More than 1,000 people were forced from their homes in South Kordofan within 48 hours as escalating clashes between Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) deepened insecurity across the region, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said Wednesday.
IOM field teams reported a sharp spike in flight from rural villages surrounding Abbasiya, Talodi and Kadugli, the South Kordofan capital.
Since Tuesday, at least 590 residents escaped Karmojiya on Abbasiya’s outskirts, while 235 others fled Qardard Amradami near Talodi and another 160 people left the village of Damik.
The agency said renewed violence in and around Kadugli pushed at least 185 more people to seek safety across West and North Kordofan, including Abu Zabad and Sheikan localities.
The surge in displacement marks one of the most volatile weeks in months, driven by intensifying battles as both sides fight for territory in Sudan’s troubled southern corridor. On Monday, IOM said 600 people had already fled Kadugli after a fresh wave of violations blamed on the RSF.
Across the three Kordofan states – North, West and South – weeks of fierce combat have uprooted tens of thousands, compounding a humanitarian crisis that has expanded steadily since the army-RSF conflict erupted in April 2023.
The war has killed thousands, shattered local governance, and driven millions from their homes nationwide.
The RSF now controls all five states of the Darfur region except parts of northern North Darfur, which remain under army authority.
The army holds most of Sudan’s remaining 13 states, including Khartoum and much of the east, north and central regions.
In neighboring South Darfur, a separate humanitarian emergency unfolded Wednesday after local medics reported that more than 19,000 people are being held across Dagris and Kober, the state’s largest detention sites.
The Sudan Doctors Network said the detainees include 5,434 civilians – among them 73 medical workers, as well as journalists and political figures.
The group warned that deaths are rising inside the prisons amid acute shortages of medicine, clean water and food, in addition to severe overcrowding, collapsing sanitation and outbreaks of infectious disease.
It said four or more deaths are recorded each week due to medical neglect and the absence of trained staff or access to emergency evacuation.
The network urged the U.N. and international humanitarian bodies to pressure the RSF to release civilian detainees and ensure protection standards inside detention centers.
