According to a recent report from the Center for Information Resilience, fires used as weaponry decimated 72 villages and towns in Western Sudan in April, marking the highest recorded incidents since the inception of the conflict over a year ago. The report details the increased recurrence of weaponized fires, especially in the western parts of Sudan.
As a part of the Center for Information Resilience, a UK-based non-profit, the project Sudan Witness reports that since the conflict began last year, fires have adversely affected 201 settlements. The regions of Darfur and Kordofan are most frequently affected by fire-incidents, leading to widespread displacement. The plight of the internally displaced people is further exacerbated by the perpetration of fires in the camps, hence displacing the already displaced victims yet again. The locations of these fires were determined via satellite imagery and open-source information.
Project director Anouk Theunissen points out that reports of combats or airstrikes concordant with clusters of fires indicates the indiscriminate application of fire as a weapon of war – a trend that leads to mass displacement of Sudanese natives and shows no signs of abating.
The internal armed conflict in Sudan erupted in April 2023, following a failed political agreement between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group. The pervasive war and violence have led to the destruction of homes, cities, and infrastructure over the past year.
Simultaneously, Sudan has been grappling with one of the world’s largest displacement crises, and stands on the brink of famine. The impact of the conflict on the civilian population is severe; it hampers their ability to deal with the war’s fallout, constrains humanitarian workers’ access to vulnerable populations, and disrupts communication with aid workers. Attacks on telecommunication infrastructure and bureaucratic restrictions pose major challenges for humanitarian organizations, hindering communication with the populace and inhibiting access to funds. A lack of telecommunication connectivity has a negative impact on internet access, a crucial conduit for sharing information, accessing funds, and coordinating aid efforts.
According to data from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in January, approximately 10.7 million individuals have been displaced by conflicts in Sudan, with nine million of them still resident within the country’s borders.