An attack on a funeral in the key city of El-Obeid in Sudan's central Kordofan region killed 40 people, the UN said Wednesday, as paramilitaries looked poised to launch an offensive.
The United Nations' humanitarian office did not specify when the attack took place or who was behind it, but said that the situation in the Kordofan region was continuing to worsen.
The war in Sudan, which has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced millions more, has spread to new areas in recent days, sparking fears of an even greater humanitarian catastrophe.
The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), at war with the military since 2023, was preparing to launch an assault in Kordofan after capturing el-Fasher, the last army stronghold in the vast western Darfur region.
"Local sources report that at least 40 civilians were killed and dozens injured yesterday in an attack on a funeral gathering in El-Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan State," the UN's OCHA agency said.
"Once again, OCHA calls for an immediate cessation of hostilities and for all parties to protect civilians and respect international humanitarian law."
People forced to flee el-Fasher have described horrific abuse, including rape, at the hands of the RSF.
"The rapes were gang rapes. Mass rape in public, rape in front of everyone and no one could stop it," mother of four Amira said from a makeshift shelter in Tawila, some 70 kilometers (43 miles) west of el-Fasher.
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said more than 300 survivors of sexual violence had sought care from its teams in Tawila after a previous RSF assault on the nearby Zamzam camp, which displaced more than 380,000 people last spring.
"You'd be asleep and they'd come and rape you," said Amira, using a pseudonym while speaking during a webinar organized by campaign group Avaaz.
"I saw with my own eyes people who couldn't afford to pay and the fighters took their daughters instead. They said, 'Since you can't pay, we'll take the girls.' If you had daughters of a young age, they would take them immediately."
Both sides in the war have been accused of committing atrocities.
- US truce proposal -
The fall of el-Fasher gave paramilitaries control over all five state capitals in Darfur, raising fears that Sudan would effectively be partitioned along an east-west axis.
The RSF now dominates Darfur and parts of the south, while the army holds the north, east and central regions along the Nile and Red Sea.
Sudan's army-backed defense minister on Tuesday said the military would press on with its fight against the RSF after the security and defense council met to discuss a US proposal for a ceasefire.
"We thank the Trump administration for its efforts and proposals to achieve peace," Hassan Kabroun said in a speech broadcast on state television, while adding that "preparations for the Sudanese people's battle are ongoing".
"Our preparations for war are a legitimate national right," he said.
No details of the US truce proposal have been made public.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Tuesday that Washington wanted "to see this conflict come to a peaceful end, just as we have with so many others, but the reality is it's a very complicated situation on the ground right now".
She said the United States was "actively engaged" in seeking a peace deal alongside Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
- 'Nightmare of violence' -
The army-aligned authorities had rejected an earlier truce proposal from the four countries -- referred to as the Quad -- under which both the army and the RSF would be excluded from a transitional political process.
The International Criminal Court on Monday voiced "profound alarm and deepest concern" over the reports from el-Fasher, adding that such acts "may constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity".
Speaking at a forum in Qatar on Tuesday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on the warring parties to "come to the negotiating table, bring an end to this nightmare of violence -- now".
