Sexual violence in Sudan war ‘unprecedented’, says UN

Sexual violence is increasingly being used as a ‘weapon of war’ in Sudan to terrorise the civilian population, a UN report says. The violence is ‘unprecedented in terms of the scale, prevalence and brutality of its widespread use as a weapon of war’, the report adds, according to BBC News. Sudan has been hit by a devastating civil war since 2023, following a fallout between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Meanwhile, the UK and six other European powers have added their voice to calls for an immediate halt to violence in el-Obeid city as fears grow that the RSF is preparing for a major assault to capture it. UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper warned the city was on the ‘precipice of atrocity’, with the RSF using drones to target civilian infrastructure, attacking supply routes and cutting off access to basic services for over half a m i l l i o n people. ‘There are now credible signs of an imminent offensive. This is a critical moment, and the international community must act,’ said a the UK, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands and Norway in a joint statement.