Shifting alliances in Sudan’s Darfur as new civil war fears rise

The Kakma camp is one of the largest in Darfur for people displaced during a nearly two-decade conflict in western Sudan that began in 2003 and killed an estimated 300,000 people [File: Arnold Temple/Reuters]

In Sudan’s western region of Darfur, a place long synonymous with conflict, fears of a new civil war are on the rise.

Civilians have begun arming themselves, residents and humanitarian organisations have said, as they organise their own defence forces to protect themselves against attacks from rival tribes as well as the feared paramilitary known as the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).