(MENAFN) The UN Secretary-General on Thursday voiced “grave concern” regarding reports of widespread atrocities and severe human rights violations in El-Fasher, Sudan, noting that hostilities are also intensifying in the Kordofan region.

Posting on US social media platform X, Antonio Guterres urged an immediate halt to the fighting as clashes escalate between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitaries.

“The flow of weapons and fighters from external parties must be cut off,” he emphasized, highlighting the urgent need for humanitarian assistance to “quickly reach civilians in need.”

Guterres called on both parties to take “swift, tangible steps” toward a negotiated resolution to prevent the situation from deteriorating further.

According to local and international organizations, on Oct. 26, the RSF captured El-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur State, committing massacres during the takeover. Observers warned that this assault could deepen the country’s geographic division.

Following the RSF’s seizure of El-Fasher, confrontations between the paramilitary group and the Sudanese army have expanded to additional areas, particularly in central and southern Kordofan states.

Of Sudan’s 18 states, the RSF now controls all five in the Darfur region, except for a few northern parts of North Darfur still held by the army.

Meanwhile, the Sudanese army maintains dominance over most of the remaining 13 states across the south, north, east, and central regions, including the capital, Khartoum.

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