🔗 Share this article At least 36,000 Sudanese citizens have evacuated following fall of El Fasher to paramilitary group, states UN agency In excess of 36,000 people have fled Sudan's Kordofan area east of Darfur beginning Saturday, according to the UN's immigration body. The important central zone separating the country's Darfur regions and the Khartoum-Riverine area has over recent weeks become the recent fighting area in the extended civil war between the Sudanese armed forces and the paramilitary group. Substantial Exodus Numbers An calculated 36,825 people escaped five districts in North Kordofan province between 26 October and 31 October, according to the International Organization for Migration. The people, most on foot, headed to Tawila, a town to the west of El Fasher that is currently accommodating over 652,000 refugees. Escalated Troop Concentration Residents of North Kordofan on Monday reported a significant increase in both RSF and army concentration across towns and villages throughout the state. Both military groups are vying for control of El Obeid, the North Kordofan provincial capital and a important strategic and command hub that links Darfur to Khartoum. "Today, all our forces have gathered at the Bara front here," stated an RSF member in a recently circulated video statement. Area Citizens Detail Safety Fears A resident of Um Smeima, located west of El Obeid, reported that the number of RSF vehicles had increased significantly since the group's capture of El Fasher. "We stopped going to our farms, concerned about clashes," the resident stated. Another inhabitant, who asked to remain unnamed for protection purposes, also confirmed that "there has been a significant rise in army vehicles and weapons west and south of El Obeid" over the previous fortnight. International Warnings and Calls A senior UN official sounded warnings last week about "widespread abuses" and "race-driven revenge attacks" by RSF in Bara. The diplomat warned of patterns similar to those in Darfur, where RSF militants have been charged with mass killings, sexual violence and abductions against non-Arab ethnic groups. The spiritual head on Sunday called for an prompt truce and the establishment of relief routes in Sudan, stating that attacks on civilians and obstacles to humanitarian aid "are causing unacceptable suffering." Sudan's diplomatic representative to Egypt on Sunday accused RSF of committing war crimes in El Fasher and announced that the Sudanese government would not engage with the paramilitary group. The diplomat further encouraged the global community to designate the group as a terrorist organisation.