UN human rights chief Volker Turk issued the warning over growing fears of an imminent RSF assault.

United Nations rights chief Volker Turk has warned that another human rights catastrophe is unfolding in the Sudanese city of el-Obeid, urging the world to act before a feared and imminent paramilitary assault.

Addressing an urgent debate at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on Friday, Turk urged world leaders to help prevent atrocities in the city.

“The signs from el-Obeid are clear and unmistakable: Another human rights catastrophe is unfolding in Sudan, this time in the capital of the strategic state of North Kordofan,” Turk said.

“Civilians have been subjected to siege-like conditions for 18 months, battered by relentless drone attacks as the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces battle for control over areas surrounding the city.

“This is not a drill. It is a red alert that needs to land on the desks of heads of state and government around the world.

“Their phones should be running hot in the coming days and weeks, with ideas on how to prevent atrocity crimes in el-Obeid and in other places in Kordofan.”

The UN’s top rights body was holding a rare urgent debate on the human rights situation around el-Obeid, following a request by the United Kingdom on behalf of a group of countries.

Sudan’s conflict erupted in April 2023 between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

Kordofan – home to oil deposits and the RSF’s most powerful paramilitary allies – remains a key battleground.

El-Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan state, sits on a key route linking RSF-held areas in the western Darfur region to army-controlled eastern regions.

A city of half a million people that hosts nearly 100,000 refugees displaced by the civil war, el-Obeid has in recent weeks faced its most intense RSF attacks yet.

After breaking a prolonged siege in February last year, the army has struggled to prevent the RSF from reimposing a blockade through drone attacks on the city and the main highway out.

Recent attacks have hit the main power station and fuel depots, plunged neighbourhoods into darkness and shut down water pumps, leading to critical shortages of clean water.

At least 45 people were killed and 41 others injured in 15 drone attacks in el-Obeid and its surrounding areas between June 6 and 28, according to the UN human rights office.

The European countries that called for the debate plan to present a draft resolution to the 47-country rights council.