UN says Sudan war shows no breakthrough as Security Council members split over sanctions

Sudan’s war is getting worse with no breakthrough in sight, UN Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo told the UN Security Council on Friday 16 October in New York.

“The picture is bleak,” she said. She said the warring parties believe “that they can make greater gains on the battlefield” and have not credibly committed to a negotiated pause. She said the heaviest fighting is in North Kordofan, South Kordofan and Blue Nile states, while drone attacks have hit targets across the country, including two World Food Programme trucks on 3 October, killing a driver. She urged outside actors to help end the war and to stop or strictly regulate the use of drones.

Council members disagreed on sanctions. The US representative said Washington would keep pushing to expand the sanctions regime “to better reflect the realities of the conflict that now spans the entire country”. Russia’s representative said attempts by “some Western States” to put Sudan’s Sovereignty Council and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on an equal footing were counterproductive. Egypt and Pakistan warned that sanctions must not weaken Sudan’s state institutions.

Sudan’s ambassador said “the war will end with the defeat of the externally supported rebellion” and called for the RSF’s military capabilities to be dismantled. Ethiopia’s ambassador rejected what he called Sudan’s “baseless” accusations against his country.

Background

Sudan’s army and the paramilitary RSF have been at war since April 2023. Rival mediation efforts include the Quad (Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and the US) and the Quintet (the African Union, the EU, the regional bloc IGAD, the Arab League and the UN). Speakers said a Sudan Consultative Group meeting in Geneva next week offers a chance to align these efforts.