Severe Humanitarian Crisis Unfolds as Over 200,000 Flee Intensifying Conflict in Sudan’s Kordofan

Sudan’s Kordofan region is facing a worsening humanitarian crisis as more than 200,000 people have been newly displaced due to intensified fighting since late last year. The United Nations reported that continued drone attacks are targeting critical water and electricity infrastructure in the region’s largest city, El Obeid.

The warning from the UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM) was issued on Wednesday, coinciding with seasonal flooding in nearby North Darfur state that has further compounded the displacement crisis. “The warning signs are impossible to ignore,” said IOM Director General Amy Pope. “Across Sudan, families are fleeing violence, losing access to water, electricity and healthcare, and now facing the added burden of destructive floods.”

According to the IOM, displacement in the Sheikan district, which encompasses El Obeid, has surged by 25 percent over the past eight months. Repeated fighting and drone attacks on the city’s main power transformer have knocked out the electricity required to pump water, run hospitals, and maintain phone lines. Additional displacement was reported in Blue Nile state, where approximately 78,000 people fled their homes, and in West Darfur, where about 18,000 residents were displaced in the first half of August. Meanwhile, heavy rains in the Tawila area of North Darfur have damaged nearly 1,350 homes and displaced more than 1,000 families.

“Sudan is one of the world’s largest displacement crises,” Pope stated. “The combined impact of conflict, infrastructure damage and flooding is stretching thousands of families beyond their limits.” Since the conflict began in April 2023, an estimated 59,000 people have been killed, 8.6 million people have been internally displaced, and more than 4.2 million have fled to neighboring countries. The UN notes that approximately 33.7 million people currently require humanitarian assistance.

Reporting from a main road leading to El Obeid, Al Jazeera’s Almigdad Alruhaid described a route where drones belonging to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary have targeted army vehicles, oil tankers, and cargo trucks. Although the Sudanese army-held city has endured one of the longest sieges of the war, the RSF maintains positions south and west of the city and continues to attack nearby villages, further deteriorating the regional humanitarian situation. El Obeid, which had a pre-war population of 750,000, now hosts an estimated 3.4 million people, according to the Sudan Tribune. Additionally, Save the Children reported that nearly 39,000 children arrived in the area during the first six months of this year.