Khartoum: More than 600 people have been displaced from two villages in South Kordofan amid escalating insecurity, according to a statement from the UN migration agency on Monday. Local groups have accused the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of attacking the area, contributing to the deteriorating situation.

According to Anadolu Agency, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported that their field teams estimated 645 Sudanese were displaced from the villages of Tebsa and Afnori in Abbasiya Tagali locality on November 22. The displacement was attributed to rapidly worsening security conditions in the region.

The displaced families have reached various sites across Abbasiya, while the situation remains "highly tense and volatile," as per the IOM statement. Two local groups, the Nuba Mountains Platform and the Tebsa Youth Gathering, have accused RSF forces and the allied Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) of besieging Tebsa for several hours, storming its market, looting property, and causing casualties.

The groups alleged that RSF fighters detained about 700 young men from the village and transported them to an SPLM-N camp for forced military conscription. Neither the RSF nor the SPLM-N have commented on these accusations.

Heavy clashes have been ongoing across North, West, and South Kordofan, displacing tens of thousands of civilians. Separately, the IOM reported that more than 106,000 civilians fled El-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, after the RSF captured the city on October 26.

The UN agency highlighted that 106,387 people have been displaced from El-Fasher to 37 localities across 11 of Sudan's 18 states, with severe insecurity along travel routes continuing to hamper movement. It emphasized that the situation remains tense and unpredictable, with ongoing insecurity and continuous population movements.

The RSF currently controls all five Darfur states, while the army holds most of the remaining 13 states, including Khartoum. The conflict between the army and the RSF, which began in April 2023, has resulted in at least 40,000 deaths and displaced 12 million people, according to the World Health Organization.