The area of fighting in Sudan has expanded. In addition to Khartoum and its environs and the five states of Darfur, new areas in Kordofan, Blue Nile and Al-Jazeera have entered the circle of battles during the past two days, which has raised fears of an all-out war scenario.
The fighting has so far killed more than 4,000 people and displaced 4 million in Sudan, of whom about 700,000 have crossed the border into neighboring countries.
The war caused economic losses estimated at more than 50 billion dollars, and caused massive damage to infrastructure and public and private property.
Fears of an expansion of the fighting in Sudan if the SPLM gets involved
The expansion of the fighting in Kordofan
The Kordofan region is one of the areas most affected by the fighting in Sudan. Since the first days of the outbreak of the conflict, the city of El-Obeid, the largest city in the region, has been witnessing violent battles, and it is still witnessing back and forth and an exchange of control between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces.
During the past few hours, major disturbances occurred in a number of cities in the region, especially Al-Nuhud and Kadugli.
Reports indicated that the Rapid Support Forces took control of the police headquarters and the central reserve camp in West Kordofan state, after clashes that lasted for more than an hour with the army forces.
So far, no statement has been issued by the army or the Sudanese government, denying or confirming these reports.
With the deterioration of the security situation in the north of the region, the authorities announced a night curfew in Al-Nuhud, one of the largest cities in Kordofan.
In the west of the region, artillery shelling continued by the People’s Movement in the North, led by Abdel Aziz Al-Hilu, on the city of Kadugli, causing a wave of panic and displacement among the citizens.
In a dangerous development, several cities in the Gezira state, south of Khartoum, witnessed several armed attacks, which resulted in the death and injury of a number of civilians.
On Thursday, clashes continued in the city of Nyala and other areas in the Darfur region, western Sudan, which led to dozens of deaths and injuries.
The security and humanitarian situation is seriously deteriorating in most regions of the region, amid reports indicating that the death toll has risen over the past four months to more than two thousand people, including a large number of children, in addition to the displacement of about 500 thousand people to neighboring Chad and a number of internal regions in the region. .
The security situation in the region is getting worse with the continuation of the fighting, rape, looting and burning, which affected more than 50 residential areas.
Thousands of stranded residents face the danger of starvation amid fears of depletion of food stocks, and in light of the great difficulties facing humanitarian organizations, as the deteriorating security conditions impede the arrival of food and medicine to the hungry and sick.
Those fleeing the fighting areas in Darfur are living in serious humanitarian conditions. The increasing number of people crossing the border into Chad, estimated at more than 5,000 people daily, has led to the accumulation of tens of thousands in the areas surrounding the Chadian city of Adre near the Sudanese border, under extremely complex conditions. They live in the open and suffer from a great shortage of food and medical aid.
Survival or Flight: The Story of Civilians in Warzones
Why did the fighting expand?
According to military strategist Amin Majzoub, the expansion of the current war in different regions of the country is “a strategy through which the RSF may aim to relieve pressure on its forces in Khartoum, occupy the army forces by opening new fronts, and perhaps an attempt to draw other parties into the war.”
Majzoub told Sky News Arabia, “Attempting to open new fronts will cost the Rapid Support Forces a lot in terms of the field, and affect its existing strength in Khartoum.”
4 hot zones
Khartoum: The battles continue in the capital for the fifth month in a row, amid the intensive use of heavy weapons that resulted in the death of hundreds of civilians, and the Rapid Support Forces control more than 70 percent of the vital military and civilian areas in the three cities of the capital: Khartoum, Omdurman and Khartoum North, while it controls the army for the remainder. Darfur: Fierce battles are taking place in a number of cities in the region in light of a great security and tribal tension, as the region witnessed a war that is the longest in the African continent and has continued since 2003, in which more than 300 thousand people were killed and millions were displaced. Kordofan: Fighting is intensifying between the army and the Rapid Support Forces in the regions of North and Central Kordofan, while fierce battles are taking place between the army and the forces of the Northern People’s Movement, led by Al-Hilu. Blue Nile: A number of cities located in the south of the Blue Nile are witnessing sporadic clashes between the army and a military faction affiliated with the SPLM-N.
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2023-08-17 19:09:00
