At least 36,000 Sudanese citizens have evacuated after fall of El Fasher to Rapid Support Forces, says UN agency
More than 36,000 people have escaped Sudan's Kordofan region eastern sector of Darfur starting Saturday, as stated by the UN's immigration body.
The important central zone separating the country's Darfur provinces and the Khartoum-Riverine area has over recent weeks become the recent fighting area in the two-year civil war between the Sudanese armed forces and the paramilitary forces.
Substantial Displacement Numbers
An estimated 36,825 people evacuated from five localities in North Kordofan state between 26 October and 31 October, as reported by the International Organization for Migration.
The civilians, most on foot, traveled to Tawila, a town to the west of El Fasher that is currently accommodating more than 652,000 displaced people.
Escalated Military Presence
Local inhabitants of North Kordofan on Monday described a substantial rise in both RSF and army deployment across towns and villages throughout the state.
Both forces are competing for control of El Obeid, the North Kordofan regional capital and a key logistics and command base that links Darfur to Khartoum.
"Today, all our forces have assembled at the Bara front here," commented an RSF member in a recently distributed video declaration.
Area Residents Detail Protection Issues
A local inhabitant of Um Smeima, located west of El Obeid, stated that the quantity of RSF vehicles had grown considerably since the group's capture of El Fasher.
"We stopped going to our farms, afraid of clashes," the local commented.
Another civilian, 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 previous fortnight.
International Concerns and Requests
A senior UN official raised the alarm last week about "extensive crimes" and "race-driven revenge attacks" by RSF in Bara.
The representative warned of patterns comparable to patterns in Darfur, where RSF combatants have been charged with mass killings, sexual violence and abductions against non-Arab ethnic groups.
The church leader on Sunday appealed for an immediate ceasefire and the establishment of relief routes in Sudan, stating that attacks on civilians and impediments to humanitarian aid "are causing unacceptable suffering."
Sudan's diplomatic representative to Egypt on Sunday alleged RSF of perpetrating war crimes in El Fasher and declared that the Sudanese government would not negotiate with the militia organization.
The representative further urged the international community to designate the group as a terrorist group.
