Zürcher Nachrichten - Civilian death toll in Sudan war more than doubled in 2025, UN says

Since April 2023, Sudan has been engulfed in a conflict between the army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) that has killed tens of thousands, displaced 11 million people and triggered one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.

"This war is ugly. It's bloody and it's senseless," Volker Turk told the UN Human Rights Council, blaming both sides, which have so far rejected any humanitarian truce. He also blamed foreign sponsors funding what he called a "high-tech" conflict.

"In 2025, my office's documentation points to an over two and a half times increase in killings of civilians compared with the previous year. Many thousands are still missing or unidentified," Turk said.

There have been no official figures on the conflict's overall death toll.

Turk condemned what he called the "heinous and ruthless" brutalities committed, including sexual violence, summary executions and arbitrary detentions.

He highlighted the "carnage" inflicted by the RSF in an April attack on the Zamzam displacement camp and again in October in El‑Fasher, then the regular army's last foothold in western Darfur.

Rape, gang rape, sexual torture and slavery have also surged, Turk said, with more than 500 victims documented in 2025. "The bodies of Sudanese women and girls have been weaponised to terrorise communities."

In a statement, the foreign ministers of the Sudan core group at the UN Human Rights Council said the RSF-led violence in El-Fasher "constitutes war crimes and crimes against humanity and bears the hallmarks of genocide".

Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway and Britain said they would form a coalition "to prevent further atrocities in Sudan and support the Sudanese people in laying the foundations for future justice".

- 'Madness' -

Since the fall of El-Fasher, the fighting has moved deeper into neighbouring Kordofan where drone strikes have killed dozens at a time.

Since January, drone attacks in the southern Kordofan region and beyond have "killed or injured nearly 600 civilians", Turk said, including in attacks on humanitarian aid convoys.

The UN's resident and humanitarian coordinator for Sudan, Denise Brown, said that access to the cities of Kadugli and Dilling in South Kordofan -- long cut off by an RSF siege until the army recently lifted it -- had been effectively impossible.

"We were not able to get supplies in. We had to remove our staff for their own safety," she said Thursday, after stepping off the first UN flight to Khartoum since the war began.

Famine was declared last November in the North Darfur capital El-Fasher and in Kadugli, the capital of South Kordofan, according to a UN-backed assessment. The same assessment said Dilling in South Kordofan is likely facing famine conditions.

Turk said the army and the RSF continued to use "explosive weapons in densely populated areas, often without warning -- showing utter disregard for human life".

He highlighted the "increased use of advanced long-range drones", which has "expanded harm to civilians in areas far from the front lines that were previously peaceful".

Turk also voiced concern over "the growing militarisation of society", including the recruitment of children into the fighting.

Several countries have been accused of involvement in the conflict.

The United Arab Emirates has been accused of arming the RSF -- allegations it denies. Egypt, Iran, Turkey and Saudi Arabia have backed army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.

Turk urged "diplomatic and political pressure" for a humanitarian truce that leads to a permanent ceasefire.

Efforts to secure a ceasefire have repeatedly collapsed.

Burhan vowed this week to fight "until the end" and said he plans to build a "smart army" investing in technology and research.

In January, the army was studying a new ceasefire proposal from the United States and Saudi Arabia.

Talks mediated by the United States, UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt have stalled for months, with Burhan accusing mediators of favouring the UAE.

W.O.Ludwig--NZN