Hundreds fled Kadugli in single day amid RSF attacks in South Kordofan: UN agency

By Adel Abdelrheem and Rania Abu Shamala

KHARTOUM, Sudan/ ISTANBUL (AA) - Hundreds of people were displaced on Friday alone from Kadugli, the capital of South Kordofan State in southern Sudan, due to worsening insecurity amid escalating attacks by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

In a statement issued Sunday, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said that field teams from the Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) estimated on Dec. 5 that between 350 and 450 people were displaced from Kadugli in South Kordofan due to the deteriorating security conditions.

The statement added that the displaced people fled to various locations in Abu Zabad in West Kordofan and Sheikan in North Kordofan.

Kadugli has been suffering from a siege imposed by both the RSF and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) led by Abdelaziz al-Hilu since the early months of the war, alongside repeated artillery and drone attacks.

There are no official statistics on the city’s population, but Kadugli has witnessed several waves of displacement to surrounding areas over time.

According to UN estimates, more than 41,000 people fled escalating violence in North and South Kordofan states during the past month.

On Friday, UNICEF representative in Sudan Sheldon Yett stated that in South Kordofan, famine has been confirmed in Kadugli.

The three Kordofan states – North, West, and South – have seen weeks of fierce fighting between the army and the RSF, prompting tens of thousands of people to flee.

Of Sudan’s 18 states, the RSF controls all five states of the Darfur region 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 conflict between the Sudanese army and the RSF, which began in April 2023, has killed thousands of people and displaced millions of others.