Neelam Rahim | neelam@radioislam.co.za

3-minute read
18 April 2024 | 11:05 CAT

Fighters of the Sudan Liberation Movement, a Sudanese rebel group active in Sudan’s Darfur State which supports army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, attend a graduation ceremony in the southeastern Gedaref state on 28 March 2024. Picture: AFP

What started as a dispute over plans to merge the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) into the regular army has turned into a nationwide war that is drawing in an ever-expanding number of militias, rebel forces, and ordinary civilians

RSF atrocities in Darfur have led to ethnic cleansing and genocide warnings. The capital city, Khartoum, has been wrecked as RSF fighters have invaded people’s houses and communities and as army fighter jets rain down bombs and shells. Thousands have lost their lives, and millions have been displaced.

In an interview with Radio Islam International, Dalia Mohammed, a Sudanese journalist with deep insights into the Sudanese conflict, provided an overview of the current situation and how the conflict has evolved since it began in April 2023.

Despite diplomatic efforts, the situation remains dire. Mohammed said the war front has expanded.

“From the main states, Khartoum and Darfur have now expanded to Al Jazirah which was the largest state that was housing internally displaced Sudanese,” says Mohammed.

Mohammed noted that one year into the war in Sudan has led to catastrophe; on the brink of famine, Sudan is on track to become the world’s worst hunger crisis.

Neither side seems capable of winning the conflict, which has produced the world’s largest displacement crisis – uprooting nearly nine million people, including two million to neighbouring states – and which has brought Sudan’s food system to its knees.

Famine is now looming for millions of people across the country, and starvation deaths have already been reported, especially in Darfur’s long-standing displacement camps and in besieged urban areas in Khartoum and its adjacent cities.

Despite the growing humanitarian emergency, the conflict parties – who continue to receive external support – have obstructed the efforts of international relief agencies, which are also struggling with severe funding constraints.

For desperate civilians, virtually all that remains is mutual aid: volunteers organising soup kitchens, evacuation plans and emergency health care.

Listen to the full interview on Your World Today with Mufti Yusuf Moosagie.