Sudan’s civil war has become one of the world’s deadliest and most neglected crises, with millions displaced and new fears of genocide in Darfur. Sudan has been torn apart by a brutal civil war since April 2023 when fighting erupted between the national army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. What began as a struggle for power between two generals has turned into one of the worst humanitarian disasters in the world. More than one hundred and fifty thousand people have died, while twelve million have fled their homes. The United Nations has described the situation as the world’s largest humanitarian crisis.

The conflict began after months of tension between the army’s leader General Abdel Fattah al Burhan and his former deputy General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, also known as Hemedti. Both men once shared power after the overthrow of longtime ruler Omar al Bashir in 2019. They had promised to lead the country toward democracy, but their alliance collapsed in 2023 over plans to merge the Rapid Support Forces into the national army. Neither man wanted to lose control or influence.

Fighting first broke out in the capital Khartoum and quickly spread across the country. The Rapid Support Forces captured much of the city and large parts of Darfur before the army eventually regained control in early 2025. The capital was left in ruins. Entire districts were burned out, government buildings were destroyed, and hospitals were bombed while patients were still inside.

The war has devastated daily life. Food shortages have pushed millions toward famine. Thousands of families have been separated as people flee bombardments. The World Food Programme says more than twenty four million people are facing severe hunger and that almost eighty percent of the country’s emergency kitchens have been forced to close. Aid agencies call it a forgotten war, warning that the scale of suffering is far worse than most realise.

In Darfur, the fighting has taken on an ethnic dimension. The Rapid Support Forces, which evolved from the notorious Janjaweed militias, have been accused of targeting non Arab communities such as the Massalit people. Human Rights Watch and other groups say the pattern of killings and sexual violence suggests an attempt to erase entire communities. The United States has determined that the Rapid Support Forces and allied militias have committed genocide in Darfur.

The accounts are horrific. United Nations investigators reported that women and girls have been raped, sometimes with attackers using racist insults and threatening to make them bear Arab children. Children as young as one have been sexually assaulted. In the city of El Geneina, thousands of people were killed in what appeared to be an organized campaign of ethnic cleansing aimed at forcing survivors to leave the region.

The Rapid Support Forces deny that they have committed genocide, describing the violence as part of a tribal conflict. Sudan’s government has accused the United Arab Emirates of arming and funding the group, though the Gulf state has denied this and the International Court of Justice ruled that it has no jurisdiction to hear the case.

The humanitarian situation has grown worse since the Rapid Support Forces captured the city of El Fasher, the last major stronghold of the army in Darfur. Residents have been trapped by siege tactics as food and medicine run out. Satellite images show a wall of earth built around parts of the city to block movement and aid deliveries.

Diplomatic efforts have repeatedly failed. Talks in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain have brought no ceasefire, with both sides continuing to fight for control. The United Nations health chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has expressed frustration over what he called the lack of global attention to Sudan, saying race may be a factor in the world’s silence.

For now, the war shows no sign of ending. The country remains split between the army, which controls the north and east, and the Rapid Support Forces, which dominate Darfur and much of the west. Millions are displaced, famine is spreading, and entire regions are cut off from aid. Sudan’s people continue to endure a war that much of the world seems to have forgotten.

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