Nearly 2,000 civilians were displaced from Sudan’s western city of Heglig in West Kordofan after a nine-day journey following the city’s seizure by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), local media reported on Tuesday, December 16.
Qamar El-Din Mohamed, governor of White Nile State, said that 1,850 displaced individuals arrived in the city of Kosti, according to the state news agency SUNA. Humanitarian assistance—including food, shelter, and medical services—has been mobilised by national organisations, civil society groups, and local benefactors, White Nile Humanitarian Aid Commissioner Lamyaa Ahmed Abdullah added.
The displacement follows the RSF’s capture of Heglig and its oilfield last week. Fighting has intensified across Sudan’s three Kordofan states—North, West, and South—forcing tens of thousands to flee. Since the conflict between Sudan’s army and the RSF erupted in April 2023, the RSF has taken control of most of Darfur’s five states, while the army maintains authority over the majority of the country’s remaining states, including the capital Khartoum. The conflict has claimed thousands of lives and displaced millions.
