Nearly 20,000 people displaced by escalating fighting in Sudan’s Blue Nile: Local group

Nearly 20,000 people have been displaced in Sudan’s Blue Nile state due to deteriorating security conditions and escalating risks facing residents, according to a local relief group on Sunday, Anadolu reports.

In a statement, the Geissan Emergency Room said that the City 12 area in Geissan locality was experiencing a new wave of displacement involving residents and displaced civilians staying in shelters.

Initial estimates indicate that “the number of displaced people is approaching 20,000, including families, children, women and elderly people,” it added.

The displaced people have scattered across several areas, including Shira, Abu Qami and Al-Hilla Al-Qadima, as well as Wad Al-Mahi locality to the east, while others headed to shelters in the city of Damazin, the group said.

It noted that displaced families are facing “dire humanitarian conditions” amid acute shortages of shelter materials and basic necessities.

The emergency group urged humanitarian and relief organizations as well as local and international bodies to intervene urgently to meet the growing needs of the displaced and help mitigate the humanitarian and health consequences of the crisis.

Blue Nile state has witnessed escalating fighting over the past two days following attacks by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and its ally Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) on several areas in the state.

On Friday, the RSF said it had seized the Bakori and Sirkam military bases southeast of Damazin, the capital of Blue Nile state.

In addition to Blue Nile and Darfur, the three states of the Kordofan region — North, West and South Kordofan — have witnessed clashes between the army and the RSF since Oct. 25.

​​​​​​​Sudan has been embroiled in a war between the army and the RSF since April 2023, which has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced around 13 million, according to UN and international estimates.