A year of war in Sudan

Little is said about it due to the lack of attention from the media, public opinion and governments, but the clashes between the regular army and a paramilitary group have already caused at least 14 thousand deaths and a serious humanitarian crisis

On April 15, 2023, one year ago, the Sudanese regular army and the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group began clashing in the capital Khartoum. In the last twelve months those fighting have turned into a bloody civil war involving much of the territory of Sudan, the third largest country on the African continent and one of the poorest in the world. According to various estimates, including that of the NGO International Rescue Committee, the military clash between the two factions has caused at least 14,700 deaths, 30 thousand injuries and more than 8 million displaced people.

Today one of the “worst humanitarian disasters in recent history” is underway in Sudan, according to a UN definition. The war and the resulting crisis, however, are struggling to gain international attention and therefore funds for the necessary humanitarian aid, among other things due to two other wars on which there is much greater attention, the one in Ukraine and the one in the Gaza Strip .

On the occasion of the first anniversary of the start of the war in Sudan, an international conference organized by France, Germany and the European Union began on Monday in Paris with the aim of agreeing on an international response: however, the warring Sudanese factions will not participate in the conference .

Rapid Support Forces soldiers in Khartoum (AP Photo/Hussein Malla, File)

The war in Sudan began in April 2023 after a long phase of political tensions between two generals, Abdel Fattah al Burhan and Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, also known as Hemedti. At the time, the two led a military junta, the Sovereign Council, which governed the country since October 2021, after having seized power with a coup d’état: Burhan was president, Hemedti was his deputy. In December 2022, under international pressure, the two generals agreed to begin a democratic transition, but on as to do so there was no agreement and the first strong divisions arose. In particular, what caused the breakdown in relations was Burhan’s decision to integrate the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) led by Hemedti into the Sudanese army: this choice was very harshly opposed by Hemedti himself.

The RSF paramilitary group has around 100 thousand men and is a direct descendant of the Janjawida group of Arab militiamen of the Baggara ethnic group who during the 2003 war in Darfur were responsible for various war crimes, and according to many interpretations also for genocide.

On 15 April 2023, faced with the possible dissolution of the RSF, Hemedti began the first military operations against the regular Sudanese army. Even then the group could count on the support of the United Arab Emirates and had close and constant relations with the Wagner group, the company of Russian mercenaries who attempted a march towards Moscow on 24 June last year and which still today can count on an important presence in several African countries.

General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti (AP Photo, File)

The regular army, on the other hand, has around 300 thousand men, is supported by Egypt and has the military advantage of having aviation at its disposal. Warplanes have been bombing the areas controlled by the RSF for months, causing many deaths even among the civilian population.

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After an initial phase in which temporary truces were organized to allow civilians to leave the areas of conflict (truces mostly violated), the war between the two factions became more violent and generalized, with greater intensity in the Khartoum region, the capital, in the central one of Kordofan and in the western one of Darfur. These are the areas where the RSF initially took control, achieving important military successes.

The military outcome of the war is still very uncertain and the situation is fluid: a front line is not clearly distinguishable, nor can it really be indicated whether the regular army and the RSF are close to a victory or a final defeat. In short, the violence risks continuing for a long time to come.

It is a war that affects the civilian population very seriously and not only because of the indiscriminate bombings. Since the first days of fighting, the two armies have plundered the homes of many civilians, taking away all goods of any value: not only cars, fuel, money and food, but also doors and windows, according to many testimonies. There have been many cases of ethnic-based killings, especially in the Darfur region, and rape and sexual crimes against women and girls. In all likelihood, even the number of approximately 15 thousand deaths is largely underestimated: the UN believes that in the Geneina area alone, in Darfur, the deaths could be thousands.

Rubble in Khartoum (AP Photo/Marwan Ali, File)

Schools have been closed for a year and less than a third of Sudan’s hospitals are still active: the functioning structures mainly deal with treating the war wounded. Eighteen million people risk starvation, mostly in areas where international aid does not reach; Electricity blackouts and internet interruptions are frequent, and access to medicines and basic necessities is difficult almost everywhere.

This situation has given rise to an enormous number of displaced people, more than eight million: of these, approximately six have sought refuge in areas of Sudan less affected by the clashes, almost 2 million have emigrated abroad, mainly to Chad, Egypt and South Sudan . The UN has defined a humanitarian aid plan of 2.7 billion dollars, but at the moment only 6 percent of that sum is financed.

A refugee camp in Chad (Photo by Abdulmonam Eassa/Getty Images)

In recent months, there has often been talk of a “forgotten war” for Sudan due to the lack of interest shown by public opinion, the media and international governments. The crisis has been little reported both because attention was concentrated above all on the wars in Ukraine and in the Gaza Strip, and because of the great difficulty of reaching the areas of conflict in Sudan: the regular army and RSF have shown themselves particularly hostile to the journalists.

Generals al Burhan and Hemedti have so far also been unwilling to listen to international pressure for a diplomatic solution to the war. The last official negotiations, in Jeddah (Saudi Arabia), failed a few months ago. They should resume in the Saudi city in the next few days, but at the moment with little hope of a positive turnaround.