The United States is pressing for an immediate humanitarian truce in Sudan as fighting intensifies across the vast strategic Kordofan region, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio warning that the relentless violence is “horrifying” and all those involved will face lasting condemnation.
Speaking at a year-end news conference on Friday, Rubio said the fighting in Sudan needed to stop, adding that the new year was a “great opportunity for both sides to agree to that” and allow desperately needed aid to reach millions trapped by the conflict.
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His remarks came as violence in Kordofan has killed at least 100 civilians since early December and displaced more than 50,000 people.
“What’s happening there is horrifying, it’s atrocious,” Rubio said, adding that “one day the story of what’s actually happened there is going to be known, and everyone involved is going to look bad.”
Washington has intensified diplomatic efforts following a meeting between President Donald Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in late November, with US special envoy Massad Boulos recently returning from talks with Egyptian, Saudi Arabian and United Arab Emirates officials.
Rubio said he has held discussions with leaders across the region in collaboration with the United Kingdom.
The top US diplomat pointed to external weapons supplies as a critical factor sustaining the war between the government-aligned Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which is now deep into its third brutal year.
“All these weapons are acquired from abroad. They have to come from somewhere else and they have to come through somewhere else,” Rubio said, adding that outside actors possess the leverage needed to bring both parties to the negotiating table.
According to conflict monitors, the UAE provides direct material support to the RSF through a network spanning neighbouring countries, though Abu Dhabi has repeatedly denied this.
SAF, meanwhile, has close ties with Turkiye, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, while the UAE, Egypt and Saudi Arabia are also involved in mediation efforts.
Rubio acknowledged the difficulty of achieving a ceasefire, saying parties frequently agree to commitments but fail to implement them, particularly when one side believes battlefield momentum is in its favour.
“What we’ve emphasised is none of these groups can operate without the support they’re receiving externally,” Rubio said, describing the US role as convening parties and pushing outside actors to use their influence.
Fighting shifts to Kordofan
The heaviest fighting has now shifted from Darfur to Kordofan, where the RSF and allied fighters shelled residential areas of Dilling over the past two days, killing at least 16 people, including women, elderly residents and children, according to the Sudan Doctors Network.
El-Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan and a vital transportation hub connecting routes to South Sudan, eastern Sudan and Darfur, appears to be the next potential target, according to Mohamed Refaat, the International Organization for Migration’s chief of mission in Sudan.
He warned that more than half a million people could be affected if fighting reaches the city.
On December 13, six Bangladeshi peacekeepers were killed when drones struck their base in Kadugli. The United Nations Security Council on Friday condemned what it called a “heinous and deliberate” attack that may constitute war crimes.
The World Health Organization said on Friday that attacks on medical facilities in Sudan have caused more than 80 percent of all deaths from such strikes globally this year. Since the conflict began in April 2023, the WHO has verified 201 attacks on healthcare premises, resulting in 1,858 deaths.
In Nyala, the self-declared capital of the RSF’s parallel government, 64 medical workers remain detained after nine were released from an original group of 73, the Sudan Doctors Network said on Thursday.
The African Union’s envoy to Sudan this week rejected any parallel institutions on Sudanese soil and condemned what he described as systematic RSF attacks against civilians, saying perpetrators will not escape punishment.
Both the RSF and SAF have been accused of war crimes, with the RSF also facing allegations of genocide in Darfur, notably in el-Fasher.
Sudan’s war has killed more than 100,000 people and displaced 14 million in what the UN calls the world’s largest humanitarian crisis.
