KHARTOUM, Nov 14 – More than 99,000 Sudanese civilians have been displaced from El-Fasher in western Sudan since the city’s takeover by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) last month, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said Thursday.
In a statement, the UN agency said its displacement-tracking matrix estimated an additional 10,236 people fled El-Fasher between Nov. 9 and 12, taking the total number of displaced civilians to 99,128.
The figures are preliminary and may change as insecurity persists and displacement continues to accelerate, it added.
Those who fled have moved to multiple locations across the localities of El-Fasher, Tawila, and Kutum in North Darfur, the statement said.
The IOM said its field teams reported “severe insecurity along major roads, which could hinder movement,” warning that the situation remains tense and unpredictable amid continued instability and population movements.
On Oct. 26, the RSF seized El-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, and was accused of massacres. The group controls all five Darfur states out of Sudan’s 18 states, while the army holds most of the remaining 13 states, including Khartoum.
The bloody conflict between the Sudanese army and the RSF, which began in April 2023, has killed at least 40,000 people and displaced some 12 million, according to the World Health Organization.
