The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said no fewer than 10,000 people have registered as refugees in South Sudan after fleeing the conflict in Sudan.

The UN agency also noted that 30,000 people have fled into South Sudan since the fighting started in April. Most of them were South Sudanese returning home as clashes between the Sudanese Army and rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces spread.

According to the UN agency, the latest surge is exacerbating an already terrible situation, with the number of people coming into the country expected to rise further as conflict intensifies.

Unaccompanied or separated children, the elderly, people with impairments, people with medical emergencies, single- or female-headed households, and pregnant women are among those arriving, OCHA said.

Many newcomers have witnessed or been victims of violence and exploitation, such as extortion and looting, especially while traveling to South Sudan, the agency explained.

Fighting has erupted in the three cities that comprise the wider capital – Khartoum, Bahri, and Omdurman – since late Saturday, as the confrontation between the army and the RSF enters its 11th week, Reuters reported.

Witnesses also observed an uptick in violence in Nyala, the main city in the western Darfur region, in recent days.

The United Nations issued an alert on Saturday over ethnic profiling and the death of members of the Masalit minority in El Geneina, West Darfur.

Since the war started in Sudan, about 2 million have been displaced internally and almost 600,000 have fled to neighbouring countries, according to the International Organization for Migration.