Fire at displacement camp in Sudan’s North Darfur displaces 34 families: UN

By Adel Abdelrahim and Lina Altawell

KHARTOUM, Sudan / ISTANBUL (AA) – A fire tore through a displacement camp in the town of Tawila in Sudan’s North Darfur state, displacing 34 families, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said Monday.

The blaze broke out Sunday at the Al-Omda camp, destroying about 34 shelters and forcing families to relocate to open areas within the same state, the UN agency said.

No information was yet available about injuries or the cause of the fire.

Tawila has received tens of thousands of displaced civilians after the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) seized the city of El-Fasher on Oct. 26. Local and international organizations accused the RSF of committing abuses against civilians during the takeover.

The UN Children’s Fund UNICEF said Sunday that the situation for children in Sudan is “dire” and requires greater global attention.

About 30 million people nationwide need humanitarian assistance in Sudan, roughly half of them children, the agency said.

Sudan’s humanitarian crisis has worsened amid the ongoing war between the army and the RSF that erupted in April 2023 over a dispute about integrating the paramilitary force into the military. The conflict has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced about 13 million, according to international estimates.