Sudan's civil war has displaced 13 million people, the United Nations reported Monday, as the conflict between the army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces enters a third year.
"The conflict has provoked the displacement of 13 million people, including 8.6 internally displaced people and 3.8 million refugees," said Abdourahouf Gnon-Konde of the UN refugee agency in an interview with AFP.
The war, which erupted on April 15, 2023, has left tens of thousands dead, pushed parts of Sudan into famine and fractured the country into warlord-run territories.
On the eve of the war's second anniversary, nowhere are the stakes more evident than in Darfur, where the RSF launched a new offensive last week to capture El-Fasher -- the last major city in the vast western region still under army control.
The assault began Thursday and raged until Sunday morning, targeting El-Fasher and nearby displacement camps, including Zamzam and Abou Shouk both of which have been struck by famine.
The UN, citing "credible sources", said more than 400 people have been killed in the latest violence.
Between Thursday and Saturday last week, the UN rights office "has verified 148 killings", spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani told AFP.
"But this is very much an underestimate as our verification work is ongoing," she said, stressing that the number did not include fighting on Sunday. "Credible sources have reported more than 400 killed."
UN rights chief Volker Turk decried in a statement the "large-scale attacks" and the lack of action by the international community.
"Hundreds of civilians, including at least nine humanitarian workers, were reportedly killed," he said, highlighting how El-Fasher has been under siege since May.
By Sunday, RSF forces claimed control over Zamzam. Since then, around 400,000 people have been displaced from the camp, the UN's International Organization for Migration said.
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Doctors Without Borders said about 10,000 people fled to Tawila, nearly 70 kilometres (43 miles) west of El-Fasher, within 48 hours to escape shelling.
The civilians, mostly women and children, arrived "in an advanced state of dehydration and exhaustion and reporting horrific violence", said the international medical charity.
Leaders meet in London
Senior officials will gather in London on Tuesday aiming to chart a pathway to peace for Sudan on the second anniversary of its brutal civil conflict, but without the presence of the warring parties.
"This conference will bring together the international community to agree a pathway to end the suffering," said the UK's foreign minister David Lammy, who is expected to host counterparts and high-level representatives.
"Instability must not spread -- it drives migration from Sudan and the wider region, and a safe and stable Sudan is vital for our national security," Lammy vowed, as he unveiled 120 million pounds ($158 million) in new aid for the country.
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Germany and France as well as the European Union and the 55-member African Union are co-hosting the conference with the UK government in London.
Ministers from some 14 other countries including Saudi Arabia and the United States are also due to attend, the Foreign Office said, along with high-level representatives from the United Nations.
‘Concrete steps’
But Sudan's government has protested that it was not invited to participate.
Its Foreign Minister Ali Youssef sent a letter earlier this month to Lammy "in which he protested the organisation by his country of a conference on Sudan without inviting the Sudanese government".
Youssef accused Britain of putting the paramilitary RSF on an equal footing with the Sudanese state.
But the German foreign ministry said both the Sudanese army and the RSF militia were unwilling to come to the table.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock called the ongoing conflict "the greatest humanitarian catastrophe of our time", adding that Berlin would provide 125 million euros ($142 million) in humanitarian aid.
Mirjana Spoljaric urged all parties to uphold commitments already made in previous talks and "take concrete steps" to protect civilians.
The conflict pits the regular army of Sudan's de facto leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan against the RSF led by his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.
It was triggered when relations between Burhan and Daglo soured following a 2021 coup that ousted the transitional government put in place after the 2019 overthrow of longtime leader Omar al-Bashir.
The RSF are rooted in Darfur and control much of its territory, as well as parts of Sudan's south.
"Achieving peace in Sudan depends on valuing every voice and everyone playing a role in building a prosperous Sudan," said the African Union's commissioner for political affairs, Bankole Adeoye.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
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