The United Nations has revealed a shocking new surge in displacement within Sudan, with more than 10,000 people forced to flee their homes in a devastating three-day period this week. This alarming figure underscores the rapid escalation of violence that continues to tear the African nation apart.
Wave of Attacks Drives Thousands from Their Homes
According to data released by the UN's International Organization for Migration on Sunday, violent attacks in western and southern Sudan are responsible for this latest humanitarian catastrophe. The situation is a grim continuation of the war that erupted in April 2023 between Sudan's regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
The UN has labelled this conflict a "war of atrocities," which has to date claimed tens of thousands of lives and uprooted more than 11 million people from their homes.
Specific Incidents Behind the Latest Displacement
The breakdown of the recent displacement is harrowing. Between December 25 and 26, assaults on the villages of Um Baru and Kernoi, located near Sudan's volatile western border with Chad, displaced more than 7,000 individuals. This area has seen increased RSF activity since the group captured the North Darfur capital of El-Fasher in October.
In a dangerous international escalation, a Chadian military source confirmed to AFP that two Chadian soldiers were killed on Friday by an RSF drone strike on the border town of Tine.
Simultaneously, in the south, the famine-stricken city of Kadugli in South Kordofan saw another 3,100 people displaced between Christmas Eve and Friday. Kadugli has been under a brutal siege by paramilitary forces for over a year and a half.
A Nation Split in Two and a Global Crisis
The strategic region of resource-rich Kordofan is now the epicenter of the fiercest fighting. The RSF and its allies are aggressively seeking to recapture Sudan's central corridor, a vital route stretching from Darfur back towards the capital, Khartoum.
The consequences of this prolonged war are staggering. It has created the world's largest hunger and displacement crises. Furthermore, the conflict has effectively partitioned Sudan into two zones of control: the army holds the north, east, and centre, while the RSF dominates all five state capitals in Darfur and, with its allies, significant parts of the south.
This new wave of displacement confirms that the suffering of the Sudanese people is intensifying, with no end in sight to the violence that continues to reshape the nation and destabilize the region.
