Sudan Crisis: Update & How To Help
Friends and supporters,
It’s been nearly one week since the the Sudan Armed Forces —the country’s official military— and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces began waging war on each other.
Our top priority continues to be ensuring the safety of our Sudanese partners and contacts. I can confirm that our partners and direct contacts are all accounted for, but some of them have lost dear friends and family members to the fighting. Some are in safe spaces, others are not. We grieve with them, and we share their outrage.
We have an update on the situation for you below; but, before you read it, can you make a quick donation to our Sudanese partners? Program costs are rising due to the war and we are preparing to meet emergency needs when they arise. A generous private donor is matching all donations, up to $15,000 total. Give now to double your impact.
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An Update On The Situation In Sudan
This update is meant to provide you a general overview of the current political and security environment in Sudan. This is not an exhaustive update and the situation is changing by the hour. For more frequent updates, please follow us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.
Since the initial outbreak of fighting between army and paramilitary forces in Khartoum on April 15, violence has spiraled out of control and into other parts of Sudan. The Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) —the country’s official military— currently has the upper-hand in most parts of the country. With the official death estimate already over 400 and the numbers of wounded at 4,000 and climbing fast, this crisis is likely far from over. Considering the brutality of some of the fighting and war crimes we are seeing, these numbers are certainly a vast undercount.
In the long-oppressed western Darfur region, SAF is largely in control of all state capitals, although some fighting continues north of Nyala, the capital of South Darfur. It appears that the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) expected army units would put up little resistance in El Fasher and Nyala. That proved to be a severe miscalculation, with eyewitnesses reporting fierce fighting before RSF units were mostly driven out of both cities. Widespread looting and war crimes have been committed by both sides.
Elsewhere in Sudan, SAF has retaken the Meroe air base north of Khartoum, a major resupply route used by RSF forces. Port Sudan in the east is also under SAF control. El Obeid in Kordofan has seen rolling battles between SAF/police and RSF units. In South Kordofan —home to the Nuba Mountains, where the bulk of our programs are— SAF is in control of all major towns in regime-held areas. The situation there is largely quiet, but tensions are high. Fighting has also been reported in countless small and medium-sized towns across much of Sudan where the army and paramilitaries both have a presence.
The most brutal fighting remains in Khartoum. Over the last few days, both sides have poured thousands of reinforcements, artillery, and weapons and ammunition into the capital. The heaviest fighting is in central Khartoum and neighborhoods in nearby Omdurman. Shelling and heavy gunfire continues around what is left of the army headquarters, international airport, and presidential palace. There are widespread reports of RSF paramilitaries using hit-and-run attacks out of residential areas, with the army launching airstrikes and shells indiscriminately into neighborhoods in response.
Large parts of Khartoum are without power and the city is running dangerously low on fuel, water, and food. The healthcare system is at high-risk of a total collapse in the next few days, with several hospitals having been attacked and all running low on supplies and staff. Deaths and injuries will likely skyrocket soon as fighting continues and what is left of basic social services deteriorate.
Looking beyond Sudan’s borders, ceasefire attempts by the international community have failed. Several diplomatic convoys in Khartoum have been fired on and fallen back to their embassies. Most all international aid operations in the country have been halted. Multiple countries, including the United States, are preparing for military evacuations of diplomatic personnel and whatever citizens sheltering in place they can reach. These realities are best understood as grim warnings that Sudan’s generals have no interest in negotiating an end to this madness.
To make matters worse, other countries are now entering the tempest. There are reports of Egypt launching airstrikes against RSF bases and supply lines as far as they can reach into Sudan. There are unconfirmed reports that the United Arab Emirates is attempting to resupply the RSF through Libya. And the Russian mercenary group Wagner, which has a sizable presence in Sudan, is reported to be furnishing the RSF with surface-to-air missiles. Efforts like these to prop up both sides in this conflict will likely only stretch out this crisis even further, even if this eventually devolves into ongoing, lower-level conflict in more rural and periphery regions of the country.
Predicting when and how this ends is a futile effort; however, considering the nature of the crisis and posture of SAF and RSF commanders, it seems apparent that the current goal of the army is to eradicate the RSF paramilitary force once and for all.
We anticipate that al-Burhan and his army generals will continue pressing their advantage as RSF units retreat or collapse across the country. And it seems like Hemeti and his paramilitary commanders will continue to try to decapitate army leadership in Khartoum as, right now at least, this appears to be the RSF’s only viable path to dominance. As always, the Sudanese people stand to lose the most. Caught in the crossfire and directly targeted by the very security forces tasked with keeping them safe, millions of ordinary Sudanese are living through one of the worst nightmares in Sudan’s recent history.
While the rule of law has been largely absent from Sudan for decades, the oppression of regime rule provided minimal stability in the power centers that the generals relied upon to survive. Even that is now gone. The regime is cannibalizing itself; its generals wholly committed to each other’s destruction in the name of individual self-preservation. One is forced again to see the truth for what it is: if this is not total governmental ruin, then there are no rules of governance.
At the end of this post you can find additional public reporting that provides more background on Sudan’s generals and the roots of this new crisis. Before that though, we encourage you to take action in this moment of severe crisis.
Get Involved
Operation Broken Silence has been working next to our Sudanese partners on the ground for over a decade. Our mission has always been focused on the long run, which is why empowering local solutions will remain our top priority, even during this crisis.
Supporting local teachers like Chana makes all the difference for students who have survived war and want to build a better future for their country. The cost of life-changing programs like these is going up due to the war, and we anticipate that we will soon be called to fund emergency needs. We can’t let this crisis stop our Sudanese partners from doing what they do best: lifting up their people.
The fastest way to help them is to make a quick one-time donation online, or setup a small monthly gift to help provide them the consistent support they need. A generous private donor is matching all donations, up to $15,000 total. Give now to double your impact.
OTHER WAYS TO HELP
Start a fundraising page and ask friends and family to give
Make a check payable to Operation Broken Silence and mail it to P.O. Box 770900 Memphis, TN 38177-0900
It’s been a long week for our friends in Sudan. There’s still a lot of uncertainty ahead, too. What we know is that our Sudanese partners need our help. Let’s each play our small part in giving them the best chance for real, lasting change.
Onward,
Mark C. Hackett
Executive Director
