Nearly 4,000 Displaced From Sudan’s Blue Nile After Clashes Near Ethiopia Border

Nearly 4,000 people were displaced from the Kurmuk area in southeastern Sudan's Blue Nile state amid clashes near the border with Ethiopia, the International Organization for Migration said Sunday.

“The Sudanese army said on Monday that it had extended its control over two areas in Blue Nile state, in the southeast of the country, while military sources reported a meeting between the elite forces of the Sudanese Intelligence Service and the joint forces of the Darfur movements backing the army in Dalang, South Kordofan”

Al-Jazeera Net

The IOM said its field teams monitored the displacement of 3,860 people, or 772 families, from the Khor Hassan and Abiju areas of Kurmuk on May 10 due to "worsening insecurity" in the region.

Al-Jazeera Net

The displaced headed to the Qaysan area in Blue Nile state, and the UN agency said "the situation remains tense and volatile" as it continued to monitor displacement and developments closely.

On Friday, the Sudanese army announced it had seized control of the Khor Hassan area after clashes with the Rapid Support Forces and their allies in the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North, according to the IOM-linked reporting.

The BBC also framed the fighting in Blue Nile as driving large-scale movement, citing displacement of about 30,000 people from the towns of Dokan and Karan Karan.

The Sudanese army announced it had regained control of the strategically important Al-Keli area in Blue Nile state after clashes with the Rapid Support Forces, with the army saying its Fourth Infantry Division and supporting forces were able to liberate the area on the southern axis.

In a statement, the army said operations would continue "until the rebellion is crushed in all areas of the state," while Blue Nile Governor Ahmed Al-Umda wrote on Facebook that the victory represented "the beginning of the end of the rebellion in the region."

BBC

The RSF issued no official comment on the fighting in the area, and the clashes were reported as coinciding with fighting on the outskirts of the town of Qisan, described as the second-largest city in Blue Nile state.

In a separate report, Al Jazeera Net said the Sudanese army extended its control over two areas in Blue Nile state, with military sources reporting a meeting between the elite forces of the Sudanese Intelligence Service and joint forces of Darfur movements backing the army in Dalang, South Kordofan.

Al Jazeera Net also said the Sudanese army and allied forces recaptured Kern Kern and Dukan after clashes lasting for hours on Monday morning against the Rapid Support Forces and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North allied with them.

Beyond Blue Nile, the UN said Sudan is the theater of a humanitarian emergency of an appalling scale, with Tom G. Fletcher warning that "Sudan is the theater of a humanitarian emergency of an appalling scale."

The UN snapshot said nearly two-thirds of the population need urgent assistance and that "Almost 13 million people have been forcibly displaced since April 2023," including 8.6 million within the country and more than 4 million in neighboring countries.

It added that cases of famine have been reported in at least five regions of Sudan and that a third of Sudan’s population is uprooted.

The UN also warned that the seizure of El Fasher on October 26, 2025 by RSF paramilitaries and escalation of violence in northern Darfur and the states of Kordofan plunged Sudan into a new phase of instability, with the paramilitary forces extending their grip into Kordofan.

In parallel, the IOM-linked reporting on Blue Nile displacement described the situation as tense and volatile, with the agency continuing to monitor displacement and developments closely as clashes persisted near the Ethiopia border.