Sudan: Briefing
This afternoon (22 December), the Security Council will hold an open briefing to discuss the situation in Sudan. The meeting was requested by Sudan in a 13 December letter citing intensified attacks by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a Sudanese paramilitary group. The Council’s “A3 Plus” members (Algeria, Sierra Leone, Somalia, and Guyana), China, Pakistan, and Russia supported the meeting request. The anticipated briefers are Assistant Secretary-General for the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific in the Departments of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace Operations (DPPA-DPO) Mohamed Khaled Khiari, Director of the Crisis Response Division at the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Edem Wosornu, and a civil society representative. Sudan’s Transitional Prime Minister, Kamil Eltayeb Idris, is expected to participate under rule 37 of the Council’s rules of procedure.
Khiari is likely to provide an overview of the deteriorating security situation in Sudan, as the country remains mired in a deadly and protracted armed conflict. Fighting has escalated in recent weeks, with shifting front lines and ongoing clashes between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the RSF. Both sides have intensified their efforts to seize and defend key strategic locations, employing drone strikes, artillery shelling, and aerial bombardments that have resulted in significant civilian harm.
In its 13 December letter, Sudan alleged that the RSF has “markedly intensified its attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure”. The letter highlighted attacks in North Darfur state and the Kordofan region, which have emerged as major flashpoints in what has increasingly become a war of attrition. In late October, fighting escalated in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, as the RSF launched a major assault and subsequently seized large parts of the city, effectively ending an 18-month siege and capturing the SAF’s last stronghold in the Darfur region.
A 16 December report by the Humanitarian Research Lab at the Yale School of Public Health, based on an analysis of satellite imagery, assessed with high confidence that the RSF “conducted widespread and systematic mass killings” following its takeover of El Fasher. According to the report, the RSF targeted civilians attempting to flee and those seeking refuge in the Daraja Oula neighbourhood, and subsequently carried out a systematic, multi-week campaign to conceal evidence of the killings through the burial, burning, and removal of human remains on a mass scale.
Since May 2024, El Fasher has faced persistent attacks and relentless bombardment, resulting in catastrophic conditions, including in camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs), where famine conditions had been declared. An 18 December report published by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) documented widespread killings, rape and other forms of sexual violence, torture, and abductions committed by the RSF during its offensive on the Zamzam IDP camp between 11 and 13 April. According to the report, these attacks resulted in the deaths of 1,013 civilians, including 319 who were summarily executed.
In the Kordofan region, the RSF seized the strategic town of Bara in North Kordofan state in late October, a key hub north of its capital, El Obeid, linking central Sudan to Darfur, which the SAF had briefly recaptured in September. More recently, the RSF has taken control of strategic locations such as the town of Babanusa and the Heglig oil field in western and southern Kordofan, respectively. Key cities, including Kadugli (the capital of South Kordofan state) and Dilling, have also come under siege-like conditions as the RSF and allied forces intensify operations in the region. The RSF has reportedly been targeting SAF-held cities through coordinated attacks with the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement–North (SPLM-N), led by Abdelaziz al-Hilu, which controls parts of the Nuba Mountains region in South Kordofan state.
The Heglig oil field, a critical site for crude exports through Port Sudan, is particularly significant for South Sudan. Reports indicate that a tripartite arrangement has been reached among the SAF, the RSF, and the South Sudan People’s Defence Forces (SSPDF) to place the oil field under the SSPDF’s neutral protection.
On 13 December, a drone strike hit a UN logistics base in Kadugli, killing six peacekeepers from the Bangladeshi contingent of the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) and injuring eight more. In its 13 December letter, Sudan attributed responsibility for the attack to the RSF, an accusation that the latter has denied. In a 19 December press statement, Council members condemned the drone strike and called for those responsible for such attacks to be held accountable without delay. They called on the UN to swiftly investigate these attacks with UNISFA’s support and for host authorities to take all appropriate steps to support the safety and security of all UN premises, personnel, and peacekeepers.
At today’s meeting, the briefers and several Council members are expected to condemn the ongoing violence across Sudan and reiterate their calls for an immediate cessation of hostilities. Speakers are likely to stress the urgent need to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure, including healthcare facilities, as well as medical and humanitarian personnel, while condemning the deliberate targeting of these individuals and facilities. Some members may also highlight broader protection concerns, including widespread conflict-related sexual violence, and emphasise the imperative of ensuring accountability for such acts.
Since the conflict erupted in April 2023, the World Health Organization (WHO) has verified 201 attacks on healthcare facilities in Sudan, resulting in 1,858 deaths and 490 injuries. In 2025, WHO verified 65 such attacks, which resulted in 1,620 deaths and accounted for more than 80 percent of all deaths from attacks on healthcare recorded by WHO in complex humanitarian emergencies globally. WHO has also raised alarm over reports from South Darfur that more than 70 health workers and around 5,000 civilians have been forcibly detained in the state capital, Nyala. Additionally, Sudan’s critical infrastructure—including power stations, water sub-stations, and oil refineries—has come under attack across the country.
Today, Wosornu is expected to highlight the spiralling humanitarian situation in Sudan and describe efforts by the UN and its partners to deliver assistance across the country. A 3 November report by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) Famine Review Committee (FRC) confirmed with reasonable evidence that, as of September, famine conditions persisted in El Fasher and Kadugli, conditions that are expected to continue through January 2026. The report said that conditions in Dilling are similar to those in Kadugli.
The report further noted that approximately 21.2 million people were facing high levels of acute food insecurity, representing a slight decrease compared to the previous projection period (December 2024-May 2025). This decrease was attributed in part to gradual stabilisation, reduced conflict, and improved humanitarian access in Khartoum, Al Jazirah, and Sennar states since April. However, these gains remain limited and insufficient, as active conflict and restricted access in much of the Greater Darfur and Greater Kordofan areas continue to drive severe humanitarian needs.
Wosornu may describe how ongoing hostilities are driving humanitarian needs in areas of active conflict, including new waves of displacement, while highlighting persistent access constraints affecting the delivery of aid. According to a flash alert issued earlier today by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), approximately 107,294 people were displaced from El Fasher town and surrounding villages between 26 October and 8 December.
A 16 December OCHA humanitarian update noted that movement around El Fasher remains heavily restricted in several areas, with widespread looting reported. Local sources continue to document arbitrary arrests, targeted attacks, violent robberies, and ongoing threats and detentions. Despite ongoing humanitarian efforts, needs continue to far exceed response capacity, with IDP sites severely overcrowded, health facilities overstretched, and mobile teams struggling to cope with rising cases of acute malnutrition.
The update further reported that violence across the Kordofan states in recent weeks has driven the displacement of tens of thousands of civilians. In South Kordofan, civilians in Dilling and Kadugli reportedly remain trapped under siege-like conditions, facing extreme hardship, severe restrictions on movement, and almost no access to essential services, as basic infrastructure continues to fail.
At today’s meeting, the briefers and several Council members are expected to underline the critical need for the continuous, safe, and unhindered delivery of humanitarian assistance. They might also underline the need for enhanced funding to support the humanitarian response in Sudan. According to OCHA, throughout the Kordofan region this year, the Sudan Humanitarian Fund has allocated $33 million to support emergency interventions. At the time of writing, Sudan’s 2025 Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP), requiring $4.16 billion, was only approximately 36 percent funded.
