UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Violence against civilians in Sudan is "verging on pure evil," a senior United Nations official warned on Friday, as a humanitarian crisis in the country worsens and ethnic violence escalates in the western region of Darfur.
"We continue to receive unrelenting and appalling reports of sexual- and gender-based violence and forced disappearance, arbitrary detentions and grave violations of human and children's rights," Clementine Nkweta-Salami, the top U.N. aid official in Sudan, told reporters.
"What is happening is verging on pure evil.
The protection of civilians continues to be of major concern," she said.
"We have recently received disturbing reports about escalating violence and attacks against civilians, including what appears to be on an ethnic basis in Darfur," she said.
Persons:
Clementine, El Geneina, Michelle Nichols, Sandra Maler
Organizations:
UNITED NATIONS, Reuters, United Nations, Rapid Support Forces
Locations:
Sudan, Darfur, Chad, Sudan's West Darfur, El