The intercommunal conflicts in the Sudanese states of West Kordofan and Blue Nile, in the south of the country, have left 258 dead, 385 wounded and more than 55,000 displaced people in October alone, according to the balance presented at the end of this week by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the African country (OCHA).
The country is being the scene of two simultaneous clashes. The first in the area of Wad el Mahi, in Blue Nile, between the Hausa and Berber communities; and the second in Al Lagowe, in West Kordofan, between the Miseriya and Nuba communities.
In the first case, to give an example, with regard to the upsurge in violence between the Hausa and the Berta, the United Nations is aware of at least 359 deaths and 469 wounded since July, of whom 170 were killed and 327 wounded during the two weeks of the conflict alone, between 13 and 28 October.
However, no fighting has been reported since 26 October and the security situation appears to have improved, particularly following the declaration of a state of emergency ordered by the authorities in the area on 21 October, according to UN estimates.
It remains to be seen how the situation in Al Lagowe, relatively calm since last month, will be resolved in a conflict exacerbated by accusations by the Sudanese Army and its paramilitary Rapid Action forces against the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) for carrying out shelling in the area. The Humanitarian Aid Commission in West Kordofan reports at least 19 dead and 34 wounded during the October clashes.
Further tensions between Sudanese security forces and community leaders in North Darfur, particularly in the Sortony IDP camp, led to the displacement of another 5,000 people since the beginning of October. There have been no reports of deaths or injuries but the area is currently inaccessible to humanitarian organizations.
Overall, since the beginning of 2022, some 265,273 people across the country have been displaced due to localized conflict and insecurity, especially in West Kordofan and Blue Nile. In addition, 829 people have been killed and 973 others have been injured. The majority of the displaced are in Blue Nile (97,094), West Darfur (93,779), North Darfur (24,176) and South Darfur (14,733).
In addition, between January and October 2022, 115 security incidents involving the United Nations and NGOs were reported throughout the country, including armed attacks, bodily assaults, break-ins, robberies and verbal harassment.
