More than 55,000 people have fled Sinja, the capital of Sennar state in southeastern Sudan, as fighting rages between paramilitary forces and the regular army, according to the UN humanitarian office OCHA. The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) claimed to have taken Sinja, where witnesses described intense fighting and civilians in panic attempting to escape. OCHA reported on social media that over 55,400 people have fled Sinja Town as conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and RSF spreads to the town. People fleeing Sinja town have arrived in Gedaref, Blue Nile, White Nile, and Kassala states, but Gedaref is already hosting more than 600,000 people, according to the United Nations.
Aid groups in Gedaref have started planning for the arrival of those fleeing Sennar. Reports indicate that armed men, including members of the RSF, have ransacked and looted homes and shops and occupied government buildings in Sinja. Local councils have entered the town of El-Suki in Sennar state. Sennar state is home to more than one million displaced Sudanese and connects central Sudan to the army-controlled southeast.
Sudan has been gripped by war since April 2023, with conflict between forces loyal to army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the RSF. The latest RSF breakthrough means the paramilitaries are tightening the noose around Port Sudan on the Red Sea, where the army, government, and UN agencies are based. Witnesses reported renewed fighting in Omdurman, Khartoum’s twin city, where machinegun fire could be heard. Sudan’s army confirmed the fighting on Facebook, saying its forces had destroyed several RSF combat vehicles and killed an unspecified number of fighters.
