by – Siddig Al-Dakhri
EL-DIBEIBAT, Sudan, June 16, 2025 (Mashawir) – The city of El-Dibeibat in South Kordofan state has been a scene of relentless armed conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) since May 2023. The fighting has caused widespread bloodshed, human rights abuses, looting, forced displacement, abductions and rape.
El-Dibeibat, a vital crossroads linking North Kordofan, South Kordofan, and West Darfur, is home to an estimated 1.5 million people. In May 2023, RSF forces captured a small SAF camp in the city, seizing military equipment and turning the area into a battleground marked by artillery and air strikes. The escalating violence has led to a severe deterioration of humanitarian and security conditions, triggering new waves of killings, terror, and mass displacement, along with grave violations against civilians.
Mass displacement and dire conditions
Thousands of El-Dibeibat residents have fled to El-Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan state, some 100 kilometers away. Hundreds of families are now living in the open, facing extremely difficult health and humanitarian conditions. The situation is expected to worsen with the approaching rainy season.
“About 180 families are in the Al-Saleheen area of El-Obeid, struggling with harsh conditions, sleeping in the open, including children, the elderly, and pregnant women,” Hussein Al-Toom, one of the displaced, told the Mashawir platform. He added that many families walked hundreds of kilometers to El-Obeid, while others used donkey carts and “tuk-tuks,” exacerbating the suffering of those with chronic illnesses and leading to miscarriages among women.
Al-Toom noted that people from the region, both inside and outside Sudan, are organizing relief efforts, providing daily meals, medicine, and clothing through charitable kitchens known as “takayas.” He emphasized the urgent need for international and regional organizations to intervene, provide relief, and offer shelter, especially as the rainy season approaches.
Escalating attacks and civilian pleas
Reciprocal military operations have led to the mass displacement of hundreds of families from the villages of Awlad Younis, Abd Al-Mahmoud, and Umm Qalina. They have fled to Abu Zabad in West Kordofan, El-Obeid in North Kordofan, and remote agricultural areas, most of which lack basic shelter, health, or food services.
“We are victims of both sides,” a citizen, who wished to remain anonymous, told the Mashawir platform. “On one hand, we face RSF attacks and violations, and on the other, we endure indiscriminate army airstrikes on markets. We no longer trust either side. We are all victims.”
Residents are urgently calling on human rights and humanitarian organizations to intervene, establish safe corridors for evacuating the wounded and women, and initiate an international investigation into the violations committed against unarmed civilians.
Documented violations and tragedies
In recent weeks, RSF forces have launched coordinated attacks on several villages, while army drones have responded with aerial bombardments of populated areas. These actions have intensified civilian suffering, forcing hundreds to flee their homes in dire humanitarian circumstances.
Last May, an RSF force stormed the village of Awlad Younis, carrying out widespread looting of homes, shops, farms, and livestock, according to eyewitnesses and local activists. The attack resulted in six deaths, including an elderly woman, and dozens of injuries.
Eyewitnesses told the Mashawir platform that RSF soldiers stormed the village, firing indiscriminately. “They entered homes without distinction, stealing everything, even cooking utensils,” one witness said. “We saw people fleeing their homes screaming, children and women. It was a night that will not be forgotten.” Local organizations documented five confirmed cases of rape of girls during the attack, including two teenagers. Activists confirmed that survivors urgently need medical treatment and psychological support, which is currently unavailable.
Repeated raids and air strikes
In the same month, RSF forces attacked Abd Al-Mahmoud village, west of El-Dibeibat, engaging in extensive looting of livestock, crops, and personal belongings. Three civilians were killed and several others wounded. The same forces also attacked Umm Qalina village, firing indiscriminately at residents, injuring three civilians, and repeating similar looting patterns.
Conversely, the Sudanese army conducted intensive drone strikes on El-Dibeibat in the same month, targeting the gasoline market and other sites near markets and residential areas. These strikes killed three civilians on the first day and five on the second, in addition to injuring dozens and burning vehicles and buildings.
Eyewitnesses reported that smoke plumes covered the city as families rushed to flee amidst chaos. A medical staff member at a city hospital stated that more than 30 wounded individuals were admitted in under an hour. “The injuries were critical, mostly from shrapnel and fires. Among the victims were children and women who were simply passing near the market at the moment of the strike.”
Calls for justice and accountability
With local and international media facing challenges in covering the ongoing conflict, human rights organizations have urged the formation of an independent fact-finding committee to document violations. They have also called on the international community to pressure the warring parties to cease targeting civilians.
An official from a local human rights organization stated that “what is happening in El-Dibeibat is a tragic repetition of events in Geneina, El Fasher, and Nyala, but this time without cameras, in complete silence. War crimes cannot be allowed to continue without accountability.”
He added, “El-Dibeibat today appears under siege, not by one side, but by two armies fighting for control at the expense of the population. Without protection and justice, humanitarian suffering continues without end. The calls to stop the violence and bring justice for the victims grow louder, confronting indiscriminate gunfire that spares no one—military or civilian, man or woman, child or elder. Stopping this war has become more urgent than ever.”
Sudan Media Forum and its member organizations publish this material, prepared by Mashawir news outlet, to highlight the severe suffering of residents in El-Dibeibat city and its surroundings due to the ongoing war between the army and the Rapid Support Forces.
