Thousands of People Flee West Darfur Sudan Due to RSF Threat

JAKARTA - More than 6,000 people have fled the town of Kulbus and three nearby villages in Sudan's Western Darfur State, earlier this week, after threats from paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the UN's International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Thursday.

The agency said its field teams estimate that 6,005 people have fled Kulbus and the villages of Wadi Bardi, Arwa and Adarb in Kulbus.

The IOM said most of the refugees crossed the border into Chad, as Anadolu reported (3/7).

The agency further said the situation in the area "remains very tense and unstable," adding that they continue to monitor developments closely.

The evacuation came amid fighting between Sudanese soldiers and allied forces on one side and the RSF on the other, before government forces later announced that they had taken control of Kulbus.

In recent days, videos circulating on social media showed RSF members threatening Kulbus residents and inciting violence against them for welcoming Sudanese soldiers.

On Monday, Darfur Governor Minni Arko Minnawi said Sudanese soldiers and allied forces had seized Kulbus after clashes with the RSF.

"The Sudanese Armed Forces, the joint forces of the armed movements, and the popular resistance, with public support, dealt a crushing defeat to the RSF in Kulbus," Minnawi said on Facebook.

Kulbus is located on the western edge of Sudan, near the border with Chad, about 160 kilometers (99 miles) from El Geneina, the capital of the Western Darfur state.

RSF controls five Darfur states in Sudan, except for a part of North Darfur which remains under the control of the army, while the army controls most of the other 13 states in the country, including the capital, Khartoum.

It is known that the humanitarian crisis in Sudan has worsened since fighting broke out between the army and the RSF in 2023 due to disputes over the integration of the armed forces.

The conflict has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced or forced some 13 million others from their homes.