Wednesday, July 23, 2025

Sudan's oil-rich Kordofan has turned into major front line in war between SAF and rival paramilitary forces. Sudan is in danger of self-destructing (Alex de Waal)

Report from BBC News
By Anne Soy
BBC Senior Africa Correspondent
Published Wednesday, 23 July 2025; 00:04 BST - full copy:

Oil-rich Sudanese region becomes new focus of war between army and rival forces
IMAGE SOURCE, AVAAZ VIA GETTY IMAGES
Sudan's oil-rich Kordofan region has turned into a major front line in the war between the army and rival paramilitary forces, as both sides try to gain the upper-hand in a conflict that has devastated the vast African state for more than two years.


Attacks that killed hundreds of civilians earlier this month have shifted attention to the battle for this part of the country.


"Whoever controls Kordofan effectively controls the country's oil supply, as well as a huge chunk of Sudan," Amir Amin, an analyst with risk consultancy Oasis Policy Advisory, told the BBC.


The region is also vital for landlocked South Sudan, as its oil flows through pipelines in Kordofan, before being exported. So, it has a vested interest in Kordofan's stability.


However, the battle for the region - which is made up three states, with a population of close to eight million - has intensified since June, when the army focused on regaining the territory from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) after it made significant gains in the preceding three months, recapturing the capital, Khartoum, and neighbouring Gezira state, the agricultural hub of Sudan.

IMAGE SOURCE, AVAAZ VIA GETTY IMAGES

Image caption Much of the capital, Khartoum - now in the hands of the army - lies in ruins after months of fighting


Sudan's military leader Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan flew into Khartoum's main airport on 20 July, his second visit to the city since his troops drove out RSF fighters in March.


Gen Burhan remains based in the eastern city of Port Sudan, suggesting that he is still not confident to return permanently to Khartoum, now a burnt-out wreck.


The conflict has claimed the lives of about 150,000 people and forced about 12 million others from their homes - roughly the equivalent of the population of Tunisia or Belgium.


The RSF had seized Khartoum soon after the war started in April 2023, following a massive fall-out between Gen Burhan and his then-ally, the paramilitary group's commander, Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, better known as "Hemedti".


The RSF helped Burhan stage a coup in 2021 and crush dissent until they turned on each other after Gen Dagalo resisted his plan to integrate the paramilitary force into the army.

 

International Crisis Group think-tank analyst Alan Boswell told the BBC that the army now wanted to defeat the RSF in Kordofan so that it could push westwards into Darfur - the paramilitary group's birthplace.


On the other hand, the RSF wanted to seize Kordofan as it would give it "new momentum" and put it "within striking distance of central Sudan, including the capital, again", Mr Boswell said.


Dr Suliman Baldo, the director of Sudan Transparency and Policy Tracker think-tank, told the BBC that he doubted the army could break through RSF defence lines in Kordofan.


He said the majority of RSF fighters were from the large Misseriya ethnic group living in West Kordofan state, which borders Darfur, "and therefore they will be fighting to protect their own communities".


Airstrikes earlier this month by the army in West Kordofan - including its capital, el-Fula, and the town of Abu Zabad - have also antagonised local people, he said, adding that it was a "counterproductive policy of collective punishment of the so-called social incubators" of the RSF.


The army still controls oil fields in the region, but the RSF had threatened to expand the war to oil-producing Heglig in South Kordofan, near the border with South Sudan, if the air bombardment did not stop.


"If the army's aviation returns again and bombs citizens in West Kordofan state, we will strike and shut down Heglig's oil and kill the engineers," Youssef Awadallah Aliyan, the head of the RSF's civilian administration in the state, was quoted as saying by the Sudan Tribune news site after visiting the market hit by airstrikes in el-Fula.


The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha) said the strikes on el-Fula and Abu Zabad, including on a school sheltering families, reportedly killed more than 20 people.


Ocha condemned the attacks, saying that civilians and civilian buildings - including schools, homes, and shelters - should "never be targeted", and warring groups should uphold international humanitarian law.


The RSF has also been accused of targeting civilians.


The UN children's agency (Unicef) said more than 450 civilians - including 24 boys, 11 girls and two pregnant women - were reportedly killed in recent attacks in North Kordofan's Bara area and the villages of Shag Alnom and Hilat Hamid.


"These attacks are an outrage," the agency said, adding that "they represent a terrifying escalation of violence" and a "complete disregard for human life".

IMAGE SOURCE, AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES Image caption, Millions have fled their homes in Sudan during the course of the war and many have ended up in camps in neighbouring countries such as the Central African Republic


The US-based Yale Humanitarian Research Lab, which has been monitoring the conflict, said that an analysis of satellite images of Shag Alnom was "indicative of intentional arson attacks".


The Emergency Lawyers rights group said that many of the more than 200 victims "were burned to death in their homes or shot".


Fears are growing that the civilian death toll could worsen following reports that the RSF is mobilising for an offensive to capture el-Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan state.


The town of Umm Sumaima has changed hands several times in recent weeks.


"It is the last defence post for the Sudan Armed Forces before el-Obeid," Dr Baldo said.


Mr Amin said that taking control of Umm Sumaima would allow the RSF to besiege the military, which has a base in el-Obeid, while the army wanted to break through to create a new supply route to rearm its soldiers in other parts of Kordofan.


With the stakes high, the battle for Kordofan - which covers some 390,000 sq km ( 150,000 sq miles) - is expected to be long and protracted.


"Whether or not it will decide the victor of the war is up for debate, but it definitely will be a seismic shift," Mr Amin said.


Further Reading:

Sudan in danger of self-destructing as conflict and famine reign (by Alex de Waal)

'I lost a baby and then rescued a child dodging air strikes in Sudan's civil war'
Last surgeons standing in el-Fasher
A photographer's 11-day trek to flee war-torn Sudan

Sudan's years of war - BBC smuggles in phones to reveal hunger and fear

Sudan war: A simple guide to what is happening


View original: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx209jr79gko


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Saturday, July 19, 2025

Sudan's former prime minister Abdalla Hamdok says recent military gains won't end the country's conflict

HAMDOK, a 69-year-old former economist who now leads a civilian coalition from exile, called the idea that the conflict was drawing down “total nonsense.” The idea that reconstruction can begin in Khartoum while fighting rages elsewhere is “absolutely ridiculous,” he said.


“Any attempt at creating a government in Sudan today is fake. It is irrelevant,” he said, arguing that lasting peace can't be secured without addressing the root causes of the war. Read more.


From The Associated Press (AP)

By SAM METZ

North Africa reporter for AP

Dated 05 June 2025; 2:06 AM BST - full copy:


Former Prime Minister Hamdok says the military’s recent gains won’t end Sudan’s civil war


Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok speaks during a session of the summit to support Sudan, at the Grand Palais Ephemere in Paris on May 17, 2021. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena, Pool, File)


MARRAKECH, Morocco (AP) — Sudan’s former prime minister on Wednesday dismissed the military’s moves to form a new government as “fake,” saying its recent victories in recapturing the capital Khartoum and other territory will not end the country’s two-year civil war.


In a rare interview with The Associated Press, Abdalla Hamdok said no military victory, in Khartoum or elsewhere, could end the war that has killed tens of thousands and driven millions from their homes.


“Whether Khartoum is captured or not captured, it’s irrelevant,” Hamdok said on the sidelines of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation’s governance conference in Morocco. “There is no military solution to this. No side will be able to have outright victory.”


Hamdok became Sudan’s first civilian prime minister after decades of military rule in 2019, trying to lead a democratic transition. He resigned in January 2022 after a turbulent stretch in which he was ousted in a coup and briefly reinstated amid international pressure.


The following year, warring generals plunged the country into civil war. Sudan today bears the grim distinction of being home to some of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.


Fighting between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces has left at least 24,000 dead, though many believe the true toll is far worse.


Both sides stand accused of war crimes.


The RSF, with roots in Darfur’s notorious Janjaweed militia, has been accused of carrying out genocide. The army is accused of unleashing chemical weapons and targeting civilians where they live.


The war has driven about 13 million people from their homes, including 4 million who have crossed into neighboring countries. Famine is setting in and cholera is sweeping through.


The military recaptured the Khartoum area from the RSF in March, as well as some surrounding territory. Army chief Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan has framed the advances as a major turning point in the conflict.


Last month, he appointed a new prime minister, Kamil al-Taib Idris, for the first time since the war began, tasked with forming a new government. But the fighting has continued. The RSF has regrouped in its stronghold in Darfur and made advances elsewhere, including in Kordofan.


Hamdok, a 69-year-old former economist who now leads a civilian coalition from exile, called the idea that the conflict was drawing down “total nonsense.” The idea that reconstruction can begin in Khartoum while fighting rages elsewhere is “absolutely ridiculous,” he said.


“Any attempt at creating a government in Sudan today is fake. It is irrelevant,” he said, arguing that lasting peace can’t be secured without addressing the root causes of the war.


Hamdok said a ceasefire and a credible process to restore democratic, civilian rule would need to confront Sudan’s deep inequalities, including uneven development, issues among different identity groups and questions about the role of religion in government.


“Trusting the soldiers to bring democracy is a false pretense,” he added.


Though rooted in longstanding divisions, the war has been supercharged by foreign powers accused of arming both sides.


Pro-democracy groups, including Hamdok’s Somoud coalition, have condemned atrocities committed by both the army and the RSF. Hamdok, however, has avoided accusing the United Arab Emirates of supplying weapons to the RSF, even amid international scrutiny and an investigation from a U.N. panel of experts.


On Wednesday, he rebuffed AP questions about weapons coming from the UAE. He said those who singled out the Gulf state while ignoring others accused of backing the army, including Iran, were “pushing a narrative.”


“What we would like to see is anybody who is supplying arms to any side to stop,” he said.


RELATED STORIES


Sudan's military accepts UN ceasefire proposal to let aid in




View original:


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Wednesday, July 16, 2025

Sudan: ICC believes war crimes & crimes against humanity are taking place now in Darfur. 5 killed in aid convoy attack. Fighting intensifies in Kordofan

ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan told the Security Council in January that there were grounds to believe both government forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Force, may be committing war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide in Darfur. 

Deputy prosecutor Shameem Khan, who is not related, said the ICC has closely tracked reports in recent weeks of the dire situation in North Darfur, whose capital El Fasher is besieged by RSF and their affiliates.


The RSF, which controls the capitals of all other states in Darfur, has also attacked famine-hit Zamzam and other camps for displaced Sudanese in North Darfur.


“On the basis of our independent investigations, the position of our office is clear, we have reasonable grounds to believe that war crimes and crimes against humanity have been and are continuing to be committed in Darfur,” Khan told the council.


This conclusion, she said, is based on documentary, testimonial and digital evidence collected by ICC investigators during the past six months, including at refugee camps in neighboring Chad. Over 7,000 items of evidence have been collected to date, she said.


Khan emphasized to the council and to victims that the ICC considers the situation in Darfur “of the utmost importance” and will not be deterred until justice is delivered to the perpetrators.


Khan said those in Darfur now “inflicting unimaginable atrocities on its population” should know that while they may feel a sense of impunity, Janjaweed leader Ali Kushayb is currently on trial and the ICC hopes it will be the first of many.


“However, we also have a duty of confidentiality to the court,” Khan said. “I am not able to share more details of the nature of our progress or of specific outcomes hoped for. I can only assure you that the progress we have made is concrete, positive and significant.”


Read more in this report from The Associated Press
BY EDITH M. LEDERER
Dated 11 July 2025; 12:22 AM BST - full copy:

ICC believes war crimes and crimes against humanity are taking place now in Sudan’s Darfur region

The United Nations flag flies on a stormy day at the U.N. during the United Nations General Assembly, Sept. 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey, File)

This June 2023 photo provided by the World Food Program shows internally displaced persons at the Wad Almajzoub farm camp in Wad Medani, Gezira state, Sudan. (Ala Kheir/U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs via AP)


UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The International Criminal Court believes war crimes and crimes against humanity are continuing to take place in Sudan’s vast western Darfur region where civil war has raged for more than two years, the tribunal’s deputy prosecutor said Thursday.


Nazhat Shameem Khan told the U.N. Security Council that the depth of suffering and the humanitarian crisis in Darfur “has reached an intolerable state,” with famine escalating and hospitals, humanitarian convoys and other civilian infrastructure being targeted.


“People are being deprived of water and food,” she said. “Rape and sexual violence are being weaponized. Abductions for ransom or to bolster the ranks of armed groups have become common practice.”


“And yet we should not be under any illusion,” Shameem Khan warned the U.N.’s most powerful body. “Things can still get worse.”


Sudan plunged into conflict in mid-April 2023, when long-simmering tensions between its military and paramilitary leaders broke out in the capital, Khartoum, and spread to other regions, including Darfur. Some 40,000 people have been killed and nearly 13 million displaced, including to other countries, according to U.N. agencies.


ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan told the Security Council in January that there were grounds to believe both government forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Force, may be committing war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide in Darfur.


The Biden administration, just before it left office in January, determined that the RSF and its proxies were committing genocide.


Karim Khan has stepped down temporarily as the ICC chief prosecutor pending the outcome of an investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct, which he categorically denies.


Deputy prosecutor Shameem Khan, who is not related, said the ICC has closely tracked reports in recent weeks of the dire situation in North Darfur, whose capital El Fasher is besieged by RSF and their affiliates.


The RSF, which controls the capitals of all other states in Darfur, has also attacked famine-hit Zamzam and other camps for displaced Sudanese in North Darfur.


“On the basis of our independent investigations, the position of our office is clear, we have reasonable grounds to believe that war crimes and crimes against humanity have been and are continuing to be committed in Darfur,” Khan told the council.


This conclusion, she said, is based on documentary, testimonial and digital evidence collected by ICC investigators during the past six months, including at refugee camps in neighboring Chad. Over 7,000 items of evidence have been collected to date, she said.


Khan emphasized to the council and to victims that the ICC considers the situation in Darfur “of the utmost importance” and will not be deterred until justice is delivered to the perpetrators.


Two decades ago, Darfur became synonymous with genocide and war crimes, particularly by the notorious Janjaweed Arab militias, against populations that identify as Central or East African. Up to 300,000 people were killed and 2.7 million were driven from their homes.


Khan said those in Darfur now “inflicting unimaginable atrocities on its population” should know that while they may feel a sense of impunity, Janjaweed leader Ali Kushayb is currently on trial and the ICC hopes it will be the first of many.


“However, we also have a duty of confidentiality to the court,” Khan said. “I am not able to share more details of the nature of our progress or of specific outcomes hoped for. I can only assure you that the progress we have made is concrete, positive and significant.”


Related reports

Fighting intensifies in Sudan's Kordofan region

Full story: https://apnews.com/article/sudan-kordofan-rapid-support-forces-humanitarian-crisis-574e767ae69562ab05d6a9d2e5bee1b5

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An attack on an aid convoy in Sudan's Darfur region kills 5, UN says

Full story: https://apnews.com/article/sudan-war-military-rsf-darfur-3403f58cde929bea2cc0a0036985da05

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Sudanese fleeing war are at risk of worsening hunger, UN warns

Full story: https://apnews.com/article/sudan-famine-hunger-refugees-un-darfur-conflict-bc3cc8260e92191078506849796f4072

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View original: https://apnews.com/article/sudan-darfur-icc-war-crimes-humanity-khan-e54744adc5b0a06eb6a44fe94d72683d


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