THE United Nations political chief accused allies of Sudan's warring military and paramilitary forces of “enabling the slaughter” that has killed more than 24,000 people and created the world's worst displacement crisis.

Rosemary DiCarlo, the UN’s under-secretary general for political and peacebuilding affairs, told the Security Council on Tuesday: “This is unconscionable. It is illegal, and it must end.”

She didn't name the countries funding and providing weapons to Sudan's military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), but she said they have a responsibility to press both sides to work for a negotiated settlement of the war.