As Sudan’s civil war enters its fourth year, the country remains mired in one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, and there is no end in sight. Millions of displaced people face hunger, abuse and disease outbreaks, as the country’s healthcare system lies in ruins after three years of devastating war. The war erupted on April 15, 2023, after a power struggle between Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, widely known as Hemedti.
Al-Burhan and Hemedti had previously cooperated to lead a military coup in October 2021, overthrowing a transitional government that came to power in the wake of the 2019 removal of longtime ruler Omar al-Bashir following a mass uprising. The current conflict has ebbed and flowed, with the SAF currently in control of much of the east and centre of the country, including the capital Khartoum, and the RSF in control of the western Darfur region. So, what do we know about the situation on the ground and is there any hope for an end to the devastating war?
An estimated 14 million people have been forced to flee their homes – roughly a quarter of the country’s population, according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR). UNHCR’s representative in Sudan, Marie-Helene Verney, said that since the start of the conflict, about 4.4 million people have crossed borders, mainly into Chad, South Sudan and Egypt. Violence has affected all of Sudan’s 18 states but is mostly concentrated in Darfur, Khartoum, Kordofan and Gezira – which is an agricultural hub that has seen an escalation in fighting recently after attacks by RSF forces.
An estimated 40,000 people have been killed, according to the World Health Organization. The violence has included summary executions, attacks on civilians along escape routes, house-to-house raids, and sexual assaults. Efforts to mediate a ceasefire have repeatedly failed, with both sides unwilling to halt hostilities.
Darfur witnessed some of the worst violence in the conflict so far, after the RSF was able to consolidate control over it in October 2025 with its capture of the city of el-Fasher. The United Nations has said that at least 6,000 were killed in just three days of the RSF takeover. International partners have attempted to bring the warring parties together to talk.
A primary mediation effort has been led by the “Quad” – the United States, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) – which has focused on aligning external actors to reduce arms flows and pressure the warring parties to reach a ceasefire. But the UAE has also been accused of supporting the RSF, a claim it denies. The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and the African Union (AU) have also engaged in diplomatic initiatives to unite opposing Sudanese political factions and facilitate a political settlement.
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