Fire & Ashes: Marking two years of war in Sudan
The brutal invasion of a displacement camp in North Darfur encapsulates what two years of extreme warfare, mass killings, and hunger have done to Sudan.
•••••
On April 13, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) stormed Zamzam displacement camp in North Darfur, a place that should be safe and secure, but instead has been under violent siege for over a year. The camp lies several miles to the south of El Fasher —capital of North Darfur— which is being defended by the army’s 6th Infantry Division and pro-army militias from a brutal onslaught by the RSF.
What is unfolding in Zamzam at the time of this posting can only be described as a living nightmare. Early reports suggest hundreds of people have already been killed —including pregnant mothers and children— as well as nine local humanitarian workers who appear to have been executed by the RSF. Tens of thousands of people are fleeing into nearby rural areas, and it appears the RSF is choking off the main road to El Fasher.
Zamzam was already one of the largest camps for displaced Sudanese. Most all of the adults and older teens living here have already survived at least one war or massacre. Some younger children born in Zamzam have never been able to leave. All have nowhere else to flee. This attack is an ongoing, deliberate assault on vulnerable minority civilians who have already lost nearly everything, and it bears the dark hallmarks of the El Geneina Massacre that the RSF committed in the early days of this war. We will provide a more extensive update soon.
Sudan Crisis Guide
Trying to make sense of the war in Sudan? We’ll get you up to speed in just a few minutes.
Today marks two years since the army and RSF went to war for control of a country that wants neither in charge. The crimes being committed in Zamzam are a brutal snapshot of what this senseless crisis is doing to Sudan.
No one knows the true death toll, but a conservative estimate based on very limited data suggests well over 200,000 civilians have already perished from violence and famine. It is estimated that 8.7 million Sudanese have descended into near-famine or famine conditions, and 15 million people have been forced to flee their homes or have left Sudan as refugees. Countless communities have been burned to the ground and some pockets of the country can no longer sustain human life.
And yet, this war continues with almost no international spotlight. There is no bold peace process. There is far less humanitarian relief to go around than there was one year ago. Most of the world remains silent while the Sudanese people endure what has become the largest and most dangerous humanitarian emergency on the planet.
A fractured state with no military solution
As Sudan enters a third year of war, the path forward feels more uncertain than ever, and increasingly grim. The army’s grinding offensive through central —including the recent capture of Khartoum— will likely reach the eastern edge of the Darfur provinces in the coming weeks. It is somewhere here that their advance will probably hit a brick wall, as the RSF is deeply entrenched in Darfur and capable of projecting much more military force across all five provinces, as is being seen now in Zamzam.
Where that will leave Sudan is unknown; but, one once unthinkable possibility now looms large. With no peace deal in sight and both sides obsessed with finding a military solution, a more permanently divided Sudan is becoming increasingly likely.
Abroad, the army and RSF are desperate to be seen as Sudan’s legitimate rulers; but, inside the country’s borders, both are entrenching their own “governments.” The army by seizing control of largely shattered governing civilian institutions; the RSF by trying to create a separate parallel governing system from scratch. Both sides are vying to stand up their own police forces and minimally trying —and failing—to offer a few basic services, mostly to their favored ethnic groups.
Map: A rough visualization of areas of control. “l.r.” stands for local resistance, with both of those armed groups having spent much of this war defending their territory and ethnic minority populations against the army and RSF. Click or tap to expand. (source)
Partition, then, is no longer hypothetical. There need not be an independence declaration, sham referendum, or international recognition of a new state coming out of Sudan for the country to become effectively divided in a longer-term fashion. The lack of a decisive military victory by either side will leave at least three political/military sub-states inside Sudan’s borders —including the already largely autonomous southern Nuba Mountains— if not more. Much deeper, systemic problems beneath the surface of the atrocities will be enough to enforce such a devastating status quo.
For the army, the generals lust for power at all costs is leading them to recruiting tribal militias and extreme Islamist groups, either directly into their ranks or by arming such factions and having them operate parallel to the army. These alliances are extremely dangerous for a myriad of reasons. Many of these groups believe they have scores to settle with other Sudanese or wish to see Sudan return to something like the dark days of the now defunct Bashir regime. They also risk turning Sudan’s war into a broader regional conflict, one that could reignite long-simmering tensions along the country’s borders and further drag in outside powers.
Meanwhile, it must be recognized that the RSF’s cancerous roots stretch far beyond Sudan’s borders. The paramilitaries have connections to shadowy armed networks across the Sahel, with ethnic and logistical ties as nearby as Chad, the Central African Republic, and Libya to as far away as Niger and Mali. In the past the RSF has also welcomed support from Russia and the United Arab Emirates, and is likely still receiving considerable assistance from the latter. These relationships are multifaceted —sometimes even nonsensical— but ultimately serve as recruitment pipelines and supply routes, allowing the RSF to move foreign fighters, weapons, and fuel into Darfur with little effort. The dangers that flow back in the other direction can be a mystery, but they certainly include unaccountable fighters with hefty combat experience and weapons flowing back into their home countries.
Needless to say, the disastrous consequences of such an effective partition won’t stop at Sudan’s borders, but it will still be the Sudanese people who suffer the most. In this future, the RSF would be free to complete its multiple genocides of various Darfuri African tribes. The hundreds of thousands of African Darfuris who were forced to flee Sudan would never be able to return to their homelands. And the army and their newer allies would carry out killings in areas under their control.
This dark future is not set in stone though, even if it seems more likely on this grim anniversary. Nonviolent civilian resistance has shown remarkable resilience against the evils of the army and RSF, as well as brought some relief to the deplorable living conditions both sides are inflicting on the Sudanese people. Every day, brave Sudanese open small institutions in the form of soup kitchens and underground clinics, help deliver humanitarian aid to the vulnerable, and chronicle the atrocities being committed against them. Countless of these heroes have been killed, but it is their struggle that is keeping hope for a better future alive.
And what can friends of Sudan do?
Two years of war have pushed Sudan to the brink. But war alone didn’t get us here: inaction did. Indifference did. The silence of the international community did. None of this can be undone. The lives lost in the massacres at El Geneina, Zamzam, northern and eastern Gezira, and countless other places cannot be brought back. And while the Sudanese people continue to carry this unimaginable weight, it should not be theirs to carry alone.
We can choose to stand beside the Sudanese people in real, tangible ways. But these ways must be direct. Expressions of solidarity on social media may feel righteous, but posting online doesn’t help a mother and her children who lost everything find a way to thrive. Taking an awareness-raising or advocacy-only approach at a time when the global system is under extreme stress will yield too few good fruits, if any at all. Even now, as it feels as if more people are paying attention to the ideas of dignity, justice, and peace that have long animated the Sudanese people, the danger is that we mistake having awareness for direct action.
Our friends in Sudan can’t afford that mistake. Not when every day brings more hunger, more displacement, and more death. Sudan’s future still belongs to the Sudanese people. Our job is to do what we can to help them alleviate real suffering and begin to reverse the injustices, now. And that starts, frankly, with money. Program by program and day by day, lives can still be saved and made better through the heroic, small, and local institutions ordinary Sudanese are fighting to build up.
The Sudanese can’t live in the apology owed to them, one they are not likely to get anyways. They have to live in their homes: safe, free from fear, and prosperous. Anything less will be another atrocity.
Operation Broken Silence is dedicated to Sudanese communities, cultivating resilience and driving meaningful change through crowdfunded programs. Our Sudanese partners are overwhelmed with needs as war and hunger spread. By joining Miles For Sudan or giving below, you will help them serve the most vulnerable in this time of tremendous need.
Can’t participate? Make a donation or set up a small monthly gift instead:
$1,000 - Fully funds one classroom at Endure Primary School in Yida Refugee Camp for half a semester.
$500 - Delivers food to Darfuri genocide survivors who have fled to South Sudan.
$250 - Provides a daily breakfast to 10 children for an entire month in Adré refugee camp, where many Darfuri genocide survivors now live.
$100 - Supports the monthly work of a sexual assault counselor and food relief in the El Fasher/Zamzam area in North Darfur, Sudan.
$50 - Helps bring school supplies to students in Yida Refugee Camp.
Checks can be made payable to Operation Broken Silence and mailed to PO Box 770900 Memphis, TN 38177-0900. You can also donate stock or crypto.
Operation Broken Silence a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Donations are tax-deductible within the guidelines of U.S. law. Our EIN is 80-0671198.
Shareables
Short statements you can share online and text to others. Simply copy and paste.
Share Our Posts: Instagram | Facebook | Threads | Bluesky | Reddit | LinkedIn
As Sudan enters a third year of war, the path forward feels more uncertain than ever, and increasingly grim. With no peace deal in sight and both sides obsessed with finding a military solution, a more permanently divided Sudan is becoming increasingly likely. https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/fire-and-ashes-marking-two-years-of-war-in-sudan
The brutal invasion of a displacement camp in North Darfur encapsulates what two years of extreme warfare, mass killings, and hunger have done to Sudan. https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/fire-and-ashes-marking-two-years-of-war-in-sudan
Today marks two years since the army and RSF went to war for control of a country that wants neither in charge. Learn more and discover ways to help: https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/fire-and-ashes-marking-two-years-of-war-in-sudan
The Sudanese can’t live in the apology owed to them, one they are not likely to get anyways. They have to live in their homes: safe, free from fear, and prosperous. Anything less will be just another atrocity. https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/fire-and-ashes-marking-two-years-of-war-in-sudan
Operation Broken Silence is dedicated to Sudanese communities, cultivating resilience and driving meaningful change through crowdfunded programs. Will you join us? https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/fire-and-ashes-marking-two-years-of-war-in-sudan
