Report says ethnic violence has risen as the civil war passed two-year anniversary in the first half of 2025.
Published On 19 Sep 202519 Sep 2025
Civilians are bearing the brunt as Sudan‘s vicious civil war extends and intensifies, the United Nations has warned.
The UN’s Human Rights Office (OHCHR) said in a report released on Friday that civilian deaths and ethnic violence rose significantly as the war passed its two-year anniversary during the first half of 2025.
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The rate of civilian deaths has increased, the report says, with 3,384 civilians dying in the first six months of the year, a figure equalling 80 percent of the 4,238 civilian deaths throughout the whole of 2024.
“Sudan’s conflict is a forgotten one, and I hope that my office’s report puts the spotlight on this disastrous situation where atrocity crimes, including war crimes, are being committed,” OHCHR chief Volker Turk said in a statement.
#Sudan crisis deepens amid rising civilian casualties, worsening ethnic violence & humanitarian situation, finds @UNHumanRights report.
States must face grim reality of what has now evolved into a wider protection crisis & use their influence to end this conflict.
Many more… pic.twitter.com/c7OOcLUgdH
— UN Human Rights (@UNHumanRights) September 19, 2025
“Several trends remained consistent during the first half of 2025: a continued pervasiveness of sexual violence, indiscriminate attacks, and the widespread use of retaliatory violence against civilians, particularly on an ethnic basis, targeting individuals accused of ‘collaboration’ with opposing parties,” said the report.
New trends include the use of drones, including in attacks on civilian sites and in Sudan’s north and east, which until now have been largely spared by the war, it said.
“The increasing ethnicisation of the conflict, which builds on longstanding discrimination and inequalities, poses grave risks for longer-term stability and social cohesion within the country,” said Turk.
“Many more lives will be lost without urgent action to protect civilians and without the rapid and unhindered delivery of humanitarian aid.”
Since April 2023, Sudan has been gripped by a brutal war between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
The conflict has killed tens of thousands and displaced some 12 million people. The UN has described it as one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, with famine prevalent in parts of Darfur and southern Sudan.
The war has, in effect, split the country, with the army holding the north, east and centre, while the RSF dominates parts of the south and nearly all of the western Darfur region.
Efforts by the United States, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates to broker a ceasefire between the warring parties have so far failed.