Thousands live in ‘dire conditions’ in North Darfur town amid RSF attacks

Thousands of displaced civilians from the town of Mustariha in North Darfur are living in "dire conditions" following attacks by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in southern Sudan, a local medical group said Thursday.

In a statement, the Sudan Doctors Network said the attacks forced families to flee suddenly and without warning, leaving behind their belongings and sources of support. Many spent the night in the open without shelter, food or safe drinking water.

"More than 3,000 displaced people, most of them women, including pregnant women, now face extremely severe health and humanitarian conditions," spokesperson Dr. Tasneem Al-Amin said in the statement posted on the US social media company X.

The medical group called for urgent assistance to avert an "imminent humanitarian catastrophe" in the area.
"We appeal to international and humanitarian organizations to urgently provide shelter, food, water, and healthcare to save these affected families, whose suffering has been exacerbated by the RSF attacks," it added.

The RSF controls four of Darfur's five states in western Sudan, with parts of North Darfur still under army control. The military retains influence over most of the country's remaining states, including the capital, Khartoum.

Darfur makes up about one-fifth of Sudan's territory, which spans more than 1.8 million square kilometers, while most of the country's roughly 50 million people live in areas controlled by the army.

Since April 2023, the RSF and the Sudanese army have fought over a dispute related to integrating the paramilitary force into the military. The conflict has triggered famine conditions in what is considered one of the world's worst humanitarian crises, killing tens of thousands of people and displacing millions.