What is happening in Sudan? The civil war the world forgot

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The conflict in Sudan has been described as a war on civilians – and the facts are devastating

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Since April 2023, Sudan has been in the grip of one of the deadliest civil wars in a generation. As many as 150,000 people are believed to have been killed and millions displaced.

Right now it is the largest humanitarian crisis, the largest displacement crisis and the largest hunger crisis in the world.

The UN has warned that attacks in Darfur bear the “hallmarks of genocide” and the brutality and widespread use of rape as a weapon of war is unprecedented.

There are no signs of an immediate ceasefire or an end to the conflict, which has been described by humanitarians and Sudanese families as a war on civilians.

Sudan’s war broke out in April 2023. A vicious power struggle between Sudanese army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, or “Hemedti”, head of the powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), exploded into open fighting across the country.

The two generals had once been uneasy allies. They joined forces after the 2019 popular uprising unseated the country’s longterm autocrat Omar al-Bashir, forming a joint government with a civilian prime minister.

At the time there were concerns about a deadly military crackdown on protesters and the involvement of the RSF, that with its precursor the Janjaweed – had already been accused of committing crimes, atrocities, and ethnic cleansing in Darfur, targeting non-Arab communities. (Both sides denied all accusations).

By 2021, the two generals staged a coup. But their power struggle reached breaking point in April 2023, mainly over plans to bring the 100,000-strong RSF under army command.

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