Arab countries have called for peace negotiators in Sudan to make progress on a truce as Ramadan approaches.
Five organisations including the Arab League warned on Wednesday of a "rapidly deteriorating situation" in parts of Sudan where fighting has escalated.
The five, also comprising the UN, European Union, African Union and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, said new reports of drone strikes, sieges and attacks on schools and hospitals made it urgent to take "immediate action to prevent atrocities".
They said warnings had been ignored before a brutal episode in El Fasher in Darfur late last year, the scene of mass killings and suspected war crimes after the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces captured the city. The RSF has been at war with the Sudanese Armed Forces since April 2023.
Donald Trump envoy Massad Boulos is pushing for a truce along with the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Their aim is an initial ceasefire followed by the return of civilian rule in Sudan, which ended with a military coup in 2021.
"As Ramadan approaches, the quintet strongly urges all concerned to seize the opportunity presented by ongoing efforts to broker a humanitarian truce," said the five organisations, including the Arab League. The holy month will begin across the Arab world on February 18 or 19, with the starting date determined by sightings of the Moon.
Wednesday's statement also called for the "immediate halting of any further military escalation, including the use of increasingly destructive means of warfare, which is inflicting devastating harm on civilians".
Ramtane Lamamra, a special envoy to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Sudan, described the message as an appeal for "progress towards a humanitarian truce, particularly as Ramadan approaches".
The war between the army and RSF has created what the UN says is the world’s largest humanitarian and refugee crisis. Tens of thousands have been killed and more than 13 million displaced.
The army controls much of north, east and central Sudan, while the RSF dominates the western Darfur region and parts of Kordofan, leaving the country effectively divided amid worsening hunger and economic collapse.
