More than 36,000 Sudanese citizens have fled since fall of El Fasher to Rapid Support Forces, says UN agency
Over 36,000 civilians have evacuated from Sudan's Kordofan territory eastern part of Darfur since Saturday, according to the UN's immigration body.
The key central region between the country's Darfur areas and the Khartoum-Riverine area has over recent weeks become the recent fighting area in the two-year civil war between the Sudanese army and the militia group.
Significant Displacement Numbers
An calculated 36,825 people escaped five areas in North Kordofan province between 26 October and 31 October, according to the International Organization for Migration.
The civilians, most on foot, moved toward Tawila, a town western side of El Fasher that is currently sheltering in excess of 652,000 displaced people.
Escalated Troop Concentration
Local inhabitants of North Kordofan on Monday reported a significant increase in both RSF and army presence across urban and rural areas throughout the state.
Both armed factions are vying for control of El Obeid, the North Kordofan provincial capital and a critical supply and command center that joins Darfur to Khartoum.
"Today, all our forces have assembled at the Bara front here," commented an RSF member in a recently distributed video declaration.
Local Residents Detail Safety Fears
A local inhabitant of Um Smeima, located west of El Obeid, described that the quantity of RSF vehicles had grown considerably since the group's capture of El Fasher.
"We discontinued traveling to our farms, afraid of fighting," the local explained.
Another resident, who sought confidentiality for security reasons, also reported that "there has been a substantial growth in army vehicles and weapons west and south of El Obeid" over the past two weeks.
World Warnings and Requests
A senior UN official expressed concerns last week about "large-scale atrocities" and "ethnic-based retaliations" by RSF in Bara.
The diplomat alerted to patterns echoing those in Darfur, where RSF combatants have been accused of mass killings, sexual violence and abductions against non-Arab ethnic groups.
The religious leader on Sunday urged an quick cessation of hostilities and the creation of aid passageways in Sudan, declaring that attacks on civilians and hindrances to humanitarian aid "are producing unacceptable suffering."
Sudan's ambassador to Egypt on Sunday charged RSF of committing war crimes in El Fasher and stated that the Sudanese government would not negotiate with the armed faction.
The ambassador further encouraged the global community to designate the group as a terrorist entity.
