Africa-Press. The World Health Organization has warned of a “deteriorating risk” in the humanitarian situation in the Kordofan states of Sudan, amid ongoing military operations and the widespread outbreak of cholera, with increasing fears for civilians facing violence.
The organization’s director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, stated that conditions in the city of El Obeid in North Kordofan continue to worsen as fighting escalates, affirming the organization’s support for concerns regarding the risk of “mass atrocities” and calling for an immediate halt to attacks.
Ghebreyesus explained that West Kordofan has recorded 734 suspected cholera cases and 105 deaths since May 15, according to data from the state’s health ministry, noting that the outbreak comes amid the collapse of large parts of the health system due to the ongoing war.
He confirmed that the World Health Organization and its partners are working to expand access to safe water and sanitation services, establish cholera treatment centers, and provide rapid tests and necessary medications, while laboratory samples are being sent to South Sudan for necessary analyses.
These warnings come at a time when the city of El Obeid and its surroundings are experiencing continuous military escalation, amid international fears of a large-scale attack that could exacerbate the humanitarian disaster in the region.
UN Report: Sexual Violence as a Weapon of War in Sudan
In the context of the Sudanese crisis, a new report from the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights confirmed that sexual violence has been systematically used as a “weapon of war” during the Sudanese conflict, documenting 546 incidents of sexual violence related to the conflict between April 2023 and mid-April 2026 across 16 Sudanese states.
The report indicated that the violations affected at least 838 victims, including 539 women and 284 girls, in addition to men and children, clarifying that the documented figures represent a limited part of the actual scale of violations due to difficulties in documentation and fear of reporting.
The report documented incidents of individual and gang rape, sexual slavery, forced marriage, and sexual torture, as well as the detention of 85 women and girls under conditions of sexual slavery, and 59 cases of pregnancy or childbirth resulting from rape, along with the deaths of 13 victims following brutal sexual assaults.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, stated that “sexual violence is used as a weapon of war in Sudan,” affirming that these acts amount to “war crimes” and may constitute “crimes against humanity” if committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack against civilians.
Turk called for independent investigations and accountability for all those responsible for these violations, emphasizing that the continued impunity contributes to the recurrence and escalation of crimes.
