Sudan

Sudan: US Raises Alarm as RSF Closes in on El-Obeid

Is El-Obeid's crisis the result of foreign interference or the failure of Sudan's warring parties to seek peace?

JUN 23·Updated JUN 24

Sudan: US Raises Alarm as RSF Closes in on El-Obeid

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Above: Displaced women wait at a World Food Program distribution, Kassala, Sudan, January 24, 2025. Image credit: Giles Clarke/Unocha/Getty Images

The Spin

Pro-establishment narrative

The RSF's advance on El-Obeid is being sustained by foreign backing, and without action, 500,000 civilians risk the same fate as El Fasher. The Trump administration has been clear: there is no military solution, and the RSF must cease actions endangering civilians and allow humanitarian access. Working with international partners, Washington will push for a negotiated humanitarian truce and a pathway to civilian-led peace.

The Washington Examiner U.S. Department of State Peoples Gazette Nigeria

Establishment-critical narrative

The RSF's siege of El-Obeid is a humanitarian emergency — 50 civilians have already been killed in drone strikes, while 500,000 more face the risk of mass atrocities. Yet the Trump administration has remained largely on the sidelines despite repeated warnings from the U.N., E.U. and dozens of governments that the situation is rapidly deteriorating. Without stronger U.S. pressure on the RSF's backers, El-Obeid risks becoming another preventable catastrophe.

ReliefWeb Al Jazeera Dabanga Radio TV Online