Sudanese need protection, but no UN force: Guterres

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has appealed to the Security Council for its support to help protect civilians in war-torn Sudan, but says conditions are not right for deployment of a UN force.

War erupted in mid-April 2023 from a power struggle between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces ahead of a planned transition to civilian rule, and triggered the world's largest displacement crisis.

"The people of Sudan are living through a nightmare of violence — with thousands of civilians killed, and countless others facing unspeakable atrocities, including widespread rape and sexual assaults," Guterres told the 15-member council on Monday.

"Sudan is, once again, rapidly becoming a nightmare of mass ethnic violence," Guterres said, referring to a conflict in Sudan's Darfur region about 20 years ago that led to the International Criminal Court charging former Sudanese leaders with genocide and crimes against humanity.

The current war has produced waves of ethnically driven violence blamed largely on the RSF.

The RSF killed at least 124 people in a village in El Gezira State on Friday, activists said, in one of the conflict's deadliest incidents.

The RSF has previously denied harming civilians in Sudan and attributed the activity to rogue actors.

Guterres acknowledged calls by Sudanese and human-rights groups for stepped-up measures to protect civilians, including the possible deployment of some form of impartial force, saying they reflected "the gravity and urgency of the situation".

"At present, the conditions do not exist for the successful deployment of a United Nations force to protect civilians in Sudan," he told the council, but added he was ready to discuss other ways to reduce violence and protect civilians.

"This may require new approaches that are adapted to the challenging circumstances of the conflict," Guterres said.

The UN says nearly 25 million people - half of Sudan's population - need aid as famine has taken hold in displacement camps and 11 million people have fled their homes.

Nearly 3 million of those people have left for other countries.