UN chief expresses concern over Sudan spiraling into death, destruction

Antonio Guterres made the remarks in Geneva on Monday while addressing a donor conference. The conference was held following announcement of a three-day ceasefire in Sudan that has brought relative calm to the capital Khartoum.

"The scale and speed of Sudan's descent into death and destruction is unprecedented," the UN chief said, adding, "Without strong international support, Sudan could quickly become a locus of lawlessness, radiating insecurity across the region."

During the conference, participants pledged nearly $1.5 billion to combat the humanitarian crisis in Sudan. The figure was less than half of what humanitarian organizations say is required to address the dire situation in the country and help its neighbors host refugees fleeing the fighting.

According to experts, $2.6 billion is needed this year to tackle the country's humanitarian crisis alone, while an additional $470 million has to be spent towards invigorating the regional refugee response.

Sudan has been the scene of intense fighting between the country's army and the rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) since mid-April over a power struggle between the army chief, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and his former deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, who heads the RSF.

More than 3,000 people have lost their lives in the conflict so far, which has seen the army targeting the RSF with airstrikes and the latter responding with artillery and anti-aircraft fire. Out of that figure, some 1,100 people have been killed in West Darfur state's capital city of El Geneina alone.