The devastating war in Sudan has entered its third month, with a fresh escalation of violence in the western region of Darfur. The governor of West Darfur, Khamis Abbakar, was captured and executed by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group in the regional capital El Geneina. Abbakar had accused the RSF and their allied militias of committing genocide against the Masalit ethnic group in Darfur. Reports of similar violence in other cities have also emerged.
The governor had previously called for international intervention as the attacks spread across the city and beyond. The United Nations (UN) chief, Antonio Guterres, condemned the escalating conflict and expressed concern about its increasing ethnic dimension and reports of sexual violence. Meanwhile, the NGO Doctors without Borders (MSF) described El Geneina as “one of the worst places on Earth.”
The conflict in Sudan originated in the capital, Khartoum, on April 15. The country’s army, led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the RSF, led by his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, have been locked in combat since then. The fighting has resulted in the destruction of entire neighborhoods in Khartoum and led to hundreds of people being trapped. The conflict quickly spread to other provinces, particularly Darfur, where it has claimed at least 1,800 lives according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project.
Reports of daily atrocities continue to emerge. The renewed conflict in Khartoum has also caused a new influx of displaced people to the capital of the Al Jazirah state in central Sudan. The number of displaced individuals has gone from 300 to 2,800 in a matter of days. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) reports that the conflict has forced around 2.2 million people to flee their homes, with over half a million seeking refuge in neighboring countries.
Christopher Tounsel, interim director of the African Studies Program at the University of Washington, warns that there are reasons to believe the conflict could become protracted, likening it to the situation in South Sudan in 2013. Both al-Burhan and Daglo command significant military forces on the ground while the international presence remains minimal, particularly in Khartoum.
