MORE than 4,500 people have fled Sudan’s North Kordofan state as attacks by Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitaries intensify across the region and neighbouring North Darfur, the Sudan Doctors Network said today.

Nearly 2,000 have reached the state capital el-Obeid from the Bara locality, which the RSF recaptured last week, while others remain stranded “under harsh conditions and facing severe shortages of food, water, and shelter,” the group said.

The city of Bara has been a flashpoint for months, changing hands between the RSF and the Sudanese armed forces.

RSF raids in July left nearly 300 civilians dead, including children and pregnant women.

The exodus follows reports of RSF atrocities in el-Fasher, North Darfur’s capital, where over 1,500 people have been killed and survivors have given horrifying accounts of executions and rape. 

Experts warn that similar crimes could spread into North Kordofan.

United Nations official Martha Pobee told the security council on Thursday that the fall of el-Fasher marked “a significant shift in the security dynamics,” as the conflict’s territorial scope continues to expand.