PORT SUDAN, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- "We have survived, but many members of our families still remain behind," said Razan Ahmed Idris, a woman in her twenties, as she recounted her escape from war zone following her arrival at a shelter center in the Al-Makabrab area of River Nile State in northern Sudan, along with thousands of others displaced from central Gezira State.
"On the morning of November 8, a force of more than 40 four-wheel drive vehicles from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia attacked our village, opening fire indiscriminately," said Idris, a displaced nurse from Al-Eidj village on the eastern bank of the Blue Nile River.
"We were exposed to a brutal attack, and the militia perpetrated horrific violations against us. Many people from the village are missing, and every family has lost at least one loved one. It is a human tragedy," she said, her eyes filled with tears. "We live here in fear and anxiety, expecting bad news at any moment," she added.
Idris said that families from about 10 other villages have also been displaced after experiencing similar assaults and violations.
"It was a tough and exhausting displacement journey. We traveled on foot for five days, with the majority being women, children, and elderly," she said.
During the escape journey, she said she had provided medical assistance to many suffering from severe bacterial infections.
"During the journey, we lacked medical supplies and had to depend on traditional remedies, including a homemade glucose solution made from sugar and salt," she noted.
Abdullah Suleiman, a man also displaced from Gezira, recounted carrying his 80-year-old disabled mother for 30 km during the escape, while his five children walked beside him.
"Even the elderly received no consideration from the militia," he said.
"What happened was a deliberate act," 62-year-old Abdullah Nour El-Din told Xinhua.
Nour El-Din, whose 15-year-old child is currently missing, was from eastern Gezira. "In our village, water sources, including wells, were poisoned, and we were even prevented from drinking from the Nile River. We had no choice but to leave or die from thirst," he said.
Currently, nearly 10,000 displaced individuals from eastern Gezira are taking refuge at the shelter center in Al-Makabrab, located about 18 km south of Al-Damar, the capital of River Nile State.
Local authorities and volunteers are working to provide food for the displaced, with community kitchens, known as Takaya, serving meals of lentils and rice.
The Sudanese Family Planning Association, a voluntary medical organization, has set up mobile clinics to offer medical care to the displaced, but these clinics are struggling to meet the overwhelming demand for assistance.
There are no official figures on the number of deaths or injuries among the displaced from eastern Gezira, but local volunteers report that over one million people have been displaced from more than 500 villages.
On Friday, the International Organization for Migration said in a press release that more than 343,000 Sudanese have been displaced across Gezira in less than a month.
Sudan has been engulfed in a devastating conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the RSF since mid-April 2023. The deadly conflict has resulted in over 24,850 deaths and displaced more than 14 million people, according to estimates by international organizations. ■
