Sudan: tens of thousands displaced by latest front in civil war

Tens of thousands of people have been recently displaced by fighting in Sudan as the civil war rages on. The latest front in the war between the Sudanese army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, who have been fighting since April 2023, is southern Kordofan.

Hanan Abdallah was living in a town in west Kordofan, and had to flee her home with nothing. "We were living in the city of Babanusa (town in West Kordofan) when the Rapid Support Forces came and expelled us from our homes, they didn't even allow anyone to put on their clothes, our children fled barefoot," she says.

In recent weeks, the Rapid Support Forces have bolstered their control over west Kordofan, as well as their seige on Kadugli and Dilling in South Kordofan, where hundreds of thousands are now grappling with starvation.

Khamisa Othman is among those who have faced shortges of basic supplies. "During our escape, there was no water, no food, and no shop to buy anything from, we searched through the forests for water and found only a pond used by livestock and shepherds, so we drank from it," she says.

The Rapid Support Forcesare pressing deeper into oil rich Kordofan attire capturing the army’s last stronghold in neighbouring Darfur in October.

The conflict has triggered what the United Nations has described as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, with both the Sudanese army and Rapid Support Forces accused of war crimes.