File photo for representation: People walk among scattered objects in the market of El Geneina, the capital of West Darfur on April 29, 2023. (AFP)
Port Sudan, Sudan: Thousands of families fled their homes in Sudan's North Darfur state over two days, the United Nations's migration agency said Tuesday, amid intensified attacks by paramilitaries.
"Between 25 and 27 January 2025, an estimated 3,960 households were displaced from various villages across El-Fasher locality," the International Organization for Migration said in a statement.
The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) -- at war with the army since April 2023 -- have captured every state capital in the vast western region of Darfur except for North Darfur capital El-Fasher, which they have besieged since May.
In its latest attempt to capture the city, the RSF last week issued an ultimatum demanding that army forces and their allies leave the city.
The IOM said Tuesday the displacement occurred due to RSF attacks, which included reported incidents of "looting and burning of personal property".
Army and allied forces have repeatedly repelled attacks by the paramilitaries, who local activists on Tuesday said launched intense artillery shelling on residential neighbourhoods in the city.
On Friday, a drone attack on the city's only functioning hospital, which local monitors blamed on the RSF, killed 70 people, drawing condemnation from the United Nations.
Nearly 1.7 million people are displaced in North Darfur state alone, according to the UN, with an estimated two million experiencing extreme food insecurity and 320,000 in famine.
In the area around El-Fasher, famine has already taken hold in three displacement camps -- Zamzam, Abu Shouk and Al-Salam -- and is expected to expand to five more areas including the city itself by May, according to a UN-backed assessment.
The war in Sudan has so far killed tens of thousands of people and uprooted over 12 million in what the UN describes as the world's worst displacement crisis.
