Serba, August 09 (Darfur24)
Fighting between the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Joint Force resumed on Saturday in the Bir Saliba area of Serba locality, northwest of El Geneina in West Darfur State, amid reports of heavy weapons fire and explosions, as thousands of civilians fled their homes, with many crossing the border into Chad.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said its Displacement Tracking Matrix estimated that approximately 5,135 people from 10 villages in Serba locality had been displaced by escalating insecurity and clashes around Bir Saliba. In a separate update issued Thursday, the agency reported that about 6,650 people from 11 villages had been displaced by the escalating violence in the area.
The IOM said the majority of those affected had fled across the border into Chad, while the situation remained tense and rapidly changing.
A resident living near the Chad border told Darfur24 that fierce clashes erupted around Bir Saliba, with residents hearing sustained heavy weapons fire and loud explosions.
The Joint Force’s official spokesman, Mutawakkil Ali, said the force had repelled an RSF attack on Bir Saliba but provided no further details. Joint Force fighters also circulated videos that Darfur24 verified, purportedly showing destroyed and captured vehicles and several RSF fighters taken prisoner.
Darfur24 was unable to obtain an immediate comment from the RSF.
The RSF announced last week that it had captured Bir Saliba following battles with the Joint Force, which is allied with the Sudanese army. Field sources reported casualties on both sides, including the death of RSF commander Mahdi Jabal Moon, a senior RSF commander in northwestern Darfur.
The renewed fighting has triggered further displacement in an area that has experienced repeated waves of civilian movement since the outbreak of the war in April 2023.
Radwan Ibrahim Abdullah, a resident of Serba, told Darfur24 that the renewed fighting had forced residents to move between villages before eventually crossing into Chad for a second time. He said many fled without their belongings, crops or livestock as they sought to escape the fighting and drone attacks.
Another resident, Ibrahim Sharaf Al-Din, said people who fled to Chad about two weeks ago were in urgent need of drinking water, blankets and food after losing crops and property in fighting around Kulbus, Serba and Jebel Moon. He said some communities had been displaced twice within Serba and surrounding areas before being forced to cross into Chad.
Another resident said Bir Saliba had been largely deserted for weeks after residents fled to other parts of North and West Darfur, while others sought refuge in camps across the border in Chad.
The border localities of Kulbus and Serba have experienced repeated displacement since the war began, with clashes between the RSF and the Joint Force repeatedly forcing civilians to flee within West Darfur or cross into eastern Chad.