More than 4,500 people were displaced in Sudan’s North Darfur and Blue Nile states amid deteriorating security conditions, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) has said.

In North Darfur, the UN agency said on Wednesday that its displacement tracking teams estimated that around 1,275 people fled the villages of Gorbora and Wadi Arkawi in Um Baru locality between September 3 and 6.

The displaced families moved to Karnoy locality in North Darfur, while some crossed the border into neighbouring Chad.

The IOM said the situation remains “tense and highly volatile,” and that it continues to closely monitor developments.

Separately, the agency said around 3,315 people, equivalent to 663 families, were displaced in a single day from several villages in Geisan locality in southeastern Sudan’s Blue Nile state due to worsening insecurity.

The displacement was recorded on September 7 from several villages, including Abu Shneina, Rabaa and Wadi Arab. The affected families moved to Wad al-Mahi locality within Blue Nile state.

The IOM said the latest displacement followed an earlier wave on September 5.

On Sunday, the agency said another 1,690 people had been displaced from three villages in Blue Nile’s Kurmuk locality due to escalating violence.

Blue Nile has witnessed a military escalation in recent days amid attacks by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and its ally, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), on several areas.

On September 4, authorities in Kurmuk said the Sudanese army repelled an attack by the RSF and SPLM-N on the Al-Baraka area.

Since late June, villages in North Darfur’s Um Baru locality have also faced attacks blamed on the RSF, including raids on markets and the burning and looting of villages, according to Sudanese rights groups and organisations.

Sudan has been engulfed in a war between the army and the RSF since April 2023, killing tens of thousands of people and displacing around 13 million, according to UN and international estimates.