Sudan: 2000 people displaced in one day from Kordofan region
The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) has reported that between 31st December and 4th January, violence in Sudan has displaced 1000 people from South Kordofan alongside a further 2000 people in a single day from the Al-Sarha village in North Kordofan, according to the UN on January 6th.
A total of 65,000 people have been displaced from the Kordofan region between October and the end of December 2025, according to IOM data. Clashes between the Sudanese army and the RSF have escalated across North, West and South Kordofan since October, forcing repeated displacement.
Sudan’s war, which began in April 2023 after a power struggle between the Sudanese military and the UAE-backed Rapid Support Forces (RSF), has created one of the world’s largest displacement crises, with an estimated 14 million people displaced, five million being children.
The Kordofan region has been a battlefield for the Sudanese military and the RSF, as the latter seeks to prevent advances into the Darfur region. The capital of the North Kordofan region, El-Obeid, is under threat as Mohamed Refaat, IOM Chief of Mission in Sudan, said that the city is “one or two steps from being the next city under attack…we estimate more than half a million are already going to be impacted.”
The strategic town of El-Obeid was under an RSF siege for two years, when the Sudanese military reclaimed the city in February 2025. El Obeid serves as a key supply hub for markets across central Sudan and a vital transit point for trade moving between the country’s eastern and western regions. The city is linked by road and rail to major centres including Khartoum, El Fasher, Kadugli and El Fula, and also has an airport.
Recently, the RSF has carried out drone strikes on the city of El-Obeid, attempting to attack civil institutions and markets, and causing a massive fire in the El-Obeid power station, killing thirteen civilians.
The IOM has said that conditions in the Kordofan region remain volatile, and it is closely tracking developments on the ground.
UN, Anadolu Agency, Sudan Tribune, UN Geneva, EuroNews, UNICEF, all Africa, Maghrebi.org
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