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Over 5,000 people were displaced from the town of Qaisan and nearby villages in southeastern Sudan over four days as security conditions deteriorated, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said Monday.
The U.N. agency said its field teams estimated that 5,355 people, representing 1,071 families, fled Qaisan and seven surrounding villages in Blue Nile state between Aug. 12 and 15.
The displaced families moved to other areas within Qaisan, as well as to the localities of Al-Roseires and Wad Al-Mahi, also in Blue Nile State.
The IOM said the situation in the area remains tense and volatile.
The latest displacement follows an earlier wave of departures from Qaisan.
On Aug. 11, the IOM said 2,500 people, representing 500 families, had been displaced from the town because of worsening insecurity and clashes in the area.
On the same day, Qaisan authorities said the Sudanese army had repelled an attack on the town by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, and the allied Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North, or SPLM-N.
Qaisan is located near Sudan’s border with Ethiopia.
The Sudanese army controls large parts of Blue Nile state.
The SPLM-N has fought the Sudanese government since 2011, demanding autonomy in South Kordofan and Blue Nile.
The RSF and the Sudanese army have meanwhile been at war since April 2023 over a dispute involving plans to integrate the paramilitary force into the regular military.
The conflict has killed tens of thousands of Sudanese and displaced around 13 million people.
The war has also triggered famine and developed into one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
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