Escalating Violence Displaces Over 107,000 from Sudan's El-Fasher

(MENAFN) Mass displacement has engulfed North Darfur as more than 107,000 civilians escaped El-Fasher and neighboring settlements amid catastrophic security conditions, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) announced Sunday.

The UN agency documented that approximately 107,294 individuals—representing roughly 24,221 families—evacuated El-Fasher and adjacent zones between Oct. 26 and Dec. 8 when the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) seized the city, as security conditions sharply deteriorated.

Displacement patterns show 72% of those fleeing remained inside North Darfur's borders, concentrating in the state's northern and western sectors, while approximately 19% relocated to neighboring regions including Central Darfur, the Northern State and White Nile State, according to IOM data.

Field assessment teams discovered a staggering reality: roughly 75% of those displaced since Oct. 26 had already been internally displaced, including people who initially fled major displacement camps such as Zamzam and Abu Shouk or neighborhoods inside El-Fasher during earlier escalations.

The organization issued warnings that movement restrictions and persistent insecurity could further limit mobility and alter displacement routes depending on developments on the ground.

IOM emphasized the preliminary nature of these statistics, noting they remain subject to change as insecurity continues and displacement dynamics evolve rapidly. Officials described conditions as highly volatile and tense.

Sudan's three Kordofan states—North, West, and South—have experienced weeks of brutal combat between government forces and the RSF, driving tens of thousands from their homes.

Territorial control remains fractured across Sudan's 18 states. The RSF commands all five Darfur region states in the west, except for some northern parts of North Darfur that remain under army control. The army, in turn, holds most areas of the remaining 13 states in the south, north, east, and center, including the capital Khartoum.

The armed confrontation between Sudanese military forces and the RSF, which began in April 2023, has since killed thousands of people and displaced millions of others.

MENAFN22122025000045017169ID1110510212