Nearly 65,000 Civilians Flee Sudan's Kordofan Region as Conflict Escalates
Khartoum, Sudan – January 6, 2026 – The United Nations reported on Monday that nearly 65,000 civilians have been forced to flee Sudan's volatile Kordofan region in the past three months amid surging insecurity and intensified fighting, marking a sharp escalation in the country's protracted civil war.
The displacement crisis in South and North Kordofan states underscores the relentless violence gripping Sudan since the outbreak of conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in April 2023. According to the UN's International Organization for Migration (IOM), the exodus from Kordofan—located in central and southern Sudan—has been driven by clashes that have worsened significantly since the RSF's capture of el-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, in October 2025. El-Fasher's fall represented a major blow to SAF control in the Darfur region, unleashing ripple effects of instability across neighboring areas.
IOM data indicates that the majority of those displaced—over 60,000—have sought refuge within Sudan, primarily in safer districts within Kordofan or adjacent regions. The remainder have crossed into neighboring Chad or South Sudan, straining already overburdened humanitarian networks. "The security situation in Kordofan has deteriorated rapidly, with civilians bearing the brunt of the violence," an IOM spokesperson stated in the report, highlighting verified incidents of clashes, airstrikes, and inter-communal tensions fueled by the broader war.
Photographic evidence from the region captures the human toll: displaced families from el-Fasher, who fled after its capture, huddle in makeshift camps such as the Rwanda reception point in Tawila, North Darfur, enduring harsh conditions under sparse shelter as of mid-December 2025. These images, shared widely by aid agencies, illustrate the cascading displacement as fighting spreads southward from Darfur into Kordofan.
Background on Sudan's Civil War
Sudan's conflict erupted in mid-April 2023 when long-simmering rivalries between SAF commander Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (Hemedti) boiled over into open warfare in Khartoum. What began as a power struggle within the transitional government following the 2019 ouster of longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir has since morphed into a devastating nationwide war, characterized by urban sieges, ethnic massacres, and widespread atrocities.
Darfur, long scarred by genocide and violence in the early 2000s, has been an epicenter of the fighting. El-Fasher held out as the last major SAF stronghold in North Darfur until RSF forces overran it in October 2025 after months of siege warfare, artillery barrages, and reported ethnic cleansing targeting non-Arab communities. The city's fall displaced over 800,000 people and opened pathways for RSF advances into Kordofan, a resource-rich area vital for food production and trade routes.
Kordofan, spanning South Kordofan and North Kordofan states, has seen sporadic violence since the war's outset but entered a new phase of intensity in late 2025. SAF loyalists and RSF units, along with local militias, have clashed over strategic towns like Kadugli and al-Obeid, disrupting agriculture in a country already facing famine risks. The UN's Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) warned in late 2025 that over 25 million Sudanese—half the population—face acute hunger, with Kordofan hotspots at risk of catastrophic levels.
Humanitarian access remains severely restricted. Aid convoys have been attacked, and both sides accused of blocking relief efforts. The World Food Programme (WFP) and other agencies report that funding shortages exacerbate the crisis, with only 40% of the 2025 humanitarian appeal met as of year-end.
Mounting Humanitarian Toll and Regional Spillover
The Kordofan exodus adds to Sudan's staggering displacement figures: over 10 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) and 3 million refugees since 2023, per UN estimates. Chad and South Sudan host the bulk of refugees, with camps like Adre in Chad overwhelmed by arrivals fleeing Darfur and Kordofan.
International mediators, including the U.S., Saudi Arabia, and the African Union, have pushed for ceasefires, but talks in Geneva and Jeddah have yielded little progress. Both Burhan and Hemedti claim territorial gains—SAF controlling much of the east and north, RSF dominating Darfur and parts of Kordofan—while denying atrocities documented by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, including rape, child soldier recruitment, and infrastructure destruction.
Outlook Amid Worsening Crisis
As winter sets in, aid groups warn of heightened vulnerability to disease and malnutrition in crowded camps. The UN Security Council has called for unrestricted humanitarian corridors, but enforcement remains elusive. With no end in sight to the SAF-RSF standoff, the Kordofan flight signals a potential southward expansion of frontlines, threatening further destabilization in an already fractured nation.
Sudan's war has reshaped the Horn of Africa, drawing in external actors like the United Arab Emirates (allegedly backing RSF) and Egypt (supporting SAF), complicating peace efforts. For the 65,000 newly displaced, survival hinges on urgent international action amid a conflict that shows no signs of abating.
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