As the war in Sudan approaches three years, the power struggle has recently taken a violent turn. The Arab-led militia is now using drones and is being accused of slaughtering the native black population in a bloody attempt at ethnic cleansing.
Sudan is an East African country that has been plagued by violence for the last three years.
According to the BBC, as of November 12, 2025, the total death toll of the war is estimated to be around 150,000 people. That is around 5 times the population of the towns of Lincoln and Sudbury combined. The amount of killings has gotten so severe that the piles of bodies and blood stains can be seen on satellite imagery. Another 12 million Sudanese people are displaced and looking for a safe place to relocate. For reference, Sudan had a population of 40 million people in 2024. The United Nations has declared the conflict the world’s largest humanitarian crisis.
The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) are struggling for power over Sudan. Their conflict has led to the current civil war. The SAF has controlled Sudan since 2019. South Sudan seceded from Sudan in 2011 which made Sudan lose all of its oil revenues. This led to an economic downfall, these revenues accounted for half of Sudan government’s revenue and 95% of its exports. Members of the RSF believed the SAF handled the financial downturn poorly and saw the struggling economy as evidence that the SAF cannot be trusted to rule. On April 15th, 2023, the RSF began to mobilize by gathering armed troops, and began traveling. Fearing a coup, the SAF declared the RSF’s coordinated actions illegal. After that, the RSF attacked parts of Sudan, and the civil war started.
Sudanese eyewitnesses report that the RSF, led by General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, has recently committed extreme acts of violence. After the RSF took control of El Fasher, a populous city in the Darfur region, members began entering people’s homes. If the militia found non-arab men or boys, they would be executed immediately. RSF members often raped or otherwise sexually assaulted the women and girls. It has been very difficult for the few attempting to escape El Fasher. Ikram Abdelhameed, a woman, accounts how the RSF executed any men attempting to leave the city and raped many of the fleeing women.
The SAF has accused the United Arab Emirates (UAE) of supplying the RSF with weapons and attack drones Amnesty International has presented evidence that the weapons being used in Sudan were manufactured in Serbia, Russia, China, Turkey, Yemen and UAE. Despite evidence presented in UN reports and international media investigations, a UAE official claims that their country “bears no responsibility for the conflict.”
Attempts to aid in this violent war have been made; however, many have failed. Nathaniel Raymond, executive director of the Yale Humanitarian Research Lab, has advocated to multiple governments, including the U.S., Britain, and France, concerning this conflict. He said, “they had to be ready for a protection kinetic option [direct military action] in the summer of last year.” Yet no government took action, leading to this devastation. Further, the UN has funded little humanitarian relief in impoverished countries like Sudan, which desperately needs support. Despite many humanitarian groups voicing the need to ensure the safety of the Sudanese, the UN has not provided much protection.
Although this war is not resolving soon, some steps are being taken to resolve the conflict. In early November, the United States, UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt proposed a humanitarian truce, which the RSF has agreed to.
