Violence in western and southern Sudan has displaced more than 10,000 people within three days this week, according to figures released by the UN’s migration agency and reported by Arab News. The International Organization for Migration said that between December 25 and 26, attacks on the villages of Um Baru and Kernoi near Sudan’s western border with Chad forced more than 7,000 people to flee their homes.

The UN said Sudan’s regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces have been fighting since April 2023 in a conflict that has kil-led tens of thousands of people and displaced more than 11 million. After taking control of the North Darfur capital, El-Fasher, in October, the RSF advanced westward in recent days through areas inhabited by the Zaghawa ethnic group and controlled by a local militia.

In southern Sudan, a further 3,100 people were displaced between Christmas Eve and Friday from the city of Kadugli in South Kordofan, which has been under siege by paramilitary forces for more than a year and a half. Fighting has intensified in resource-rich Kordofan as the RSF and allied forces seek to regain control of Sudan’s central corridor linking Darfur to Khartoum. The conflict has split the country, with the army controlling the north, east, and center, while the RSF controls all five state capitals in Darfur and parts of the south.