In the shadow of Sudan’s relentless conflict, a new lifeline has emerged for the battered people of Darfur and Kordofan. On December 15, 2025, the European Union (EU) launched a critical “air bridge,” delivering eight planeloads of humanitarian aid to Sudan’s war-torn Darfur region. The EU’s Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations announced that these flights, carrying 3.5 million euros (about $4.1 million) worth of life-saving supplies, are set to provide water, shelter materials, sanitation, hygiene, and health items to those most in need. According to the EU, this mission is targeting “one of the world’s hardest places for aid organisations to reach,” as reported by Al Jazeera.
The first of these flights departed on December 12, 2025, carrying around 100 tonnes of aid sourced from EU humanitarian stockpiles and partner organizations. More flights are scheduled throughout December and into January, aiming to sustain the steady flow of relief into a region where “mass atrocities, starvation and displacement” have become the grim daily reality.
Darfur’s humanitarian woes have only deepened since the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) seized North Darfur’s capital, el-Fasher, in late October after an 18-month siege. The city’s fall marked a “major escalation of an already catastrophic humanitarian situation,” the EU noted. The RSF’s takeover, following a siege that left residents cut off from food, medicine, and other essentials, forced more than 100,000 people to flee—many of them to Tawila, a small desert town now transformed into a sprawling displacement settlement for over 650,000 people. The World Food Programme’s (WFP) Ross Smith described Tawila as “a sprawling, massive displacement settlement” where “there’s not enough shelter for people, many are staying in very makeshift structures: grass, straw structures, et cetera. Cholera and disease outbreak is widespread.”
Those who managed to escape el-Fasher faced harrowing journeys along roads “littered with mines” and unexploded ordnance, risking their lives for a chance at survival. The UN human rights office, as cited by UN News, warned that the siege had reduced people to eating peanut shells and animal feed. Satellite images showed bloodstains from mass killings and reports surfaced of executions based on ethnicity. Survivors described the city as “a crime scene with mass killings, with burnt bodies, with abandoned markets.” UN human rights chief Volker Turk went so far as to accuse the RSF of committing “the gravest of crimes.”
As of mid-December, between 70,000 and 100,000 people are believed to remain trapped inside el-Fasher. The essentials for survival in the city have been “completely obliterated,” according to UN agencies. Communication with those left behind is sporadic at best, as network blackouts sever ties with the outside world. Yet, in a glimmer of hope, the UN reported on December 12 that humanitarian agencies had reached a deal in principle with the RSF to allow aid access into el-Fasher. “We are calling for and we've continued to call for unimpeded access into El Fasher to urgently respond to those that remain trapped in the city,” Smith emphasized. WFP convoys are now en route to Tawila, equipped with enough supplies for 700,000 people for the next month.
The conflict that has torn Sudan apart erupted in April 2023, when a power struggle between the military and the RSF exploded into open fighting in the capital Khartoum and quickly spread across the country. Since then, the RSF has captured all major cities in Darfur, effectively splitting Sudan in two: the army controls the center, east, and north, while the RSF and its allies dominate the west and parts of the south. The ongoing war has killed tens of thousands, displaced 12 million people, and triggered what the United Nations calls the world’s largest hunger and displacement crisis.
But the violence is far from contained. As the RSF consolidates its grip on Darfur, it is pushing eastward into the Kordofan region, targeting key cities such as Kadugli (the capital of South Kordofan), Dilling, and el-Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan. El-Obeid is strategically significant, lying on a key highway that links Darfur to Khartoum—a route the army recaptured in March. The UN has sounded repeated alarms that the Kordofan region is at risk of suffering atrocities similar to those witnessed in el-Fasher, including mass killings, abductions, and sexual violence.
The situation in Kordofan has indeed grown more desperate. On December 14, a drone strike hit an army-run hospital in Dilling, South Kordofan, killing seven civilians and wounding at least 12 others. The victims included patients and their companions; the hospital serves both civilians and military personnel. This attack came just one day after another drone strike killed six Bangladeshi UN peacekeepers in Kadugli, as reported by France24. The greater Kordofan region is now facing some of the fiercest fighting in Sudan’s war, as the RSF and its allies—including the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) faction led by Abdelaziz al-Hilu—seek to wrest control from the army.
Famine has gripped Kadugli since September, with the UN estimating that Dilling is suffering similar conditions, though a lack of access prevents an official declaration. The RSF and SPLM-N have besieged these cities, and the SPLM-N recently declared that the capture of Dilling and Kadugli was “only a matter of time,” urging the army and allied militias to withdraw. Meanwhile, more than 40,000 people have fled North Kordofan since November 18, 2025, according to the UNHCR, which has described access as “challenging” and resources as “critically low.”
Across Sudan, the consequences of the war are staggering. The country is now home to the largest displacement crisis in the world, with more than 12 million people uprooted both inside and outside its borders. Disease, hunger, and violence stalk the camps and settlements where survivors have gathered. “These are families that have endured famine for many months on end and mass atrocities and are now living in overcrowded conditions with very limited support,” Smith told UN News. The specter of cholera looms large in the makeshift camps, where clean water and adequate shelter are in short supply.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres has repeatedly condemned attacks on civilians and called for an immediate cessation of hostilities. “We are calling for and we've continued to call for unimpeded access into El Fasher to urgently respond to those that remain trapped in the city,” Smith reiterated, capturing the urgency of the moment. Guterres has also implored countries with influence over the warring parties to help stop the fighting and halt the flow of arms into Sudan.
As the EU’s air bridge continues to deliver much-needed relief, and as UN agencies negotiate for access to besieged cities, the fate of millions hangs in the balance. The coming weeks will test the resolve of the international community and the resilience of Sudan’s people, who have endured more than a year and a half of war, displacement, and deprivation.
In the midst of devastation, the arrival of aid and the prospect of humanitarian access to el-Fasher offer a sliver of hope. But with the conflict grinding on and atrocities mounting, Sudan’s crisis demands the world’s sustained attention—and action—now more than ever.
