---
title: "As Sudan's generals refuse to talk, el-Obeid braces for catastrophe"
description: "More than three years into a war that has become the world's largest displacement crisis, Sudan's two warring generals show little appetite for peace — and the besieged city of el-Obeid, where the UN says half a million people are at risk, is bracing for the worst."
category: "World"
category_url: https://newsparlor.com/category/world
author: "Daniel Morales"
published: 2026-06-28T13:05:00.000Z
updated: 2026-06-28T13:05:00.000Z
canonical: https://newsparlor.com/article/sudan-el-obeid-stalled-peace-kordofan
tags: ["sudan", "conflict", "el-obeid", "humanitarian-crisis", "rsf", "displacement"]
---
# As Sudan's generals refuse to talk, el-Obeid braces for catastrophe

More than three years into a war that has become the world's largest displacement crisis, Sudan's two warring generals show little appetite for peace — and the besieged city of el-Obeid, where the UN says half a million people are at risk, is bracing for the worst.

Sudan's civil war grinds toward its fourth year with no settlement in sight, even as the fighting bears down on el-Obeid, a city the United Nations warns could become the site of the next mass atrocity, [Al Jazeera reported](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/6/28/digging-with-a-needle-generals-stall-peace-as-sudans-el-obeid-burns).

## A city in the crosshairs

El-Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan and a strategic gateway between central Sudan and the Darfur region, has endured siege-like conditions for more than 18 months. As the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) press their assault, the UN human-rights chief has appealed for the fighting to stop, and an international coalition of [29 countries warned at the UN](https://news.un.org/en/story/2026/06/1167752) that roughly 500,000 civilians there are at risk of large-scale atrocities. Residents and aid workers describe drone strikes hitting civilian areas, including, according to Al Jazeera, a girls' school.

## Two generals, no compromise

The war erupted in April 2023 out of a power struggle between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the RSF, commanded by Mohamed Hamdan "Hemedti" Dagalo. Repeated mediation efforts — by the United States, Saudi Arabia and others — have failed to produce a lasting ceasefire. Both leaders, analysts say, appear to be betting on military victory rather than a negotiated end, a stance that leaves civilians trapped between them. Each side accuses the other of obstructing humanitarian access.

## A regional proxy contest

The conflict has been sustained in part by outside powers, which both sides' opponents accuse of fueling the bloodshed. The United Arab Emirates has been widely accused of backing the RSF — which it denies — while Egypt and Saudi Arabia are seen as aligned with the army. The flow of weapons, including advanced drones now used by both sides, has helped entrench a stalemate that diplomacy has been unable to break.

## The world's largest displacement crisis

The humanitarian toll is staggering. The UN's humanitarian office, OCHA, estimates the war has uprooted more than 13 million people, the largest displacement crisis in the world. Famine has been confirmed in parts of the country — the UN has declared famine in Kadugli, in South Kordofan — and the early-warning system [FEWS NET](https://fews.net/east-africa/sudan/key-message-update/january-2026) has flagged the risk of famine spreading to areas including el-Obeid and parts of Darfur. Aid agencies say the response remains severely underfunded, leaving millions short of food, medicine and clean water.

## What comes next

With the generals dug in and outside mediators sidelined, there is little prospect of an imminent halt to the fighting. For the people of el-Obeid and the wider Kordofan region, the immediate fear is not the collapse of peace talks but the next assault — and whether the warnings now echoing through the UN will translate into any protection on the ground.