The UN Human Rights Council has received a request for an urgent debate on the situation in Sudan's al-Obeid city, a spokesperson said on Tuesday. "That will most likely take place on Friday," Pascal Sim, a spokesperson for the council, told a press briefing in Geneva. The request was submitted by countries including Britain and Germany. The UN has warned of "substantial" Rapid Support Forces troop movements around the city ahead of a possible ground assault, raising fears of a repeat of the atrocities seen in El-Fasher, the Darfur city which fell to the RSF last October in an attack the UN said bore "the hallmarks of genocide.” After breaking a prolonged siege in February last year, the Sudanese army has struggled to stop the RSF from reimposing a blockade through repeated drone strikes targeting al-Obeid, its infrastructure and the main highway out. Recent attacks have hit the main power station and fuel depots, plunged neighborhoods into darkness and shut down water pumps.
