Reports of Mass Killings Emerge from the Sudanese Civil War

What Happened?

Credible reports of mass killings in the Sudanese Civil War, including both eyewitness accounts and video footage, have emerged from Darfur in the past week. The World Health Organization issued a statement saying that on October 28^th, soldiers from the Rapid Support Forces in Sudan killed at least four hundred and sixty people at a hospital in Darfur. 

Video footage of the attack, purportedly recorded by the attackers themselves, can be seen online. The commander of the Rapid Support Forces, General Dagalo, has promised an investigation, but many in the international community doubt any investigation will occur. 

Why it Matters

Sudan’s civil war has been ongoing since April 2023, but the war in Sudan has received far less international attention than conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine, which have dominated headlines around the world. According to information from the United Nations, the Sudanese Civil War has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths, millions of refugees, and widespread hunger and disease in Sudan itself.

The war began in Khartoum, Sudan’s capital, after a split in Sudan’s military led to a struggle over power to run the country. On one side are the Sudanese armed forces who remain broadly loyal to Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the country’s de facto ruler. On the other side are the paramilitaries of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which used to be known as the janjaweed, which is a collection of militia who follow the former warlord Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.

Janjaweed forces have long been accused of committing atrocities in Sudan, including mass murder and mass rape. Because there is little governance and warring factions of the military, security is poor in Sudan, which means fewer international journalists are there to provide information to the outside world. Health workers too have been scarce due to threats against their lives from both sides of the conflict.

However, some volunteer health workers chose to remain in Sudan to try to treat the wounded and care for the sick, as disease outbreaks have accompanied the conflict, which has destroyed infrastructure and access to preventative medicines. Many of those work in hospitals like the Saudi Maternity Hospital in the Sudanese city of el-Fasher, which is where the recent massacre likely took place. 

The United Nations Security Council held a meeting on Sudan on Thursday, but no specific course of action was recommended to try to bring the situation under control.

How it Affects You

While many in Asia, Europe, and the Americas tend to pay little attention to conflicts in Africa, those conflicts still matter. In the case of Sudan, the widespread violence and suffering could lead to a collapsed state, which criminal and extremist groups could then use as a base of operations to carry out criminal activities and terrorist attacks on other countries.