In Sudan's civil war, fire is being used to burn villages and displace civilians with more frequency than before. April 2024 saw more fires than any other month of the war.

CAIRO (AP) — Fires resulting from the fighting in Sudan destroyed or damaged 72 villages and settlements last month, a U.K.-based rights group said Monday, highlighting the use of fire as a weapon of war in the conflict in the African country.

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.

Investigators from Sudan Witness are using open source technology to document the systematic use of fire by combatants.

Fires used as a weapon devastated 72 villages and towns in western Sudan in April, the highest number seen in any month since the conflict began over a year ago, according to a report from a Center