Thousands more flee as Sudan conflict grinds eastwards

The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has sent thousands more people fleeing in Sudan as it prepares a new offensive after atrocities committed during its assault on el-Fasher in the western region of Darfur.

The United Nations warned in a report released late on Sunday of the humanitarian consequences as the paramilitary onslaught continues to forcibly displace thousands of people.

The RSF, led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, widely known as Hemedti, released a video on the same day saying it is “amassing a large force, heralding the imminent liberation of el-Obeid”.

The state capital of North Kordofan in the centre of Sudan lies east of Darfur, where the RSF killed and displaced thousands of people over the past week after seizing control of el-Fasher from government forces.

The Sudanese armed forces currently control el-Obeid. However, both sides have been gearing up for a major fight over the city.

In the RSF video, a soldier holding a weapon boasted that “all our forces have converged” on Bara, 50km (30 miles) northeast of el-Obeid.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) in a report released on Sunday estimated that on Friday alone, more than 1,200 people were displaced from Bara and Um Rawaba in North Kordofan.

This follows the displacement of 36,825 people from several localities in North Kordofan since last week.

In South Kordofan, IOM said field teams estimated 360 people were displaced from Abassiya and Delami towns on Saturday. Further displacement is expected as the situation remains “tense and highly fluid”, the UN agency said.

As the RSF and the army prepare for combat in el-Obeid, the humanitarian situation remains catastrophic across Sudan, especially in and around el-Fasher.

UN teams estimated an additional 8,631 people were displaced from el-Fasher, the state capital of North Darfur, from Saturday to Sunday.

This means that more than 70,000 people have been displaced from the area since the RSF took over the last major city in Darfur on October 26, pushing out the Sudanese armed forces after an 18-month siege.

Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, told reporters in New York on Friday that reports of “serious violations” including summary executions of several Red Crescent volunteers have emerged since the RSF’s takeover of Bara last week.

Tens of thousands of starving and desperate people are still trapped inside el-Fasher while the fate of several thousand who fled but have not arrived in Tawila or other nearby towns remains unknown.

A video circulating online on Monday showed dozens of bodies strewn across roads surrounding el-Fasher.

The UN and international aid agencies have verified numerous accounts by survivors who said RSF fighters have engaged in mass executions, torture, rape and sexual abuse and holding people for ransom.

In Northern State, a large number of Sudanese have turned to the city of al-Dabbah.

Many of the people there have already been displaced several times, but some are packing up to leave once again for another refugee camp on the outskirts of the city because they fear the conflict may catch up with them in al-Dabbah.

“The streets were full of dead bodies,” Yahya Abdullah, who barely escaped from el-Fasher along with his four children, told Al Jazeera from al-Dabbah. He had earlier lost his wife to an RSF drone strike.

He said RSF fighters shot at people, including children, in the streets of el-Fasher with machineguns. “I heard one of them say, ‘Kill them all.’”