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On Tuesday, the United Nations released horrific accounts of women and girls fleeing attacks in war-torn Sudan; one of them said she was encouraged to kill herself with a knife rather than be raped.

In a dramatic increase in violence, at least 124 civilians have been killed in the central Al Jazeera province since October 20 and 135,000 have fled to other provinces, according to the United Nations Population Fund, which specializes in women’s and children’s health.

It was stated that 3,200 of those who escaped were pregnant women.

The conflict in Sudan pits the regular army under the command of Abdel Fattah al-Burhan against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces led by his former deputy Mohammed Hamdan Daglo.

The war has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced more than 11 million since it broke out in April 2023, according to the International Organization for Migration.

The UN population agency quoted Al Jazeera’s health ministry as saying preliminary reports were that 27 women between the ages of 6 and 60 were raped or assaulted at Al Jazeera.

“These cases are a small fraction of the widespread sexual violence that occurs,” the agency said in a statement. he said.

In the statement, a woman named Maria, a mother of two children, was quoted as saying that the gunmen “oppressed us, beat us, pointed guns at us and controlled our daughters.”

It also cited an unnamed girl in a displaced persons camp who said she was presented with a terrible choice.

“My male relatives, including my brothers, uncles and fathers, gave us knives and told us to take our own lives if we threatened to be raped by armed warriors.” He was quoted as saying.

The statement stated that the women stated that they saw other women throwing themselves into the river to avoid being harassed by armed men.

“Survivors of sexual violence flee and hide because their families threaten to end their lives to avoid the indignity,” the UN agency said. he said.

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