More than 36,000 Sudanese have evacuated since capture of El Fasher to paramilitary group, says UN agency

More than 36,000 people have fled Sudan's Kordofan territory east of Darfur since Saturday, according to the UN's immigration body.

The strategic central area between the country's Darfur provinces and the capital region has in recent weeks become the latest battleground in the two-year civil war between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary group.

Significant Exodus Numbers

An estimated 36,825 people fled five districts in North Kordofan state between 26 October and 31 October, per data from the International Organization for Migration.

The people, most on foot, headed to Tawila, a town to the west of El Fasher that is currently sheltering in excess of 652,000 displaced people.

Heightened Forces Deployment

Local inhabitants of North Kordofan on Monday noted a substantial rise in both RSF and army concentration across communities throughout the state.

Both military groups are vying for control of El Obeid, the North Kordofan state capital and a important strategic and command hub that joins Darfur to Khartoum.

"Today, all our forces have converged on the Bara front here," stated an RSF member in a recently circulated video declaration.

Local Citizens Report Protection Issues

A local inhabitant of Um Smeima, located west of El Obeid, described that the quantity of RSF vehicles had risen substantially since the group's seizure of El Fasher.

"We ceased visiting our farms, fearing fighting," the local explained.

Another resident, who sought confidentiality for safety concerns, also reported that "there has been a significant rise in army vehicles and weapons west and south of El Obeid" over the last fourteen days.

Global Warnings and Requests

A senior UN official raised the alarm last week about "widespread abuses" and "race-driven revenge attacks" by RSF in Bara.

The diplomat alerted to patterns comparable to patterns in Darfur, where RSF fighters have been charged with mass killings, sexual violence and abductions against non-Arab ethnic groups.

The church leader on Sunday called for an prompt truce and the creation of aid passageways in Sudan, declaring that attacks on civilians and impediments to humanitarian aid "are causing unacceptable suffering."

Sudan's ambassador to Egypt on Sunday accused RSF of perpetrating war crimes in El Fasher and declared that the Sudanese government would not engage with the paramilitary group.

The ambassador further urged the international community to designate the group as a terrorist group.

David Brown
David Brown

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