Over 36,000 Sudanese have fled since fall of El Fasher to paramilitary group, states UN agency

Over 36,000 individuals have fled Sudan's Kordofan region eastern part of Darfur since Saturday, as stated by the UN's immigration body.

The important central zone connecting the country's Darfur regions and the Khartoum-Riverine region has during recent weeks become the latest battleground in the two-year civil war between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary group.

Substantial Exodus Figures

An calculated 36,825 people escaped five areas in North Kordofan state between 26 October and 31 October, per data from the International Organization for Migration.

The civilians, mainly traveling by foot, moved toward Tawila, a town western side of El Fasher that is currently housing over 652,000 evacuated individuals.

Increased Forces Deployment

Local inhabitants of North Kordofan on Monday described a substantial rise in both RSF and army presence across urban and rural areas throughout the state.

Both forces are vying for control of El Obeid, the North Kordofan state capital and a key logistics and command base that joins Darfur to Khartoum.

"Today, all our forces have converged on the Bara front here," stated an RSF member in a recently distributed video statement.

Local Residents Detail Protection Issues

A area citizen of Um Smeima, located west of El Obeid, reported that the quantity of RSF vehicles had grown substantially since the group's seizure of El Fasher.

"We stopped going to our farms, afraid of fighting," the local stated.

Another civilian, who requested anonymity for security reasons, also confirmed that "there has been a big increase in army vehicles and weapons west and south of El Obeid" over the past two weeks.

World Warnings and Requests

A senior UN official raised the alarm last week about "widespread abuses" and "race-driven revenge attacks" by RSF in Bara.

The diplomat cautioned about patterns echoing those in Darfur, where RSF combatants have been alleged to commit mass killings, sexual violence and abductions against certain racial groups.

The spiritual head on Sunday called for an quick cessation of hostilities and the opening of humanitarian corridors in Sudan, saying that attacks on civilians and obstacles to humanitarian aid "are creating unacceptable suffering."

Sudan's ambassador to Egypt on Sunday charged RSF of committing war crimes in El Fasher and declared that the Sudanese government would not negotiate with the paramilitary group.

The ambassador further called on the international community to classify the group as a terrorist group.