AFRICA
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Over 1,400 flee Sudan's North Darfur in a single day amid escalating insecurity: UN
Areas in North Darfur have been under attack by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), with assaults including raids on markets, the burning of villages and widespread looting, according to an independent lawyers' group.
Over 1,400 flee Sudan's North Darfur in a single day amid escalating insecurity: UN
[FILE]: People displaced by RSF attacks on Zamzam camp shelter in Tawila in December 2025. / Reuters

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has said that around 1,430 people fled the villages of Shatmarta, Sangari, Goz Laban, Dal Barida and Khair Wajid in North Darfur's Umbro locality on Tuesday amid escalating insecurity.

Some of the displaced moved to other areas within Umbro, while others crossed the border into neighbouring Chad, the agency said in a statement released on Thursday.

It added that the security situation in the area "remains tense and volatile" and that it continues to closely monitor developments.

The latest displacement comes three days after the IOM reported that about 2,260 people had fled two villages in Umbro due to deteriorating security conditions.

According to the independent Emergency Lawyers group, villages in Umbro have been under attack for about a month by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), with assaults including raids on markets, the burning of villages and widespread looting.

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The RSF controls four of Darfur's five states and much of the fifth, while the Sudanese army holds parts of North Darfur as well as most of Sudan's other 18 states, including the capital, Khartoum.

Darfur accounts for roughly one-fifth of Sudan's territory, which spans more than 1.8 million square kilometres. However, most of Sudan's estimated 50 million people live in areas controlled by the army.

Sudan has been engulfed in conflict since April 2023, when fighting erupted between the army and the RSF over plans to integrate the paramilitary force into the military. The civil war has triggered one of the world's worst humanitarian crises, killing tens of thousands of people and displacing nearly 13 million.

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SOURCE:Anadolu Agency