Volker Türk issued a statement on Wednesday saying he was deeply shocked by reports that hundreds of civilians were killed, and scores injured, in the 24 March strikes on a busy market in Tora Village.
The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and a rival military known as the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have been at war for nearly two years.
On Wednesday, international media reported that the army had recaptured the capital, Khartoum, which had mostly been under RSF control since fighting erupted in April 2023.
The army recaptured the presidential palace last Friday and is now reportedly in control of all the bridges across the River Nile which connect the different areas of the capital area.
Indiscriminate killings continue
The UN rights chief said his Office, OHCHR, learned that 13 of those killed in Monday’s airstrikes belonged to a single family, and that some of the injured are also reportedly dying due to the extremely limited access to healthcare.
OHCHR have also received reports that in the aftermath of the attack, members of the RSF arbitrarily arrested and detained civilians in Tora.
Both the RSF and Government forces have been accused of indiscriminately shelling civilian areas during the brutal conflict.
“Despite my repeated warnings and appeals to both the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces to protect civilians in line with international humanitarian law, civilians continue to be killed indiscriminately, maimed and mistreated on a near daily basis, while civilian objects remain an all-too-frequent target,” said Mr. Türk.
He once again urged both parties to take all measures to avoid harming civilians and attacking civilian objects.
The High Commissioner warned that Indiscriminate attacks and attacks against civilians, and civilian objects, are unacceptable and may constitute war crimes.
“There must be full accountability for violations committed in this latest attack, and the many other attacks against civilians that have preceded it. Such conduct must never become normalized,” he said.
Children peer through a UNICEF tent at a child-friendly space in Kassala state, Sudan.
UNICEF reports surge in child violations
In other developments, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has called for urgent protection of boys and girls caught up in the violence.
Since January, grave violations against children have surged across the Darfur states, with 110 violations verified in North Darfur alone, the agency reported on Wednesday.
UNICEF said more than 70 children have been killed or maimed in less than three months in El Fasher, the North Darfur capital. Furthermore, intense shelling and airstrikes in the Zamzam camp for internally displaced people (IDPs) account for 16 per cent of all verified child casualties in El Fasher.
Struggle to survive
Sheldon Yett, UNICEF Representative for Sudan, said an estimated 825,000 children are trapped in a growing catastrophe in and around the city.
“With these numbers reflecting only verified incidents, it is likely the true toll is far higher, with children in a daily struggle to survive,” he warned.
UNICEF noted that more than 60,000 people have been newly displaced in North Darfur in just six weeks. Their numbers add to the more than 600,000 people – including some 300,000 children – displaced between April 2024, when the violence escalated, and January of this year.
An estimated 900,000 people remain in El Fasher, and 750,000 in Zamzam camp, trapped by active conflict. Half are children.
Malnutrition and famine fears
Meanwhile, all access routes are blocked. At the same time, armed groups are targeting rural villages and insecurity has made delivery of aid and commercial goods nearly impossible. Communities face alarming shortages while food prices have nearly doubled in three months.
UNICEF noted that malnutrition is rife. More than 457,000 children in North Darfur are acutely malnourished, including nearly 146,000 who are suffering from severe acute malnutrition (SAM) – the deadliest form.
Additionally, six localities within the state are at risk of famine.
The agency called on all parties to facilitate safe, unimpeded humanitarian access so that life-saving aid can reach children in Al Fasher, Zamzam and other affected areas.
