More than 36,000 Sudanese people have escaped since fall of El Fasher to paramilitary group, states UN agency
More than 36,000 individuals have escaped Sudan's Kordofan region east of Darfur starting Saturday, as reported by the UN's immigration body.
The important central zone separating the country's Darfur areas and the Khartoum-Riverine area has over recent weeks become the recent fighting area in the extended civil war between the Sudanese military forces and the paramilitary group.
Significant Evacuation Figures
An approximated 36,825 people evacuated from five localities in North Kordofan state between 26 October and 31 October, per data from the International Organization for Migration.
The civilians, mainly traveling by foot, headed to Tawila, a town west of El Fasher that is currently sheltering more than 652,000 evacuated individuals.
Heightened Military Presence
Local inhabitants of North Kordofan on Monday reported a significant increase in both RSF and army concentration across communities throughout the state.
Both forces are vying for control of El Obeid, the North Kordofan regional capital and a key logistics and command center that links Darfur to Khartoum.
"Today, all our forces have gathered at the Bara front here," said an RSF member in a recently circulated video declaration.
Regional Citizens Detail Security Concerns
A resident of Um Smeima, located west of El Obeid, described that the amount of RSF vehicles had risen significantly since the group's takeover of El Fasher.
"We stopped going to our farms, concerned about confrontations," the resident stated.
Another inhabitant, who sought confidentiality for security reasons, also confirmed that "there has been a substantial growth in army vehicles and weapons west and south of El Obeid" over the last fourteen days.
International Warnings and Requests
A senior UN official expressed concerns last week about "large-scale atrocities" and "race-driven revenge attacks" by RSF in Bara.
The representative warned of patterns comparable to patterns in Darfur, where RSF combatants have been accused of mass killings, sexual violence and abductions against specific ethnic communities.
The church leader on Sunday urged an prompt truce and the opening of humanitarian corridors in Sudan, saying that attacks on civilians and obstacles to humanitarian aid "are creating unacceptable suffering."
Sudan's official envoy to Egypt on Sunday alleged RSF of committing war crimes in El Fasher and declared that the Sudanese government would not discuss with the paramilitary group.
The representative further called on the world nations to classify the group as a terrorist group.
