A Catastrophic Humanitarian Toll
The scale of suffering across Sudan has drawn comparisons to the worst episodes of modern conflict. Twenty-five million people are experiencing severe food insecurity, according to the record. Four million children are acutely malnourished, with 770,000 of them facing imminent risk of death. Famine has been confirmed in several regions. In Khartoum State alone, an estimated 61,000 people have died, with 26,000 of those deaths attributed to direct violence. Overall, estimates of total deaths in the conflict range from 60,000 to 70,000, though satellite-based assessments have placed the figure as high as 150,000. The fall of El Fasher, the SAF’s last stronghold in the Darfur region, on October 26, 2025, led to what some experts have called a genocidal massacre — the largest such event of the 21st century. The siege of El Fasher had begun in April 2024, nearly a year and a half before the city fell to RSF forces.
UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Tom Fletcher has characterized Darfur as the “epicenter of human suffering in the world.” The war’s humanitarian impact has not remained within Sudan’s borders; millions have fled into neighboring countries, straining regional stability and resources.
A War Born from Political Collapse
The roots of the current conflict lie in a failed transition after decades of civil war and political instability. Sudan gained independence in the mid-20th century, but ethnic and regional tensions soon produced prolonged internal strife. A long-running north-south civil war ended with the independence of South Sudan in the early 21st century. Shortly afterward, a separate conflict erupted in Darfur, drawing international condemnation for atrocities committed by government-backed militias. A 2021 coup removed a long-time ruler and led to the formation of a joint civilian-military transitional administration. That fragile arrangement collapsed when al-Burhan, the army chief, and Hemedti, the RSF commander, turned on each other, plunging the country into a new war.
By late 2023, the RSF had seized control of most of Darfur and advanced on Khartoum, capturing the capital, Kordofan, and Gezira. The paramilitary force also took key logistics hubs including airports and supply routes, particularly in Darfur and the capital region. The SAF regained momentum in 2024 and retook Khartoum by March 2025. But the RSF’s capture of El Fasher later that year reversed the army’s gains in Darfur and triggered the massive loss of life now documented in the record.
International Stakes in a Fractured State
Foreign involvement has deepened the conflict and complicated efforts to end it. Russia, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, and the United Arab Emirates have all played roles in the war. The UAE has specifically been accused of supplying the RSF. International mediation efforts, including the Jeddah Declaration signed in 2023, have failed to stop the fighting. The conflict has drawn in both neighboring countries and more distant states, each supplying weapons and political support to one side or the other. The interference of outside powers has turned a domestic power struggle into a proxy battlefield, with no clear path to a ceasefire. The war matters because it has undone years of fragile peacebuilding in Sudan, and because a political split among elites has cascaded into a humanitarian disaster affecting millions of ordinary people. Famines, mass displacement, and unchecked violence have become the new normal in a country already weary from decades of war.
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