A raging conflict in Sudan has driven more than 3 million people from their homes, including over 700,000 who fled to neighbouring countries, the UN said Wednesday.

More than 2.4 million people have fled their homes to safer areas inside the country, according to the International Organization for Migration. Around 738,000 others crossed into neighbouring countries, the agency said.

Egypt is hosting the largest number of those who fled — more than 255,500 people — followed by Chad with more than 238,000 and South Sudan with around 160,800, the IOM said.

More than 62,000 people fled to Ethiopia, more than 16,700 to the Central African Republic and around 3,000 to Libya, it added.

Over 72 percent of those displaced were from Khartoum and around 9 percent from West Darfur province, both places where the clashes have been largely centred, the IOM said.

The IOM said that 65 percent of those who fled into neighbouring countries were Sudanese nationals and the rest were foreigners and refugees who were forced to return to their home countries.

Fighting rages

Sudan has plunged into chaos since mid-April when monthslong tensions between the military and its rival, the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, exploded into open fighting in the capital, Khartoum, and elsewhere across the northeastern African nation.

The conflict derailed Sudanese hopes of restoring the country’s fragile transition to democracy, which had begun after a popular uprising forced the military’s removal of longtime ruler Omar al-Bashir in April 2019. A coup, led by the military and RSF, disrupted the democratic transition in October 2021.

The fighting continued Wednesday in parts of Khartoum. Plumes of smoke could be seen rising over the city centre, where residents said the military attacked a building allegedly used by RSF members. The conflict has turned Khartoum and other urban areas into battlefields.

Members of the paramilitary force have occupied people’s houses and other civilian properties since the conflict broke out, according to residents and activists. There have also been reports of widespread destruction and looting across Khartoum and the nearby city of Omdurman.

Over 3000 killed

The clashes have killed more than 3,000 people and wounded more than 6,000 others, Health Minister Haitham Mohammed Ibrahim said in televised comments last month.

The casualty tally is likely much higher, according to doctors and activists. International and regional efforts have so far failed to establish a cease-fire that could allow humanitarian agencies to provide support to civilians still trapped in the conflict.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned over the weekend that the country was on the brink of a “ full-scale civil war."

Earlier this week, a regional meeting floated the idea of deploying troops to Sudan to protect civilians.