On Tuesday, the leader of the United Nations mission in Sudan expressed concern that the recent attacks in the Darfur region may constitute crimes against humanity. The region of Darfur has been plagued by prolonged conflicts since 2003 and has yet to fully recover. Currently, it is experiencing heightened tensions due to the ongoing eight-week-long war between Sudanese army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, also known as Hemedti, who commands the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
“There is an emerging pattern of large-scale targeted attacks against civilians based on their ethnic identities, allegedly committed by Arab militias and some armed men” in RSF uniform, Volker Perthes, head of the UNITAMS mission to Sudan, said in a statement.

“These reports are deeply worrying and, if verified, could amount to crimes against humanity.”

He said the situation in Darfur “continues to deteriorate” and expressed particular alarm about El Geneina, the capital of West Darfur state, following waves of violence “which took on ethnic dimensions”.

Another UN official, Toby Harward of the UN refugee agency, previously said hundreds have been killed in Darfur, on the border with Chad.

Last week the Sudanese authorities loyal to the army declared Perthes “persona non grata”, accusing him of taking sides in the conflict. Perthes was outside Sudan at the time.

The UN expressed support for him and said his status had not changed. It said the declaration of “persona non grata” violated international law.