Over 36,000 Sudanese have evacuated following takeover of El Fasher to Rapid Support Forces, says UN agency

More than 36,000 people have escaped Sudan's Kordofan area east of Darfur beginning Saturday, as stated by the UN's migration agency.

The key central region between the country's Darfur provinces and the Khartoum-Riverine region has over recent weeks become the latest battleground in the extended civil war between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary group.

Significant Evacuation Figures

An estimated 36,825 people escaped five districts in North Kordofan province between 26 October and 31 October, as reported by the International Organization for Migration.

The people, mainly traveling by foot, moved toward Tawila, a town west of El Fasher that is currently housing in excess of 652,000 evacuated individuals.

Increased Forces Deployment

Residents of North Kordofan on Monday described a significant increase in both RSF and army deployment across towns and villages throughout the state.

Both military groups are vying for control of El Obeid, the North Kordofan provincial capital and a critical supply and command base that joins Darfur to Khartoum.

"Today, all our forces have gathered at the Bara front here," commented an RSF member in a recently shared video statement.

Area Residents Describe Protection Issues

A resident of Um Smeima, located west of El Obeid, described that the number of RSF vehicles had increased significantly since the group's seizure of El Fasher.

"We discontinued traveling to our farms, concerned about fighting," the resident explained.

Another inhabitant, who asked to remain unnamed for protection purposes, 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.

World Concerns and Appeals

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

The representative alerted to patterns comparable to patterns in Darfur, where RSF militants have been charged with mass killings, sexual violence and abductions against specific ethnic communities.

The church leader on Sunday called for an immediate ceasefire and the creation of aid passageways in Sudan, declaring that attacks on civilians and hindrances to humanitarian aid "are creating unacceptable suffering."

Sudan's diplomatic representative to Egypt on Sunday alleged RSF of carrying out war crimes in El Fasher and announced that the Sudanese government would not negotiate with the paramilitary group.

The representative further encouraged the international community to classify the group as a terrorist group.

Lisa Cook
Lisa Cook

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