Thousands flee Wad Madani, Sudan’s second city, to escape fighting

Region had been a place of refuge for those escaping conflict in Khartoum between the army and the Rapid Support Forces

Thousands of people are fleeing their homes in Wad Madani, Sudan's second city, where the majority of the capital city Khartoum's displaced people took refuge at the beginning of the conflict between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces last April.

The fighting reached Wad Madani, the capital city of el-Gezira state, home to Africa's biggest agricultural scheme, in central Sudan on Friday. People have been seen on buses, while some are walking towards the south.