Sudan war enters fourth year as fighting intensifies in Darfur and Kordofan
Sudanese army consolidates control of Khartoum while RSF militias expand sieges and drone attacks in western regions
KHARTOUM, Sudan (MNTV) — Sudan’s civil war is approaching its fourth year with no end in sight, as fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces militia grinds on across the country’s western regions, drawing in millions of civilians and defying repeated international efforts to broker peace.
The conflict, which erupted in April 2023, has undergone a significant geographical shift since the Sudanese army recaptured the capital Khartoum in March 2025.
With the government re-established in the capital, the war’s centre of gravity has moved westward into the vast and already scarred states of Darfur and Kordofan, where fighting has grown more intense in recent months.
In Khartoum and its sister cities of Omdurman and Bahri, there are tentative signs of life returning. During the recent Ramadan period, residents gathered for communal iftar meals in parts of the capital for the first time in two years — a modest but meaningful marker of gradual stabilisation. Yet security remains precarious.
In February, a drone strike attributed to RSF forces tore through a crowded market in Omdurman, killing at least 54 civilians and serving as a grim reminder that areas under government control remain exposed.
The situation in Kordofan is deteriorating. RSF fighters have encircled El Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan, from multiple directions, while clashes have escalated around the cities of Kadugli and Dilling in South Kordofan.
Humanitarian agencies say more than one million people have been uprooted in the region since the start of the year alone, and several medical facilities have sustained damage in the fighting.
Darfur has fared little better. The RSF seized El-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, in October 2025 after a prolonged and brutal siege, further consolidating its grip on the region. Cities such as Nyala are now administered directly by RSF forces, functioning as de facto capitals under militia rule.
International diplomacy has produced little of substance. Last month, senior officials from the United States, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates discussed a proposal for a three-month ceasefire that would allow humanitarian assistance to reach civilians and begin a process of integrating armed factions into a unified national army.
The plan also envisioned militia withdrawals from major urban centres and the establishment of aid corridors under United Nations supervision.
Sudan’s government has, however, pushed back against the UAE’s involvement in the mediation process, pointing to allegations that Abu Dhabi has been covertly supplying the RSF with weapons and support — accusations the UAE has denied.
Türkiye and Saudi Arabia issued a joint statement reaffirming Sudan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, calling on international actors to back the country’s state institutions and urging the opening of airports and border crossings to allow aid through.
Aid organisations working in Sudan describe conditions in Darfur and Kordofan as catastrophic.
Food supplies, medical services and basic shelter are critically scarce across both regions, and the continuing siege tactics employed by both sides are making relief operations increasingly difficult to sustain.
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