In Sudan, clashes between rival generals have extended to two cities, including a major gathering of 600,000 people in El Fasher, North Darfur. Witnesses are expressing alarm for the hundreds of thousands who have fled the violence in the Darfur region.
Fighting between two rival generals has spread to two cities in war-ravaged Sudan, witnesses said Friday, raising concerns for hundreds of thousands who have fled violence in the Darfur region.
Battles resumed late Thursday in the North Darfur state capital of El Fasher, witnesses said, disrupting nearly two months of calm in the city that has become a shelter from the shelling, looting, rapes and summary executions reported in other parts of Darfur.
“This is the biggest gathering of civilians displaced in Darfur, with 600,000 people in El Fasher,” said Nathaniel Raymond of the Humanitarian Research Lab at the Yale School of Public Health.
Witnesses also reported fighting in Al-Fulah, capital of West Kordofan state, which borders North Darfur.
The vast western region as well as the capital Khartoum have seen some of the worst bloodshed since fighting erupted on April 15 between Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
Many have fled across the western border to neighbouring Chad, while others have sought refuge in other parts of Darfur, where the International Criminal Court is looking into allegations of war crimes.
The conflict has displaced some four million Sudanese, according to UN figures, and killed at least 3,900 people nationwide, according to a conservative estimate by the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project.
Katrine Houmøller, with AFP
