In the heart of Sudan, a humanitarian catastrophe is unfolding at a pace and scale that has left the world’s top diplomats, aid organizations, and ordinary Sudanese alike searching for answers and relief. The recent fall of El-Fasher, the last government-held city in Darfur, to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has not only shifted the balance of power in the country’s brutal civil war but also triggered a new wave of atrocities, displacement, and international condemnation.
On November 12, 2025, the Group of Seven (G7) foreign ministers, meeting in Niagara, Canada, issued a stern rebuke of the RSF’s actions. According to Reuters, their joint statement condemned the ethnically motivated attacks by the RSF against civilians in El-Fasher and North Kordofan, calling for an immediate and permanent ceasefire from both the RSF and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF). The G7 described Sudan’s crisis as the world’s largest humanitarian emergency and demanded unimpeded humanitarian access to the conflict zones.
The roots of this turmoil stretch back to April 2023, when a power struggle between two former allies—General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan of the SAF and Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, of the RSF—erupted into open warfare. The conflict has since claimed at least 40,000 lives, with the World Health Organization estimating that around 12 million people have been displaced. The RSF’s recent capture of El-Fasher, after an 18-month siege, cements its control over about one-fifth of Sudan’s territory, particularly in the west and southwest, while the SAF retains the capital and much of the more populous regions, including the strategic 530-mile Red Sea coastline.
The fall of El-Fasher on October 26, 2025, marked a grim turning point. As Al Jazeera and the BBC report, the RSF’s takeover followed a siege that saw 1.2 million residents cut off from food, medicine, and aid. The RSF constructed 35 miles of barriers around the city, making escape nearly impossible. Many residents were forced to survive on animal feed, and the violence that followed the RSF’s entry was swift and brutal. Human rights campaigners have documented summary executions, forced enlistments, rapes, and the burning of homes. Particularly targeted were members of the Masalit minority, who had already suffered during the infamous Darfur genocide in the early 2000s.
According to the Sudan Doctors Network, at least 1,500 people were killed in El-Fasher in just the three days following its capture by the RSF. Yale’s Humanitarian Research Lab used satellite imagery to corroborate reports of mass killings, with satellite photos revealing piles of bodies and blood-stained earth. Displaced families recounted harrowing journeys out of the city, speaking of dead bodies lining their paths and the need to dig makeshift trenches to avoid gunfire and drone attacks. Many have suffered “unspeakable, unbearable, sexual trauma [and] sexual abuse,” Amy Pope, director-general of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), told Al Jazeera.
Since the RSF’s takeover, nearly 90,000 people have fled El-Fasher, according to IOM figures, while violence continues to spill into neighboring North Kordofan, where nearly 39,000 have also been displaced between October 26 and November 9. Humanitarian agencies warn that their efforts are on the brink of collapse due to insecurity and lack of funding. “Warehouses are nearly empty, aid convoys face significant insecurity, and access restrictions continue to prevent the delivery of sufficient aid,” the IOM said in a recent statement.
The crisis has been compounded by the systematic use of sexual violence as a weapon of war. Anna Mutavati, UN Women’s regional director for East and Southern Africa, noted that women and girls who escaped El-Fasher face grave risks in displacement camps. “There is mounting evidence that rape is being deliberately and systematically used as a weapon of war,” Mutavati said during a news conference in Geneva. “Women’s bodies … have just become a crime scene in Sudan.”
International outrage has centered not only on the atrocities themselves but also on the sources of support that enable the RSF’s military campaigns. At the G7 meeting, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called for international action to cut off the supply of weapons to the RSF. “They’re committing acts of sexual violence and atrocities, just horrifying atrocities, against women, children, innocent civilians of the most horrific kind. And it needs to end immediately,” Rubio told reporters, as quoted by the BBC. While Sudan’s army accuses the United Arab Emirates (UAE) of supplying arms and mercenaries to the RSF—an allegation the UAE denies—Rubio stopped short of directly naming Abu Dhabi, saying, “We know who the parties are that are involved [in weapons supply]… That’s why they’re part of the Quad along with other countries involved.”
Investigations by international media and UN experts have found credible evidence that weapons manufactured in Serbia, Russia, China, Turkey, Yemen, and the UAE are being used in Sudan, often smuggled through the UAE and Chad into Darfur. The RSF, lacking its own arms manufacturing facilities, depends heavily on these external suppliers. In return, the RSF is accused of funneling Sudanese gold through the UAE, providing a financial lifeline for its operations.
The war’s devastation is not limited to the RSF’s actions. The SAF has also been implicated in atrocities, including indiscriminate shelling of residential neighborhoods, attacks on medical facilities, and the destruction of civilian infrastructure. These actions have further deepened the suffering of Sudan’s civilian population and complicated efforts for recovery and peace. The G7 foreign ministers’ statement condemned all such violations, urging both sides to respect human rights and allow safe passage for humanitarian aid.
The international community faces a daunting challenge in addressing Sudan’s crisis. Previous ceasefire proposals, including a US-backed plan, have been violated. The RSF only agreed to a truce after capturing El-Fasher, but fighting has continued unabated. Meanwhile, the risk of a permanent geographic split in Sudan grows, echoing the fractured realities of conflicts in places like Libya, where rival factions have carved out de facto states with little hope for reunification.
As the conflict drags on, Sudan’s strategic location—at the crossroads of the Horn of Africa and along the vital Red Sea trade route—raises the stakes for regional and global powers. The Red Sea sees 12% of global trade pass through its waters, and the SAF’s control of the coastline remains a critical asset. The UAE’s involvement, motivated by both geopolitical ambitions and economic interests, underscores the complex web of external actors fueling the war.
For the millions of Sudanese caught in the crossfire, the immediate needs are stark: safety, food, medical care, and a respite from the relentless violence. As Amy Pope of the IOM put it, “The primary issue is ensuring that there is a ceasefire, a humanitarian corridor, so that aid groups can bring in that aid to the civilians who are very much caught in the middle.”
Sudan’s tragedy, marked by mass displacement, ethnic violence, and international power plays, is a sobering reminder of the world’s unfinished business in upholding human rights and peace. The urgency for action has never been greater.
