The initial destination for numerous Sudanese refugees escaping deadly ground attacks and airstrikes in Sudan is a remote, mobile medical clinic situated along the border with Chad. This facility, run by Doctors Without Borders (MSF), serves as the first point of refuge for many escaping the violence. Sudan’s civil war, now in its third year, has seen a considerable rise in airstrikes, a primary factor prompting many to seek safety in neighboring Chad.
A 25-year-old Sudanese refugee, Kubrah Abdullah Dawood, expressed her constant fear of the planes as she entered the makeshift clinic, bringing her 11-month-old daughter with her. She had fled El Fasher, the capital of Darfur, following an airstrike that killed her brother, which she believed was executed by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (R.S.F.).
Kate Hixon, advocacy director for Sub-Saharan Africa at Amnesty USA, noted that as the Sudanese Armed Forces advance in Khartoum, the R.S.F. is moving towards Darfur. Wherever the R.S.F. is present, there are reports of villages being burned, aid being blocked, and increases in conflict-related sexual violence—trends that are expected to rise. While ground attacks are anticipated to increase as the R.S.F. relocates to its Darfur stronghold, both sides of the conflict have been responsible for airstrikes that have significantly driven recent displacement.
In response to the recent influx of refugees, Doctors Without Borders has increased its services along the more rural northern border regions of Chad. Those who have fled Darfur have recounted to The New York Times how airstrikes by Sudan’s military usually followed R.S.F. incursions into their villages or marketplaces. One survivor, Fayza Adam Yagub, recounted how the R.S.F. would raid a village, and then the Sudanese military would strike, leaving the R.S.F. to escape unharmed while civilians bore the brunt of the violence.
As recent as March 25, a Sudanese military airstrike in the village of Toura in North Darfur killed at least 54 people and injured dozens, according to local monitoring groups, which labeled the incident a war crime—not a claim the army has accepted. The R.S.F. soldiers and their allied militias have also been implicated in targeting civilians.
The conflict between Sudan’s military and the R.S.F. has been marked by brutality, claiming nearly 20,000 civilian lives and displacing over 12 million people, as noted by the United Nations. This situation is reportedly deteriorating further.
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/06/world/africa/sudan-strikes-refugees.html
