conflict between army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who leads the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.

"I cannot overstate the seriousness of the situation in Sudan; the desperate plight of the Sudanese people; and the urgency with which we must act to ease their suffering," Turk told the UN Human Rights Council.

"Since the armed conflict began in 2023, a devastating human rights crisis has generated the world's largest humanitarian catastrophe," he said.

"We are looking into the abyss. Humanitarian agencies warn that without action to end the war, deliver emergency aid, and get agriculture back on its feet, hundreds of thousands of people could die."

Laying out the situation in Sudan, Turk said more than 600,000 people were "on the brink of starvation", with famine reported to have taken hold in five areas, including the Zamzam displacement camp in North Darfur.

The medical charity Doctors Without Borders suspended operations in and around Zamzam on Monday due to escalating violence, and the UN's World Food Programme followed suit on Wednesday.

Turk said five more areas could face famine in the next three months, while a further 17 are considered at risk.

He said an estimated 8.8 million people had been forced from their homes to camps and other locations within Sudan, while 3.5 million more have fled across borders.

"This is the biggest displacement crisis in the world," he said.

"Some 30.4 million people need assistance, from healthcare to food and other forms of humanitarian support. Less than 30 percent of hospitals and clinics are still working, and outbreaks of disease are rampant in displacement camps."

Turk urged the international community to work together to find a path to peace.