FALCON POWERS – According to UN human rights sources, fires resulting from the conflict in Sudan destroyed 72 villages and settlements last month. Investigators from the “Sudan Witness” project, an open-source initiative run by the non-profit “Flexibility Information Center,” state that the number of fires ignited in April exceeded those in any other month since the war broke out in mid-April 2023.
The latest tally brings the total number of fires in the country since the start of the conflict between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces to 201. The analysis did not provide a casualty count for the fires.
The Rapid Support Forces have frequently employed the use of fires during the war, deliberately setting entire villages ablaze, particularly in the western Sudanese state of Darfur.
The “Flexibility Information Center” stated that the number of fires has sharply increased, especially north and west of El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state, which is currently facing an imminent attack.
El Fasher witnessed intense fighting between the Sudanese army and the semi-military Rapid Support Forces and its allies on Friday.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) stated that the fighting resulted in the death of at least 27 people and left dozens injured, while over 800 others were displaced.
The Sudanese army carried out an airstrike the following day, hitting an area near a children’s hospital in El Fasher, leading to the deaths of two children and a caregiver, according to Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders).
In its analysis, the “Flexibility Information Center” estimated that 31 settlements, including villages and towns, were affected by the fires in April, with the fires destroying over 50% of those settlements.
Anouk Theunissen, the director of the “Sudan Witness” project, said in a press statement, “We have documented various patterns of fires and ongoing destruction of settlements in western Sudan, both large and small, since the conflict broke out in April last year.”
She added, “When we see reports of fighting or airstrikes coinciding with a series of closely spaced fires, it indicates that fires are being used as a weapon of war indiscriminately. This trend is worsening and causing mass displacement of the Sudanese people.”
The conflict in Sudan erupted when tensions escalated between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces, turning into fierce fighting in the capital city of Khartoum in April of the previous year.
The clashes quickly spread to other parts of Sudan, including Darfur, which has witnessed brutal attacks.
