A DRAFT UN resolution calling for the immediate halt to hostilities in Sudan is expected to be voted on by the security council tomorrow, ahead of the start of Ramadan.

The draft, circulated by Britain, expresses “grave concern over the spreading violence and the catastrophic and deteriorating humanitarian situation, including crisis levels of acute food insecurity, particularly in Darfur.”

The council is looking to secure a ceasefire in time for the beginning of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which is expected to start on Sunday.

Sudan plunged into chaos last April, when long-simmering tensions between its military led by General Abdel Fattah Burhan and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) commanded by Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo broke out into street battles in the capital, Khartoum.

Fighting spread to other parts of the country, but in Sudan’s western Darfur region it took on a different form, with brutal attacks by the Arab-dominated RSF on ethnic African civilians. Thousands of people have been killed.

Two decades ago, Darfur became synonymous with genocide and war crimes, particularly by the notorious Janjaweed Arab militias against populations that identify as central or east African.

The International Criminal Court’s prosecutor Karim Khan said in late January there were grounds to believe both sides in the current conflict are committing possible war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide in Darfur.

Meanwhile, France’s UN ambassador Nicolas de Riviere said: “It would be a disgrace if we have a Ramadan truce in Sudan and no Ramadan truce in Gaza.

“We need both.”

The latest draft on a Sudan ceasefire was circulated on the same day the head of the UN food agency warned that the Sudan conflict “risks triggering the world’s largest hunger crisis.” 

The agency said that 18 million people across Sudan are facing acute hunger, including 5 million who face starvation.