Over 200,000 Newly Displaced in Sudan Kordofan as RSF Encircles El Obeid and Drone Strikes Destroy Critical Infrastructure

More than 200,000 people have been newly displaced across Sudan's Kordofan region since late 2025, IOM Director General Amy Pope said, with displacement in Sheikan locality, which includes El Obeid, up 25 percent over the past eight months 12. Drone strikes and intensified fighting hit El Obeid's main electrical transformer, causing prolonged power outages that disrupted water pumping, hospitals and telecommunications 13. IOM's Displacement Tracking Matrix recorded roughly 11,000 people fleeing Um Samima and Abu Haraz villages in Sheikan locality between August 16 and 18, while Blue Nile state saw 7,800 to 78,000 displaced from clashes near Geissan, with figures varying by source, and West Darfur registered nearly 18,000 displaced in the first half of August 234. Al Jazeera reported RSF forces maintaining positions south and west of El Obeid and continuing drone attacks on army vehicles, oil tankers and cargo trucks along the city's main access road 3. IOM said it delivered 1,750 metric tons of humanitarian supplies over 72 hours, reaching 110,750 people so far 12. IOM also said Red Sea and Strait of Hormuz shipping closures are delaying aid deliveries as the response is set to expand from 110,750 people reached to more than 400,000 in the coming days, while separate flooding in North Darfur's Tawila, Kabkabiya and Shangil Tobaya areas destroyed nearly 1,350 homes and displaced more than 1,000 families 12.