FIRES being used as a weapon in Sudan destroyed more villages and towns in the country’s west in April than in any other month since the conflict began more than a year ago, an analysis by a British-based rights group said today.

Sudan Witness, an open-source project run by the non-profit Centre for Information Resilience, said 72 villages and settlements were either destroyed or damaged by fires last month.

This brings the total number of settlements hit by fire in Sudan to 201 since the conflict began in mid-April of last year.