SW News: The chief prosecutor informed the United Nations on Thursday that the International Criminal Court (ICC) is looking at a surge in hostilities in Sudan's Darfur region since mid-April, including reports of killings, rapes, and crimes harming minors.

A power struggle between the Sudanese regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has been going on in the country's capital Khartoum and other locations since mid-April. Over 3 million people have been displaced, including over 700,000 who have escaped to nearby nations.

Sudan is on the verge of a full-scale civil war that could destabilize the surrounding area, according to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who made the statement last week. In a report to the UN Security Council, the Office of ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan stated, "The office can confirm that it has initiated investigations concerning incidents occurring in the context of the present hostilities."

The ICC prosecutors are closely tracking reports of extrajudicial killings, burning of homes and markets, and looting, according to the report.
In addition, allegations of sexual and gender-based crimes, including mass rapes and alleged reports of violence against and affecting children, are being investigated, according to the statement.

Witnesses in El Geneina have recounted rounds of attacks by Arab militias and the RSF against the non-Arab Masalits that have caused tens of thousands to escape into neighboring Chad.

The report said though the security situation prevents the ICC from conducting business in Sudan, it plans to do so as soon as practicable. Its jurisdiction is restricted to the Darfur region as per a 2005 UN Security Council resolution.
The ICC has four active arrest warrants relating to the warfare in Darfur between 2003 and 2008, one for the alleged genocide of former Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir. The ICC began its first trial involving Darfur atrocities in April, involving an alleged Janjaweed leader.