🔗 Share this article Over 36,000 Sudanese people have evacuated after takeover of El Fasher to paramilitary group, reports UN agency More than 36,000 civilians have fled Sudan's Kordofan area east of Darfur starting Saturday, as reported by the UN's immigration body. The key central region separating the country's Darfur regions and the Khartoum-Riverine region has over recent weeks become the latest battleground in the 24-month civil conflict between the Sudanese military forces and the paramilitary group. Massive Exodus Figures An approximated 36,825 people fled five localities in North Kordofan state between 26 October and 31 October, according to the International Organization for Migration. The people, mainly traveling by foot, moved toward Tawila, a town to the west of El Fasher that is currently housing more than 652,000 refugees. Heightened Forces Deployment Residents of North Kordofan on Monday described a heavy surge in both RSF and army concentration across urban and rural areas throughout the state. Both armed factions are contesting control of El Obeid, the North Kordofan state capital and a critical supply and command center that joins Darfur to Khartoum. "Today, all our forces have assembled at the Bara front here," stated an RSF member in a recently circulated video declaration. Regional Inhabitants Detail Protection Issues A local inhabitant of Um Smeima, located west of El Obeid, described that the number of RSF vehicles had grown significantly since the group's capture of El Fasher. "We stopped going to our farms, afraid of clashes," the individual explained. Another inhabitant, who sought confidentiality for safety concerns, also confirmed that "there has been a significant rise in army vehicles and weapons west and south of El Obeid" over the previous fortnight. Global Warnings and Requests A senior UN official raised the alarm last week about "widespread abuses" and "ethnic-based retaliations" by RSF in Bara. The diplomat warned of patterns comparable to patterns in Darfur, where RSF militants have been alleged to commit mass killings, sexual violence and abductions against non-Arab ethnic groups. The spiritual head on Sunday called for an prompt truce and the establishment of relief routes in Sudan, saying that attacks on civilians and hindrances to humanitarian aid "are producing unacceptable suffering." Sudan's diplomatic representative to Egypt on Sunday accused RSF of committing war crimes in El Fasher and declared that the Sudanese government would not engage with the paramilitary group. The diplomat further urged the world nations to categorize the group as a terrorist entity.