Intense clashes between Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have forced around 2,000 people to flee their homes in central Sudan over the past three days, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said Monday.
The displaced people fled several towns and villages in the Bara area of North Kordofan province between Friday and Sunday, according to the agency.
North Kordofan and the western Darfur region have become the latest flashpoints in the country’s brutal conflict, which has raged for more than two years and killed tens of thousands.
Recent RSF assaults in Darfur — including the capture of the key city of El-Fasher — have left hundreds dead and driven tens of thousands to overcrowded camps, amid reports of atrocities by the paramilitary group, aid agencies and U.N. officials said.
The war erupted in 2023 after tensions between the army and the RSF — once partners in Sudan’s fragile political transition — exploded into open fighting. The conflict has killed at least 40,000 people and displaced 12 million, according to the World Health Organization, though aid groups believe the real toll is much higher.
In late October, RSF fighters attacked the town of Bara, killing at least 47 people, including women and children, according to the Sudan Doctors Network.
Between Oct. 26 and Nov. 9, nearly 39,000 people fled from several North Kordofan towns — including Bara, Sheikan, Ar Rahad, Um Rawaba, Um Siala and Sakra — the IOM reported. Many of them were moving north toward Khartoum, Omdurman, and Sheikan.
The RSF also claimed on Monday that its fighters had entered the town of Babanusa in West Kordofan “in huge numbers” and were advancing toward the local army headquarters.
Meanwhile, in Darfur, the Sudan Doctors Network said RSF fighters had collected hundreds of bodies from the streets of El-Fasher, burying some in mass graves and burning others — allegedly in an effort to destroy evidence of atrocities.
Satellite images analyzed by the Colorado-based firm Vantor and the Yale School of Public Health’s Humanitarian Research Lab appeared to confirm the disposal and burning of bodies near El-Fasher’s Saudi hospital last week.
The U.N. and aid agencies continue to warn of worsening humanitarian conditions across Sudan, as violence spreads into new regions and civilian casualties rise.