Sudan war displaces over 2 million, UN says as fighting rages in Darfur
- Fighting rocks several cities in western Sudan in an expansion of the country’s almost two-month-old war
- Regional governor killed after publicly blaming deaths of civilians on the country’s paramilitary force
The conflict in Sudan has displaced more than 2 million people, the United Nations said, as a UN official warned that escalating attacks in Darfur city could amount to “crimes against humanity”.
Sudan has plunged into chaos since mid-April when months-long tensions between the military and its rival, the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, exploded into open fighting in the capital, Khartoum, and elsewhere across the northeastern African nation.
The fighting continued unabated Wednesday in parts of the capital and the western region of Darfur, both have seen some of the worst battles. At least 959 civilians have been killed and about 4,750 others were wounded as of June 12, according to Sudan’s Doctors Syndicate, which tracks civilian casualties.
The brutal clashes have forced more than 1.6 million people to leave their homes for safer areas inside Sudan, according to the International Organization for Migration. About 530,000 others fled to the neighbouring countries of Egypt, South Sudan, Chad, Ethiopia, the Central African Republic, and Libya, the agency said.
The medical group said the toll could be much higher, given it was unable to take into account those who were killed or wounded in the ongoing clashes in Genena, the provincial capital of West Darfur. The city’s hospitals have been out of service since the fighting erupted there in April, the group said.
All of Sudan’s 18 provinces experienced displacement, with Khartoum at the top of the list with around 65 per cent of the total number of displaced people, followed by West Darfur with over 17 per cent, according to the IOM’s Displacement Tracking Matrix.