Fires used as weapon in Sudan conflict destroyed more towns in west than ever in April, study says

A study has found that fires being used as a weapon in Sudan destroyed more villages and towns in the country’s west in April than in any other month since the conflict began more than a year ago. Sudan Witness is a project run by the U.K.-based nonprofit Center for Information Resilience. It said Monday that 72 villages and settlements were either destroyed or damaged by fires last month, bringing the total number of settlements hit by fire in Sudan to 201 since the conflict began in mid-April of last year. The number of fires surged particularly in the north and west of el-Fasher, the capital city of North Darfur state.