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Sudan

Active SAFRSF since 2023-04-15

Understand

Sudan's war began on April 15, 2023, when fighting broke out in Khartoum between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary force commanded by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti. The two men had jointly ousted Sudan's civilian-led transitional government in 2021. Their rivalry over power, the integration of the RSF into the army, and control of the economy turned into open war within hours, spreading from the capital to Darfur, Kordofan and the center of the country.

In the first phase, the RSF overran most of Khartoum and large parts of Darfur and Gezira. The army's leadership moved the seat of government to Port Sudan on the Red Sea. Talks in Jeddah, sponsored by Saudi Arabia and the United States in May 2023, produced commitments on protecting civilians but no lasting ceasefire. In January 2025, the United States determined that the RSF had committed genocide in Darfur. The army regained ground through 2024 and 2025, retaking the Republican Palace in Khartoum on March 21, 2025.

The war then became a contest between two zones. The SAF consolidated control of Khartoum, the north, east and center, and Prime Minister Kamil Idris announced in January 2026 that the government had returned to Khartoum. The RSF and its allies, grouped in the Tasis coalition, announced a rival government in Nyala, South Darfur, in July 2025. Hemedti was sworn in as head of its presidential council on August 30, 2025, with SPLM-North leader Abdelaziz al-Hilu as deputy. The UN, the African Union and the Security Council rejected the parallel government.

On October 26, 2025, the RSF captured El Fasher, the last major army-held city in Darfur, after a siege of about 18 months. Mass killings were documented during and after the takeover, and a UN fact-finding mission has said RSF operations there and at the nearby Zamzam camp display hallmarks of genocide. The RSF then took Babanusa in West Kordofan and the Heglig oil field in December 2025, shifting the main fighting to Kordofan, the region linking Sudan's east and west.

Both forces depend on outside support. A UN fact-finding mission report published in September 2026 found that foreign suppliers had substantially expanded the drone capabilities of both the SAF and the RSF. It named recruitment and supply networks running through Colombia and the United Arab Emirates, with transit points in Chad, southeastern Libya and Bosaso in Somalia, and described up to 2,000 former Colombian military contractors operating alongside RSF units in Darfur and Kordofan.

Parties

  • Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) The national army led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, which backs the government in Khartoum; shown neutral because map colors in this war are not a judgment of either side.
  • Rapid Support Forces (RSF) Paramilitary force led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (Hemedti) that heads the Tasis parallel government; shown neutral because map colors in this war are not a judgment of either side.
  • SPLM-North (al-Hilu faction) Armed movement based in South Kordofan and Blue Nile, allied with the RSF in the Tasis coalition; colors are not a judgment.
  • Quad (United States, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt) Mediation group that proposed a humanitarian truce and transition roadmap in September 2025.
  • United Arab Emirates Quad member named by a September 2026 UN fact-finding mission report as a hub of recruitment and supply networks for the RSF, alongside Colombia.
  • United Nations and African Union Run humanitarian operations and mediation efforts, and have rejected the RSF-led parallel government.

Analysis

As of early October 2026, the SAF holds Khartoum and the north, east and center of Sudan. The RSF holds most of Darfur and parts of Kordofan, and South Kordofan remains contested. The army broke the long sieges of Dilling and Kadugli in South Kordofan in early 2026. By late July 2026 it had taken full control of the highway between Khartoum and El Obeid, the main city of North Kordofan. The RSF continues to contest that corridor and has struck El Obeid repeatedly with drones, including a September 2026 strike on a college.

A new front has opened in Blue Nile, on the border with Ethiopia and South Sudan. In mid-August 2026 the RSF and the SPLM-North faction led by al-Hilu recaptured Kurmuk and Geissan, and in early September the alliance said it had taken the Bakori and Sorkam army bases. The army reinforced the state capital, Ed Damazin, which came under direct assault and repeated drone attacks in September. By late summer the alliance held the south of the state and the SAF the north.

The humanitarian toll is the largest of any current crisis. In September 2026 the World Food Programme described 20 million people in acute hunger and about 200,000 facing catastrophic (IPC Phase 5) conditions. Famine was confirmed in El Fasher and Kadugli in late 2025. IOM counts 8.6 million people still displaced inside Sudan, while more than 5.1 million have returned home, many to Khartoum and the center, where homes and services are badly damaged. Drone strikes have hit food convoys, fuel depots and markets in Kordofan, Blue Nile and Al Jazirah.

Diplomacy remains stalled. In September 2025 the Quad of the United States, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt proposed a three-month humanitarian truce leading to a permanent ceasefire and a nine-month transition to civilian rule. Neither side has implemented it. In September 2026 Washington said it was pursuing a renewed push for a humanitarian truce with its Quad partners, Qatar, Türkiye and European governments; an SAF official said a US ninety-day ceasefire plan risked partitioning Sudan. On September 11, 2026, the Security Council renewed the Darfur sanctions regime for only one month after members split over expanding it.

What to watch

  • Whether the Security Council renews or expands the Sudan sanctions regime before its October 9, 2026 expiry
  • Whether the SAF can hold the Khartoum–El Obeid corridor against RSF attacks in North Kordofan
  • Whether the RSF–SPLM-North alliance reaches Ed Damazin in Blue Nile
  • Whether the renewed US-led humanitarian truce effort gains acceptance from both the SAF and the RSF
  • Whether famine conditions spread further in Darfur and Kordofan as aid funding falls

Data

Parties
Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) vs Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and allies
Began
April 15, 2023
Rival governments
Army-backed government in Khartoum; RSF-led Tasis government declared in Nyala (2025)
Internally displaced
IOM: 8.6 million still displaced, 5.1 million returned (September 2026)
Refugees
UNHCR: 4.3 million Sudanese refugees in neighboring countries (February 2026)
Hunger
WFP: 20 million people in acute hunger (September 2026)
Famine
IPC: famine confirmed in El Fasher and Kadugli (2025)

Territorial control for this theatre is derived from openly licensed settlement-control data and rebuilt daily (5 snapshots held). Download: control.json (GeoJSON inside; CC BY-SA 4.0).

Timeline

  1. 2023-04-15Fighting erupts in Khartoum between the SAF and the RSF and spreads across the country.
  2. 2023-05Saudi- and US-sponsored talks in Jeddah produce humanitarian commitments but no lasting ceasefire.
  3. 2025-01-07The United States determines that the RSF has committed genocide in Darfur.
  4. 2025-03-21The army retakes the Republican Palace in Khartoum.
  5. 2025-07-26The RSF-led Tasis coalition announces a parallel government in Nyala, South Darfur.
  6. 2025-08-30Hemedti is sworn in as head of the Tasis presidential council in Nyala.
  7. 2025-09The Quad proposes a three-month humanitarian truce and a nine-month transition to civilian rule.
  8. 2025-10-26The RSF captures El Fasher, the last major army-held city in Darfur, after an 18-month siege.
  9. 2025-11Famine is confirmed in El Fasher and Kadugli.
  10. 2025-12-01The RSF takes Babanusa, the last army-held city in West Kordofan, and seizes the Heglig oil field a week later.
  11. 2026-01-11Prime Minister Kamil Idris announces the government's return to Khartoum from Port Sudan.
  12. 2026-02The SAF completes breaking the sieges of Dilling and Kadugli in South Kordofan.
  13. 2026-08The RSF and SPLM-North recapture Kurmuk and Geissan in Blue Nile, opening a new front.
  14. 2026-09-11The Security Council extends the Sudan sanctions regime for one month after members split over expanding it.

Live events, aircraft and thermal anomalies for every theatre are published as GeoJSON on the data endpoints page.