22-28 February 2026 Sudan News Summary: Displacement, rising costs, and increasing violence

1 Mar

Arabic news roundup

By William Greenwood

Army trucks evacuated hundreds of residents from the city of Kurmuk in southern Blue Nile State to Damazin, the state capital located in the far southeast of Sudan.
A new wave of displaced people from Kurmuk, near the Ethiopian border, arrived in Damazin following increased shelling of the city over the past two days.
Kurmuk Governor Abdel-Ati al-Faki stated in a press release that attacks launched by the RSF and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) led by Joseph Tuka on neighbourhoods in Kurmuk forced citizens to flee again to Damazin.
He indicated that approximately 80 families – about 300 people – arrived in Damazin, in addition to some 1,900 displaced people from Kurmuk who arrived in the city in recent days.
The continued influx of displaced people into Damazin is placing authorities under pressure to provide shelter materials, especially since the displaced are using local materials to construct makeshift shelters to protect themselves from the sun.
Since last January, the pace of battles and drone strikes has increased in the Blue Nile region as a new battlefront between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces-North alliance.

Markets in El Geneina, West Darfur, have witnessed a significant increase in the prices of food and other goods following the closure of the Adré border crossing between Sudan and Chad.
Several traders attributed these increases to the closure of the Chadian border and the resulting halt in trade, which has led to shortages of supplies and higher transportation costs for goods imported through border crossings.
On February 23, Chad decided to close its border with Sudan after warring parties crossed into its territory, while confirming that exceptions would be granted for humanitarian reasons, provided prior authorization was obtained.
The Adré crossing is one of the most important trade routes for the residents of West Darfur, serving as a vital artery for the movement of goods and people. Therefore, any disruption to its activity directly impacts commodity prices and the stability of local markets.

By Samuel Hunt

In South Kordofan, a Rapid Support Forces (RSF) drone strike on a humanitarian convoy killed three aid workers and wounded four others as it was delivering food and supplies toward Kadugli and Dilling. The Sudan Doctors Network condemned the attack as a violation of international law.
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) reports that in the first two weeks of February, its teams treated about 170 people for drone-related injuries, reflecting a spike in attacks affecting civilians and responders alike.
In Misterei town in West Darfur, RSF fighters launched assaults that killed at least 28 people, including doctors, and wounded dozens more, according to reports from the scene.
The epicentre of the fighting has shifted to the south-central Kordofan region. The near-daily drone strikes have hit markets, health facilities, aid convoys, and residential areas across the Kordofan region, prompting outrage from the UN and humanitarian officials.
"The continued attacks by all parties on civilian objects must stop," the UN human rights chief Volker Türk said last week.

In North Kordofan, El Obeid remains besieged from three sides by the RSF, and fighting around Kadugli and Dilling continues to displace civilians, leaving more than one million people uprooted across the Kordofan region alone.
UN humanitarian officials warn that food insecurity is deepening, with famine possibly prevalent in Kadugli and Dilling, and acute malnutrition exceeding famine thresholds in localities of North Darfur, even as humanitarian access remains limited.
With international funding declining and needs skyrocketing, local volunteers and community groups in towns such as Kosti, Rabak and Khartoum are stepping in to provide shelter, food and basic healthcare for displaced families, running temporary shelters and improvised support where formal aid has contracted sharply.

Bill Greenwood