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Darfur displacement surges
The International Organization for Migration said more than 5,000 people were displaced from 10 villages in Sarba locality, West Darfur, western Sudan, due to rising security tensions and clashes in the Bir Saliba area.
“estimated on August 8 that 5,135 people had fled the ten villages in Sarba”
IOM said its displacement-spotting teams estimated on August 8 that 5,135 people had fled the ten villages in Sarba, with the majority of affected households crossing the border into Chad.
Darfur Governor Minni Arko Minawi announced on Saturday that the Sudanese army repelled a large attack launched by the Rapid Support Forces on Bir Saliba, a site north of El Geneina that lies on routes leading to the city.
The latest wave of displacement came after a similar incident on August 4, and the IOM said last Thursday it had announced the displacement of about 6,600 people from 11 villages in Sarba due to escalating clashes and insecurity in the preceding two days.
Blue Nile families flee
In Sudan’s Blue Nile region, Al Jazeera described battles in Qaissan district leaving families with only one escape route as they went out under rain and fire toward Wad Madani.
A displaced woman identified as Bahriya told Al Jazeera’s report prepared by correspondent Haitham Aweid that they walked with small barefoot children, without shoes or adequate clothing.
The report said more than 12,000 people were displaced from the city of Qaissan alone, and it described Aisha’s account of fleeing between trees and bodies of water while gunfire sounded around them.
UNHCR spokeswoman Jessica Gelman said in a Geneva briefing that about 12 million people are still displaced inside Sudan and abroad, warning that weak funding limits the ability of organizations to meet basic needs.
Kordofan displacement and infrastructure
The United Nations said more than 200,000 people were newly displaced across Sudan’s Kordofan region as intensified fighting continued, with the UN’s International Organization for Migration warning that drone attacks target critical water and electricity infrastructure in el-Obeid.
“"The warning signs are impossible to ignore," said IOM Director General Amy Pope”
IOM Director General Amy Pope said, "The warning signs are impossible to ignore," adding that families are fleeing violence, losing access to water, electricity and healthcare, and now facing the added burden of destructive floods.
The IOM said displacement in Kordofan’s Sheikan district, which includes the city of el-Obeid, surged 25 percent over the past eight months, while in el-Obeid drone attacks by the RSF on the city’s main power transformer knocked out electricity needed to pump water and run hospitals.
Al Jazeera reported that on one of the main roads leading to el-Obeid, drones belonging to the RSF targeted army vehicles, oil tankers and cargo trucks, as the RSF maintained position south and west of the city and continued attacking nearby villages.