The U.N.’s humanitarian agency is warning that the situation for civilians in Sudan’s volatile Darfur region is worsening as fighting between the country’s two rival armed groups escalates and intercommunal tensions rise.
It reports renewed clashes between the Sudan Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces in all four corners of Darfur “have killed dozens of civilians and wounded many more; thousands have been displaced and civilian property has been destroyed or damaged.”
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, or OCHA, reports at least 17 people were killed and 35 were injured over the past week in Nyala in South Darfur, and 17,500 people fled their homes in search of safety.
“Overall, in Sudan, more than 5.7 million people have been forced from their homes and 25 million, more than half of the population, now need humanitarian assistance,” said OCHA spokesperson.
Some 9,000 people have been killed and thousands more have been injured since two rival generals plunged the country into war on April 15, OCHA estimates. It reports 4.6 million have become newly displaced inside Sudan, and more than 1 million people have fled as refugees into neighboring countries.
