Over 5,500 children flee escalating5,500 children flee escalating fighting near Sudan strategic city el-Obeid
More than 5,500 children have fled escalating fighting around Sudan's strategic city of el-Obeid over the past two weeks as fighting destroys fuel stations and water tankers.
The United Nations warns up to 500,000 civilians could be at risk if violence intensifies while a seasonal cholera outbreak has already confirmed 300 cases.
This displacement marks a critical new phase in Sudan's war as humanitarian access collapses and disease spreads rapidly in overcrowded camps.
Save the Children
Humanitarian agencies describe the displacement of over 5,500 children as a catastrophic failure to protect civilians amid siege-like conditions and fuel station destruction.
United Nations
The United Nations warns that up to half a million civilians face direct risk if violence intensifies in the strategic city of el-Obeid, highlighting the scale of the crisis.
Charity Watch
International observers note that cholera cases have surged to 300 as overcrowding and lack of sanitation in displacement camps drive a seasonal outbreak.
- Sudan has faced one of the world's largest displacement crises since the 2023 civil war began.
- North Kordofan state is a key agricultural region that supplies much of Sudan's food.
- El-Obeid was historically a major transit point for trade routes connecting central Sudan to Darfur.
Sudan Civil War
Sudan's civil war has entered its fourth year, now defined by a de facto partition with the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) controlling Khartoum, the east, and parts of Kordofan, while the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) dominate all of Darfur and hold parts of central Kordofan. The RSF captured El Fasher in October 2025 after an eighteen-month siege, consolidating its rule over all Darfur states, while the SAF reclaimed Khartoum and the presidential palace in early 2025, returning the government to the capital in January 2026. Front lines have largely stabilized into this split, yet hostilities have intensified in Kordofan and Darfur with widespread drone warfare and documented atrocities, including mass killings and ethnic violence.
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