Last month, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk declared a “red alert” for el-Obeid. The city is a commercial capital and logistics hub in central Sudan that is now on the front line of a 40-month war between the country’s army and the rapacious Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia. The city’s residents are likely to be the latest victims in a conflict that has displaced more than 14 million and left over half of the country’s 50 million people reliant on international assistance.

In June, the RSF hit el-Obeid with 27 drone attacks, the highest monthly total since the start of the conflict. Most targeted fuel depots, water pumps and the electrical grid, making life for the city’s 500,000 residents unbearable.

Many routes out of the city have been blocked by the RSF as well. As seasonal rains make roads unpassable, life in the city and escape from it could become impossible. Sensing this, Sudan’s army won back control over the Sadarat highway, linking el-Obeid to the capital Khartoum and creating a reprieve in the RSF’s assault.

The city is facing a scenario that has played out before – one in which the United States and other global powers have repeatedly failed to act.

Last year, the RSF laid siege to the North Darfur city of el-Fasher. More than 6,000 civilians were killed in a matter of days while countless more were tortured, raped, enslaved or forcibly disappeared, according to a UN investigation. The report of the investigation, which was released last month, declared that the RSF’s crimes constituted genocide. No serious action was taken in the aftermath of the atrocities.

In the opening months of the conflict, as the RSF expanded its control over the Darfur region, civilians in the West Darfur........

© Al Jazeera