Over 20 civilians killed, many injured in clashes in southeastern Sudan: UN

More than 20 civilians were killed and scores of others injured in clashes in the southeastern Sudanese city of Geisan near the Ethiopian border, the UN humanitarian office said.

“Local sources in Blue Nile state reported that more than 20 civilians were killed, and many others injured, in clashes in Geisan town on Tuesday,” the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Sudan said Wednesday in a statement published on the UN website.

The escalation in violence has displaced about 2,500 people from the town, it added.

OCHA “reiterated its call on all parties to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure, and to allow aid to reach people quickly, safely and without obstruction.”

Local authorities in Geisan, in Blue Nile state, said Tuesday that the Sudanese army had repelled an attack on the city by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and its ally, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), without providing details about casualties or damage.

Military sources told Anadolu earlier Wednesday that fighting between the army and the RSF-SPLM-N alliance continued in Geisan for a second consecutive day.

The army controls large parts of Blue Nile state, while the SPLM-N has fought the Sudanese government since 2011, demanding autonomous rule for the Blue Nile and South Kordofan regions.

Separately, OCHA said human rights workers reported that a drone struck El-Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan state, on Wednesday morning.

No information on civilian casualties is currently available, but one of the drones reportedly hit a water station, which is of grave concern at a time when access to clean water remains one of the most pressing challenges facing the city, it said.

OCHA said continued attacks and insecurity in northern parts of North Kordofan were forcing more people to seek refuge in El-Obeid.

Humanitarian partners estimate that around 15,000 families have been displaced to the city over the past three weeks, placing additional pressure on already overstretched displacement sites and essential services, it added.

Sudan has been engulfed in conflict since April 2023, when fighting erupted between the Sudanese army and the RSF over plans to integrate the paramilitary force into the regular military. The war has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced millions and triggered one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.