Civilian killings in Sudan's war surged in 2025, more than doubling compared with the previous year, the United Nations human rights chief said on Thursday, warning that the true toll is likely far higher as many victims remain unidentified or missing.

Since April 2023, Sudan has been gripped by conflict between the government army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Tens of thousands of people have died as a result, and around 11 million people are displaced in what the UN regards as one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.

Addressing the UN Human Rights Council, High Commissioner Volker Turk described the conflict as "ugly, bloody and senseless," accusing both sides of rejecting humanitarian truces and condemning foreign backers whom he said were fueling a "high-tech" conflict.

"In 2025, my office's documentation points to an increase of more than two and a half times in killings of civilians compared with the previous year. Many thousands are still missing or unidentified," Turk said.

He denounced what he called "heinous and ruthless" abuses, including sexual violence, summary executions, and arbitrary detentions. Turk highlighted RSF attacks on the Zamzam displacement camp in April and on El-Fasher in October—then the army's last stronghold in western Darfur—describing the violence as "carnage."

Sexual violence has also escalated sharply in 2025, with more than 500 cases documented, including rape, gang rape, sexual torture, and sexual slavery. "The bodies of Sudanese women and girls have been weaponized to terrorize communities," Turk said.

In a separate statement, foreign ministers from the Sudan core group at the Human Rights Council said RSF-led violence in El-Fasher amounted to war crimes and crimes against humanity and bore "the hallmarks of genocide."