MORE than 5,500 children have been newly displaced by fighting over the strategic Sudanese city of el-Obeid, and thousands more are at risk, Save the Children has warned.
“As families arrive in displacement sites and into local communities, they face increasingly difficult living conditions,” the international charity said in a statement. “Many are struggling to access adequate shelter, clean water, healthcare and education services, while overcrowding is placing additional pressure on already limited resources.”
El-Obeid is home to more than half a million people and served as a key humanitarian lifeline for northwestern Sudan.
It has become the latest focus of the civil war between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group that controls the Darfur region.
The city, where the government’s 5th Infantry Division is based, has been besieged by the RSF for months, and targeted by intensifying drone attacks that have killed civilians and destroyed civilian infrastructure, resulting in severe fuel and water shortages.
“Throughout June, the situation… was extremely challenging – drones rained heavily in and around the city,” Emad, a civilian living in el-Obeid with his family, told Save the Children. “About 11 fuel stations were hit, along with fuel tankers… Additionally, tankers sitting idle inside the city were also hit, including water tankers.”
Siege-like conditions and overcrowding from internal displacement have also exacerbated a seasonal cholera outbreak, with 300 cases confirmed by Sudan’s State Ministry of Health, the charity said.
“Save the Children is particularly concerned about the growing psychological toll on children, many of whom have witnessed violence, lost loved ones, or been forced to flee multiple times in the past three years,” it said.
The charity said that across Sudan, children under 18 make up about 55 percent of the country’s displaced population.
“For children, displacement is far more than the loss of a home,” said Francesco Lanino, deputy country director for Save the Children in Sudan. “It often means losing access to school, healthcare, clean water and the support networks that help them feel safe and protected.”
In October, when RSF fighters seized control of the Darfur capital, el-Fasher, after an 18-month siege, rights groups documented mass killings and sexual violence against civilians, including children. The United Nations and rights groups warned that el-Obeid could soon fall to the same fate.
The UN Human Rights Council passed a motion on Monday condemning the RSF’s escalating attacks on el-Obeid.
Sudan’s civil war erupted in April 2023, when a power struggle between Sudan’s Armed Forces and the RSF turned into armed conflict. Now in its fourth year, the war has left the nation devastated, killing thousands and leading 4.4 million people to flee to neighbouring countries.
The conflict has been marked by widespread human rights violations, including alleged acts of ethnic cleansing and genocide.
Efforts to end the conflict or secure a ceasefire have amounted to little, with regional and international actors being accused of driving the violence. An effort to begin a peace process organised by the United States last year was abandoned after the Sudanese government alleged bias in favour of the RSF.