Thousands of civilians fleeing Sudan’s intensifying war are arriving in the central city of El Obeid, overwhelming already strained humanitarian services and worsening conditions in camps around the city.
More than 15,000 families have arrived in El Obeid and surrounding areas since mid-July, according to UN figures cited by the Guardian, adding to more than 200,000 people displaced there earlier this year.
The influx has placed further pressure on a city that had a population of about 500,000 before the war began in April 2023. Many of the newly displaced are women and children arriving from surrounding villages with little food or belongings.
Humanitarian workers say the situation is deteriorating rapidly. Aid access, sanitation and water supplies are under severe strain, while food prices have risen as fighting disrupts supply routes.
Satellite analysis by the Yale Humanitarian Research Lab showed that about 800 new tents appeared in one of the main displacement camps between 4 and 25 August, reflecting the pace at which people are arriving.
The displacement is being driven by fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, which have been battling for control of the country for more than three years.
El Obeid has itself come under repeated drone attacks. Although the number of strikes has fallen since the army regained a key road linking the city with Khartoum in late July, civilians remain at risk as fighting continues in surrounding parts of North and South Kordofan.
Humanitarian volunteers have also reported an increase in attacks in which a second drone strikes after the initial attack, potentially endangering people responding to the first strike.
The conflict has displaced about 11.3 million people across Sudan, more than a fifth of the country’s population, while parts of the country remain at risk of famine.
El Obeid’s growing population of displaced people highlights the widening humanitarian consequences of the war. Even as military developments have eased some pressure on the city itself, continued fighting in surrounding areas is pushing more civilians towards an urban centre already struggling to meet basic needs.
