KHARTOUM: The number of people uprooted by a conflict between military factions in Sudan that erupted nearly three months ago has surpassed 3 million, according to estimates from the International Organization for Migration.
More than 2.4 million people have been displaced internally and more than 730,000 have crossed into neighbouring countries, data published late on Wednesday said.
Most have fled either from the capital Khartoum, the focus of the power struggle between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) that broke out on April 15, or from Darfur, where ethnically-targeted violence has surged.
U.N. officials have said Sudan could slide into civil war, as regional and international mediation efforts have failed.
“This war won’t end shortly,” said United Nations special envoy Volker Perthes, speaking in Belgium. Several ceasefire agreements have been violated and “have basically been used by the parties to reposition themselves,” he said.
On Wednesday, residents reported the sound of fighter jets and artillery shelling in Omdurman and Bahri, parts of the wider capital.
Fighting has also been reported in recent days between the army and powerful SPLM rebel factions in South Kordofan State, and in Blue Nile State near the border with Ethiopia, triggering displacement from those regions as well.
The fighting has laid waste to large parts of the capital and led to waves of attacks in Darfur. Civilians have faced widespread looting, power cuts, food and water shortages, a collapse in health services and a spike in sexual violence.
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