The United Nations Human Rights Council on Monday adopted a motion condemning violence by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in and around the Sudanese city of el-Obeid and ordered an urgent international inquiry into alleged abuses there. The decision came as the UN children’s agency, UNICEF, reported that at least 330 children have been killed or injured across Sudan in the first six months of 2026, with drone strikes accounting for 60 per cent of casualties in the Kordofan region. The council’s move, brought by Britain and fourteen other states, was adopted by consensus, though China dissociated itself from the decision, stating it did not support country-specific investigations without the state’s backing.

Western and African diplomats framed the inquiry as a necessary response to what they described as a pattern of atrocities. Britain’s human rights ambassador, Eleanor Sanders, told the body that the horrors seen during the RSF’s earlier assault on al-Fashir “must not be repeated.” South Africa’s ambassador, Zaheer Laher, called the situation a “red alert,” asserting that the RSF was “drawing from the very same genocidal playbook they used in al-Fashir.” The UN human rights chief had warned on Friday that a “catastrophe” was unfolding, with his office documenting summary executions, abductions, torture and sexual violence in the region. The RSF has previously denied such accusations, saying they are manufactured by its enemies.

African rights group DefendDefenders, however, argued that the council “failed to fully seize the moment” by not explicitly naming external actors it says are fuelling the conflict. Viewed from Khartoum, Sudan’s army-aligned government has repeatedly accused the United Arab Emirates of arming the RSF, a charge the UAE denies. UN experts and US lawmakers have previously found credible evidence of UAE military support to the paramilitary group. The motion instead condemned “all forms of external interference” and encouraged greater support for countries hosting Sudanese refugees, without singling out any state.

The humanitarian toll continues to mount. UNICEF said children are being killed and injured in their homes, on roads, in markets and while seeking essential services. Across Sudan, five million children are internally displaced, over 825,000 children under five suffer from severe acute malnutrition, and an estimated 4.2 million children are expected to face acute malnutrition this year. In el-Obeid, where the RSF has massed forces, drone strikes and shelling have hit power stations, water systems and schools, placing roughly half a million civilians at risk under near-siege conditions. The inquiry is expected to begin its work in the coming weeks, while the council’s call for unimpeded humanitarian access and protection of civilian infrastructure remains a central demand as the war, which erupted in April 2023 between the Sudanese military and the RSF, grinds on with no diplomatic resolution in sight.