Displacement tops 175,000 in Sudan’s Blue Nile as famine threatens, civil group says

September 9, 2026 (ED DAMAZIN) – More than 175,000 people have fled escalating combat in southeastern Sudan’s Blue Nile region, where severe hunger and malnutrition are spreading rapidly, a local civil society coalition said on Wednesday as it appealed for urgent foreign aid.

The Blue Nile Civil Society Initiative said in a field assessment that more than 35,000 families had been uprooted by months of heavy clashes between the Sudanese Armed Forces and an alliance of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N).

Spokespeople for the army and the paramilitary alliance were not immediately available for comment.

The warring factions have intensified fighting across the state, with the rebel-paramilitary coalition declaring last Friday that the state capital, Ed Damazin, was vulnerable to capture.

Most displaced households have sought shelter in Ed Damazin, which hosts over 20,000 newly arrived families, while 7,000 have fled to Roseires, 5,000 to Wad al-Mahi, and 3,000 to Baw. Thousands more are sheltering with impoverished host families, the group said.

In Geisan locality, ongoing artillery and infantry skirmishes have effectively trapped thousands of residents, pushing malnutrition rates to record highs while aid supplies remain almost entirely blocked.

The initiative called on both sides to cease hostilities immediately and urged international donors to open humanitarian corridors before mass starvation sets in.