The people of conflict-torn Sudan are living a "nightmare" of hunger, disease and massive ethnic violence, particularly in Darfur, the UN secretary-general warned on Monday.
War has raged since April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) under the country's de facto ruler Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), led by his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.
Both sides have been accused of war crimes, including targeting civilians and blocking humanitarian assistance.
"The suffering is growing by the day," Antonio Guterres told the UN Security Council. "The people of Sudan are living through a nightmare of violence -- with thousands of civilians killed, and countless others facing unspeakable atrocities, including widespread rape and sexual assaults."
He added that he was "horrified" by reported attacks against civilians being committed by both sides.
The people of Sudan are "also enduring a nightmare of hunger - as more than 750,000 people face catastrophic food insecurity and famine conditions take hold in displacement sites in North Darfur," Guterres said.
He noted that Sudanese civilians are confronted with a nightmare of disease as well, with cholera, malaria, dengue fever, measles and rubella spreading fast.
Despite this suffering, Guterres said that at present "the conditions do not exist for the successful deployment of a United Nations force to protect civilians in Sudan."