British Human Rights Organization: Fires, a Weapon of War in Sudan

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A UK-based human rights organization has stated that fires resulting from fighting in Sudan are being used as weapons of war in the country, noting that the past April was the worst in terms of the number of fires that engulfed villages and towns in western Sudan.

The Resilience Information Observatory reported on Monday that 72 Sudanese villages and towns were either damaged or destroyed by fires during April alone, bringing the total number of affected residential areas to 201 since the start of the war last year.

The director of the Sudan Watch Project, Anouk Theunissen, stated that the increase in the intensity of fires is "disturbing and alarming."

Theunissen added, "When we see reports of fighting or airstrikes coinciding with clusters of fires, it indicates that fire is being used indiscriminately as a weapon of war. This trend is worsening and continues to cause mass displacement of the Sudanese people."

"We have documented multiple patterns of fires and ongoing destruction affecting populated areas throughout western Sudan, large and small, since the conflict erupted last April."