Port Sudan (TDI): The United Nations has reported that more than 36,000 civilians have fled their homes in Sudan’s Kordofan region, as fighting between the army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) continues to move eastward from Darfur.
According to the UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM), at least 36,825 people escaped from five localities in North Kordofan between October 26 and 31, amid escalating clashes.
The Kordofan region, which lies between the conflict-ravaged Darfur provinces and the area surrounding Khartoum, has now become a new front line in Sudan’s nearly two-year war. The RSF and the Sudanese army are both vying for control of El-Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan and a major logistical hub linking Darfur to central Sudan.
Last week, the RSF announced that its fighters had taken control of Bara, a city north of El-Obeid. In a video posted on the group’s official Telegram channel, an RSF commander urged civilians to avoid areas near military installations, saying all RSF forces had “converged on the Bara front.”
The RSF’s advance comes shortly after it captured El-Fasher, the army’s last major base in Darfur, and established a rival administration there, challenging the army-aligned government now operating from Port Sudan on the Red Sea coast.
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UN officials warn that the Kordofan region, rich in oil and minerals, could soon face the same kind of large-scale atrocities seen in Darfur.
At least 50 civilians, including five Red Crescent volunteers, have been killed in recent violence in North Kordofan, according to the UN.
Both the RSF, descended from the Janjaweed militias accused of genocide in the early 2000s, and the Sudanese army face mounting war crimes allegations.
In January 2024, the United States formally determined that RSF fighters and allied militias had committed genocide in Sudan. Despite that declaration, international efforts to halt the violence or revive peace talks have made little progress.
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The conflict, which erupted in April 2023, has killed tens of thousands of people, forced nearly 12 million from their homes, and triggered what the UN describes as the world’s largest displacement and hunger crisis.
