Sudan Crisis 2024 - What You Need To Know
This guide is for those who want to learn more about the war in Sudan. It is part of our educational resources list and was last updated April 14, 2024.
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Where is Sudan?
Sudan is in northeast Africa, just south of Egypt on the coast of the Red Sea.
The country sits on the geographic and cultural crossroads of Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East. Sudan shares borders with seven other countries: Libya, Egypt, Chad, the Central African Republic, South Sudan, Ethiopia, and Eritrea.
What’s the crisis?
A civil war began in Sudan on April 2023. Extreme violence has turned the capital city of Khartoum into a lawless and bloodied shell of its former self. Several more cities have been devastated by intense fighting. Over 70% of the healthcare system has collapsed, preventable disease outbreaks are becoming more common, and famine is already claiming lives as many farmers cannot work. The economy has disintegrated and the prices of basic goods have skyrocketed. Most schools are closed, too.
Armed combatants on both sides are using the fog of war to target ethnic minorities and ordinary citizens who speak out against the violence. It is widely recognized that war crimes are being committed on a large-scale, and there is strong evidence that a genocide is being committed in the western Darfur region.
How many people are impacted?
Sudan’s conflict is generating the world’s largest and worst humanitarian disaster, far outpacing every other crisis on the planet.
Nearly 25 million Sudanese —that’s half the country— are in need of urgent humanitarian assistance.
Over 8 million Sudanese have been internally-displaced or have fled the country.
730,000 Sudanese children are suffering from severe acute malnutrition.
Nearly 20 million children can no longer attend school.
Current projections are that 230,000 children, pregnant women, and new mothers will die from hunger by the end of the year if the situation does not improve.
Extreme violence has made it too dangerous to determine a death toll. There are credible reports that over the first three months of the war, up to 15,000 of the ethnically African Masalit people were slaughtered in El Geneina, Darfur. That is just one city. More reports of mass killings leak out of Sudan every week. The world may not be able to access much of the country, but it is safe to say the death toll is already into the mid-tens of thousands.
Who is responsible?
There are two primary armed groups in this civil war:
The Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) - the country’s official military that includes the army, air force, and navy.
The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) - a regional paramilitary outfit created by a previous military regime.
There are a variety of intelligence units, police forces, and local militias that have taken sides in the conflict. The RSF also hires mercenaries from across the Sahel. Some of Sudan’s rebel groups that formed in previous wars have taken sides, while others have remained neutral or are defending their own territory and people groups.
Why are SAF and RSF fighting?
SAF and RSF used to be allies, but that began to change after they overthrew the government in October 2021. Tensions between SAF and RSF have been building ever since.
The RSF has been the junior partner in the regime and wants to be the dominant player in Sudan. RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (aka Hemeti) has his eyes on becoming a dictator. RSF fighters already call him emir or president. SAF is fighting to remain the elite player in Sudan. There are also significant ethnic dimensions at play between SAF and RSF that cannot be ignored:
RSF- Top RSF commanders and most of their fighters hail from Darfur’s Arab tribes. A sizable portion of the RSF adheres to an extremely racist, Arab-supremacist ideology. The belief system states that Darfur’s historic African tribal groups must be cleansed from the region and that all other Sudanese Arabs are inferior. This explains why the RSF has renewed its massacres of ethnically African communities in Darfur during the war, especially the Masalit tribe.
SAF - Generals are mostly Nile Valley Arabs, the most elite and privileged ethnic groups in the country. Unlike the RSF though, SAF is a fairly diverse fighting force with soldiers from various parts of the country in its ranks. Racism also exists in SAF, which explains why members of the force have executed civilians on an ethnic basis as well.
By early 2023, both sides were preparing for war with each other. Fighting erupted in Khartoum on April 15, 2023. Both sides failed to decapitate each others’ leadership, and the war quickly spread across the country.
This war is about power and denying the Sudanese people freedom, equality, and security. The vast majority of the Sudanese people want democratic civilian rule, for the RSF to be permanently dismantled, and for SAF to reform and stay in the barracks.
Which side is winning the war?
Both sides regularly claim they have the upper hand; however, it appears that the RSF currently has the most momentum. SAF generals have largely been fighting a defensive war for months, allowing RSF commanders to shape the battlefield. RSF currently controls most of western Sudan and the bulk of Khartoum. SAF controls most of the north and east of the country and has only recently launched limited offensive operations. Most army and pre-war governing institutions have relocated to Port Sudan in the far-east.
One side winning this war outright may never happen, for two reasons:
Both sides remain heavily-armed and are now deeply entrenched in most areas under their control, but there is little evidence either can capture the entire country in the near future.
It can not be overstated how much the majority of Sudan’s citizenry detest the RSF and want SAF to behave like a responsible military. If the RSF were to win decisively, the paramilitary force would face a seething population that will never accept their rule. The Sudanese people won’t accept another SAF regime either. Generals on both sides are fighting an intense war with each other, but what either side stands to win is a country that wants neither of them in charge.
Without a political solution that silences the guns, it is likely that this war drags on for years with no side able to declare victory.
Are world leaders doing anything to end this?
Global efforts to halt the war are having no noticeable impact. World leaders have turned to off-the-shelf diplomatic solutions that are designed to deal with neither the complexities nor severity of this crisis. Failing to deal with the zero sum attitude of SAF and RSF generals is incentivizing them to continue the war. One can argue that centering the generals as the solution here is foolish to begin with.
Multiple rounds of peace talks led by various countries and organizations —including the United States, Saudi Arabia, IGAD, and the African Union— have failed to secure a lasting ceasefire or improve humanitarian aid access. The U.S. and European Union are sanctioning some SAF and RSF leaders, but not nearly fast or hard enough. Meanwhile, some global actors are making the crisis worse by propping up one of the two sides. The United Arab Emirates and Russian Wagner group are smuggling weapons and vehicles to the RSF. SAF has received some support from Egypt and Ukraine and continues receiving weapons from Iran, China, and Russia.
It is the Sudanese people who are doing the most to end the violence. A coalition of civilian groups —led by former prime minister Abdalla Hamdok, who was overthrown in the 2021 coup— has emerged to serve as a credible alternative to SAF and RSF. Ordinary Sudanese across the country are trying to help their neighbors survive every day. The international community could and should be doing much more than it is, including throwing its full weight behind the Sudanese people.
What can I do to help?
Operation Broken Silence is building a global movement to empower the Sudanese people through innovative programs as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. For over a decade, we've allied people just like you with incredible Sudanese heroes on the ground. We are making the story of Sudan known, empowering survivors, and helping to build a renewed Sudan from the ground up.
Our Sudanese partners are struggling as the war spreads and program costs skyrocket. You generosity will help them continue saving and changing lives in the days ahead.
$2,200: Fund an entire classroom at Endure Primary School for one semester.
$1,000: Pays monthly salaries of 5 midwives.
$500 - Delivers food and clothing to Darfuri genocide survivors who have fled into South Sudan.
$250 - Supports a teacher and their classroom for one month.
$150 - Pays a nurse assistant’s salary for an entire month.
$100 - Give pencils, notebooks and other supplies to 16 students in Yida Refugee Camp.
$50 - Gives a day’s worth of medicine to three clinics.
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Checks can be make payable to Operation Broken Silence and mailed to PO Box 770900 Memphis, TN 38177-0900.
Operation Broken Silence is a registered 501(c)(3) organization. Your donations are tax-deductible within the guidelines of U.S. law.
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How is this not the biggest story in the world right now‽ https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/sudan-crisis-2024-what-you-need-to-know
It’s not in the news, but the world’s largest humanitarian disaster right now is unfolding in Sudan. Check out this informative guide: https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/sudan-crisis-2024-what-you-need-to-know
Nearly 25 million Sudanese are in need of some form of humanitarian assistance. Roughly 1 in every 8 internally-displaced people worldwide is now Sudanese. https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/sudan-crisis-2024-what-you-need-to-know
Operation Broken Silence is building a global movement to empower the Sudanese people through innovative programs. For over a decade, we've allied people just like you with incredible Sudanese heroes on the ground. Will you join us? https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/sudan-crisis-2024-what-you-need-to-know
