Violence in Sudan's El-Fasher could be war crimes, says top court

PORT SUDAN - The International Criminal Court warned on Monday that atrocities committed in Sudan's El-Fasher could amount to crimes against humanity and war crimes, as the UN said that thousands had fled a neighbouring region where paramilitaries have turned their focus.

According to United Nations figures, more than 36,000 civilians have fled towns and villages in the Kordofan region between 26 October and last Friday, while the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces warned it was amassing along a new front line.

Kordofan is a strategic area linking the vast western region of Darfur with Khartoum, the capital.

The widening of the war comes just over a week after the RSF took control of El-Fasher - the army's last stronghold in Darfur - where reports of mass killings, sexual violence, looting and abductions have emerged in the aftermath.

The RSF has set up a rival administration in Darfur to the pro-army government operating out of the Red Sea city of Port Sudan.

Residents on Monday reported a major surge in both RSF and army forces across towns and illages in North Kordofan state.

The two sides are vying for El-Obeid, the North Kordofan state capital and a key logistics and command hub that links Darfur to Khartoum.

Suleiman Babiker, who lives in Um Smeima, west of El-Obeid, told AFP that following the paramilitary capture of El-Fasher, "the number of RSF vehicles increased".

"We stopped going to our farms, afraid of clashes," he told AFP.

FAMINE SPREADING

Another resident, requesting anonymity for fear of reprisal, also said "there has been a big increase in army vehicles and weapons west and south of El-Obeid" over the past two weeks.

The RSF claimed control of Bara, a city north of El-Obeid last week.

"Today, all our forces have converged on the Bara front here," an RSF member said in a video shared by the RSF on its official Telegram page late on Sunday, "advising civilians to steer clear of military sites".

Awad Ali, who lives in Al-Hamadi on the road linkingWest and North Kordofan, said he has seen "RSF vehicles passing every day from the areas of West Kordofan toward El-Obeid since early October".

Kordofan is a resource-rich region divided administratively into North, South and West Kordofan.

While the fighting shifts, famine is spreading with it.

The Rome-based Integrated Food Security Phase Classification had previously declared famine in parts of South Kordofan as well as three displacement camps around El-Fasher.

On Monday, it declared that famine had reached two more areas of the country, including El-Fasher, and the besieged city of Kadugli in South Kordofan state.

It added that twenty more areas across Darfur and Kordofan were at risk of famine.

REPRISALS

The ICC prosecutor's office voiced on Monday "profound alarm and deepest concern" over reports of mass killings, rapes and other crimes in El-Fasher, warning that such acts "may constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity".

In Istanbul, Turkey' President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also urged the Muslim world on Monday to take its responsibility for ending the bloodshed in Sudan after paramilitaries seized the key city of El-Fasher.

"No one with a heart... can accept the recent massacres targeting civilians in El-Fasher. We cannot remain silent," he said.

Ankara has provided support for the army during the war.

Martha Pobee, assistant UN secretary-general for Africa cautioned last week that Kordofan "is likely the next arena of military focus for the warring parties".

She said "large-scale atrocities" had been perpetrated by the RSF, raised the alarm over patterns that echoed those in Darfur, where the group's fighters have been accused of mass killings, sexual violence and abductions against non-Arab communities after the fall of El-Fasher.

Both Darfur and Kordofan contain large non-Arab communities, distinct from the country's Sudanese Arab majority.

At least 50 civilians, including five Red Crescent volunteers, were killed in recent violence in North Kordofan, according to the UN.

Both the RSF, descended from Janjaweed militias accused of genocide in Darfur two decades ago, and the army face war crimes allegations.

The United States under Joe Biden in January this year concluded that "members of the RSF and allied militias have committed genocide in Sudan".

But international action on Sudan has largely been muted and peace efforts have failed so far.

The conflict has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced nearly 12 million more and created the world's largest displacement and hunger crises.