Kauda, July 20 (Darfur24)
More than 200 families displaced by recent fighting in the Kauda region of South Kordofan State are living in dire humanitarian conditions after fleeing attacks on villages in the Al-Hamam and Al-Qardoud areas, local humanitarian workers and volunteers said.
Heavy artillery shelling and clashes struck Al-Hamam and the six villages of Al-Qardoud on July 15 and 18, respectively, following a brief lull in fighting. The violence reportedly included the burning of residential neighborhoods, forcing hundreds of families to flee.
A humanitarian worker in Kauda told Darfur24 that 94 families arrived in the areas of Kubam and Kambra on Saturday, having fled the affected villages. A further 109 families reached the Lujulu area on Sunday, many of them children, pregnant women, and elderly people in urgent need of assistance.
The worker said displaced families came under attack by armed men while fleeing. A 70-year-old man, identified as Abdullah Darman, was reportedly injured and left behind because those escaping were unable to carry him.
According to the humanitarian worker, residents first fled Al-Hamam after it came under attack and homes were burned, seeking refuge in the villages of Al-Qardoud. When those villages were also attacked and torched, families scattered toward Al-Hadra, Kambra, and Kubam, trekking through forests and valleys while facing further attacks.
He said many displaced people had gone without food for two days, fearing that lighting fires to cook would expose their locations to armed groups.
Volunteers said other displaced families fled to Al-Hadra, Hajar Al-Hatab, and Umm Dulu, where they remain without shelter and with little information available about their conditions.
They added that local humanitarian teams had been mobilized and distress calls issued to communities to provide emergency assistance. However, aid delivery has been hampered by the blockade of the Ataro area.
Volunteers also warned that a growing number of children are suffering from malnutrition and infections as heavy rains worsen already difficult conditions.
Since March, tensions in Kauda have escalated from tribal disputes over border demarcation into fighting between the SPLM-North and members of the Otoro tribe, whom the armed movement describes as “rebels.” Local sources say the violence has killed dozens of civilians, displaced many others, and deepened the humanitarian crisis across the Kauda and Heiban areas.