KHARTOUM, Sudan

A fire broke out at Al-Qardud camp for displaced people in Abu Jubaiha in South Kordofan state in southern Sudan, forcing 41 families to evict, the UN International Organization for Migration (IOM) said Thursday.

In a statement, the agency said the families were forced to flee following Wednesday’s fire, without providing further details on its cause.

The affected families were relocated to open areas within the same locality, it said, adding that it is closely monitoring developments.

The IOM noted that the blaze also destroyed around 23 shelters and partially damaged 18 others.

Since late October 2025, Sudan’s three Kordofan states -- North, West and South -- have witnessed intense clashes between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

On Jan. 27, the IOM announced that the number of people displaced from the Kordofan states had risen to 88,316 over more than two months due to fighting between the army and the RSF.

Sudan has been locked in a bloody conflict between the army and the RSF since April 2023, killing tens of thousands, displacing about 13 million people, and creating one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, according to UN reports.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio in Istanbul