Envisioning war in Sudan: Conflict, governance and displacement | Sudan War News

The war in Sudan is almost two years old and the great suffering of its people continues.

As the two armed superpowers tear the country apart in what has been called an “extant war”, millions have been forced to flee their homes, hundreds of thousands have been killed, and countless others are starving or tortured.

On April 15, 2023, Sudan was engulfed in conflict as the long-standing feud between army chief Adel Fattah al-Burhan and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) leader Mohamed Hamdan “Hemedti” Dagalo erupted into war.

About 9,000 recorded attacks

Between April 15, 2023, and October 25, 2024, the warring sides exchanged 8,942 attacks, an average of 16 per day, according to data from the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), a disaster mapping organization .

Geographically, three-quarters of all attacks are concentrated in three main regions:

Khartoum

More than half of all attacks, 4,858 percent or 54 percent of all recorded incidents, were recorded in the capital, Khartoum.

The Sudanese army has in recent months launched a major offensive there to retake areas seized by the RSF at the start of the conflict.

Gezira State

Gezira, an agricultural center in Sudan south of Khartoum, has infected 1,077 people, or about 12 percent of the recorded cases.

North Darfur

Darfur – a western region divided into five regions – and its people have long suffered from internal conflicts. In North Darfur, there were at least 818 attacks, or 9 percent of all recorded incidents.

The entire area of ​​Sudan

The remaining 25 percent of fighting is spread across the country, including South Darfur (361 attacks), North Kordofan (335 attacks) and West Darfur (269 attacks).

The map below highlights the locations of these attacks.

Tens of thousands of people were killed

According to ACLED, at least 24,000 people have been reported killed across Sudan, although the actual death toll is much higher – especially if indirect deaths such as the spread of disease, malnutrition and lack of adequate health care are accounted for.

About one-third of the recorded deaths occurred in Khartoum, which has the highest death toll.

West Darfur follows with 17 percent and North Darfur with 15 percent, highlighting the ongoing violence in these areas.

Exchange of fire

According to the ACLED report, the Sudanese military has attacked 4,805 times, accounting for 54% of the reported incidents.

RSF carried out 3,069 attacks, accounting for 34 percent of the total recorded incidents.

Other groups, including Darfur Communal Militia, Darfur Arab Militia, Sudan People’s Liberation Movement, Twic Clan Militia and others were behind the remaining 1,068 (12%) attacks.

Time to attack

After months of tension, on April 15, 2023, heavy gunfire and explosions erupted in Khartoum, a city of ten million people.

Gunfire was heard near the headquarters of the army and the Ministry of Defense, the presidential palace and Khartoum International Airport.

By the end of August 2023, the attacks reached their peak, with 675 joint attacks recorded.

That month, the UN reported that one million people had fled the country and internal displacement exceeded 3.4 million.

After a slight decline in attacks, violence escalated again in January 2024.

At the time, the UN had reported that eight million people were displaced by the war as hunger was rampant throughout the country.

On September 26, 2024, the Sudanese military launched an airstrike on RSF positions in the capital in its biggest attack in months.

Who controls what in Sudan?

The conflict in Sudan has divided Africa’s third-largest country, which is largely divided between the army, the RSF and several smaller armed groups.

The RSF, its power base in Darfur, has largely driven the militia out of the region and now controls most of it.

A notable exception is el-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, which remains under the control of former rebel groups.

Meanwhile, both groups continued to fight for Khartoum with the army in control of the northern parts of the capital, as well as several nearby areas including the states of White Nile, Blue Nile and Gadarif.

14 million people were left homeless

The UN has warned that Sudan is facing a serious migration crisis, as the war continues suddenly.

About 30 percent of Sudan’s 48 million people – more than 14 million people – have been forced to flee their homes because of the war.

Of those, at least 11 million people were expelled from the country, according to the latest figures from the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

At least three million people have crossed international borders, putting great strain on neighboring countries, such as Chad, South Sudan and Egypt.

The main regions of origin of displaced people are:

• Khartoum: 3.7 million were deported (33 percent of the total)
• South Darfur: 2.1 million were evicted (19 percent)
• North Darfur: 1.6 million were evicted (14.3 percent)

Destinations for internally displaced people are:

• South Darfur: 1.8 million were deported (17 percent of the total)
• North Darfur: 1.5 million were evicted (14 percent)
• Gedaref: about one million (9%)

Despite several attempts to negotiate a ceasefire, the violence shows no signs of abating, leaving millions in need of urgent aid.