DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The United Nations 
secretary-general warned Tuesday that the war in Sudan is “spiraling out of control” after a paramilitary force seized the besieged and famine-stricken Darfur city of el-Fasher.
Speaking in Qatar, Antonio Guterres called for an immediate ceasefire in the two-year conflict that’s become one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
“Hundreds of thousands of civilians are trapped by this siege,” Guterres said. “People are dying of malnutrition, disease and violence.” He noted “credible reports of widespread executions since the Rapid Support Forces entered the city.”
The paramilitary RSF reportedly killed more than 450 people in a hospital and carried out ethnically targeted killings of civilians and sexual assaults while seizing the city last week. It had besieged el-Fasher for 18 months, cutting off most food and other supplies needed by tens of thousands of people.
The RSF has denied committing atrocities, but testimonies from those fleeing, online videos and satellite images offer an apocalyptic vision of their attack. The scope of the violence remains unclear because communications are poor in the region.
The war between the RSF and the Sudanese military began in April 2023. More than 40,000 people have been killed, according to UN figures, but aid groups say the true death toll could be many times higher.
The fighting has driven more than 14 million people from their homes and fueled disease outbreaks. Two regions of Sudan are enduring a famine that’s at risk of spreading.
Asked if he thought there was a role for international peacekeepers in Sudan, Guterres said it was important to “gather all the international community and all those that have leverage in relation to Sudan to stop the fighting.”
Guterres also said it’s essential to make sure “no more weapons come into Sudan,” adding: “We need to create mechanisms of accountability because the crimes that are being committed are so horrendous.”
On Monday, seven people including children were killed in a RSF drone attack on a pediatric hospital in Kernoi in North Darfur, according to the Sudan Doctors Network, a medical group that tracks the conflict. Five others including two children were severely wounded.
Nearly 71,000 people have been displaced since the RSF took control of el-Fasher, according to the UN migration agency. A few thousand have reached the nearest displacement camp in Tawila, 65 kilometers (40 miles) away, according to the