The displacement of thousands of civilians fleeing recent ground clashes in areas including Hamrat al-Sheikh and Sodari has intensified, with people heading toward El Obeid and other areas. This comes amid serious warnings from UN and local actors about a sharp deterioration in infrastructure and critical shortages of drinking water, food, and essential medicines across the region.
The Emergency Lawyers group said in a statement that it had “documented a large wave of civilian displacement from the Hamrat al-Sheikh area, which is witnessing a massive military buildup by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), described as the first of its kind since the beginning of the war, with troops and military equipment deployed inside residential areas and among homes.”
The group said these conditions had forced civilians to flee their areas, with some having to remain in the open, while others headed to Umm Suntah in North Kordofan State and Ed Dabba in Northern State.
The rights group condemned the military buildup inside residential areas, saying it poses a direct threat to the lives and safety of civilians, particularly amid the lack of effective protection and humanitarian assistance in the area.
It stressed that “the presence of troops and military operations near civilian populations obliges the parties to the conflict to strictly comply with the rules of international humanitarian law, foremost among them the protection of civilians and civilian objects, distinguishing between civilians and military targets, and taking all feasible precautions to avoid harming civilians.”
