Khartoum: More than 1,200 people were newly displaced from South and North Kordofan in southern Sudan due to escalating insecurity, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said Sunday.

According to Anadolu Agency, the UN agency stated that its field displacement teams recorded the displacement of 780 people from the city of Dilling in South Kordofan between Wednesday and Friday as security conditions deteriorated. The situation in the area remains highly tense and volatile, and it is closely monitoring developments, the organization added.

The agency reported that 510 more people were displaced from the village of Al-Sanjouqi, in the Umm Dam Haj Ahmed locality of North Kordofan, also due to security conditions. The displaced people moved to various locations within the Umm Dam Haj Ahmed and Sheikan localities in North Kordofan, the agency noted.

On December 18, the IOM reported that the number of displaced people across Sudan's three Kordofan states - North, West and South Kordofan - reached 50,445 between October 26 and December 17. The three states have experienced weeks of intense fighting between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), forcing tens of thousands of people to flee.

Of Sudan's 18 states, the RSF controls all five states of the Darfur region in the west, with the exception of some northern parts of North Darfur that remain under army control. The army, in turn, holds most areas of the remaining 13 states in the south, north, east, and center, including the capital Khartoum.

The conflict between the Sudanese army and the RSF, which began in April 2023, has resulted in thousands of deaths and displaced millions of people.