Recently, videos circulated online depicting the massacres in Sudan by the RSF, which a Yale institute analysis of drone footage has corroborated. One video depicts RSF soldiers taunting captured men and boys before summarily executing them, a manner reminiscent of early ISIS propaganda videos. Another video was taken from within a hospital and shows a survivor of a massacre being shot at close range. The events took place in El-Fasher, a city in western Sudan, which stood as the last stronghold for Sudan’s military in the western half of the country. Sudan is currently embroiled in a three-year-long civil war that has resulted in 24.6 million Sudanese facing famine and lack of access to safe water. The methods of this war are especially brutal in their targeting of civilians and the use of summary executions and sexual violence as a systemic weapon against enemies. Ultimately, due to a combination of Sudan being low on the geopolitical register compared to other crises (namely Gaza), and the direct funding by Gulf states, the mass destruction of Sudan and its people has been allowed to continue.
Sudan was plunged into war in April 2023 when the leaders of the paramilitary group, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), and the country’s army, who had previously collaborated in a coup, became political enemies. Previously, the two leaders, Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan (de facto President) and Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (RSF), had worked to overthrow a previous dictator and, despite civilian demands for democracy, took power themselves. Soon, the two began to disagree on how to shape the new Sudan, particularly regarding whether RSF forces would be integrated into the state army. On April 15, one of the groups fired at the other, and soon full-scale war broke out. The RSF soon seized Khartoum, Sudan’s capital, forcing al-Burhan to evacuate to Port Sudan, a coastal city on the Red Sea. The fighting has been concentrated around Darfur, a region in the west of the country, where the RSF has near-complete control. Rebel forces continued to capture much of Kordofan, a neighbouring province. Soon after, they took another province, Geizra.
In 2023, when the RSF captured the city of el-Fasher, they burnt government buildings, banks, and office blocks. In addition, they bombed hospitals and clinics, often with patients and non-combatants still inside. In total, about 14,000 people were killed in el-Fasher, demonstrating the magnitude of the conflict. Similarly, in the 2025 massacre, the city was under siege for 18 months, during which the hospital was again hit with artillery shelling. Witnesses report that RSF fighters entered the hospital, including the maternity ward, and systematically killed patients and anyone else they found inside. In addition, the rest of the city was ransacked, killing an upwards of 1,500 people, primarily women and children escaping the regional violence. The massacre is ruthless not only because the majority of the victims were non-combatants, but because of the methods used, which included extrajudicial killing, starvation, and sexual violence. One humanitarian aid provider claimed that the RSF targeted volunteers and medics in places of worship, a gross violation of international law. Evidently, this is only one of various violations of international humanitarian law (IHL), which Sudan is obligated to observe as a party to the Geneva Conventions. This conflict has largely gone unnoticed by the international community because of other high-profile conflicts, such as Ukraine and Russia, and the Israel-Palestine conflict, which carry a higher political significance than the civil war in Sudan. The boldness of posting videos depicting these crimes reveals that even the RSF acknowledges the lack of international oversight or outcry regarding their actions.
In recent years, interaction between the Gulf and the Horn of Africa (HOA) has increased dramatically, transforming the region into a new arena for competition among Gulf states. Sudan’s position, which horizontally connects the Middle East to Africa and vertically connects Sub-Saharan Africa to North Africa, has been primarily targeted by security agendas and power struggles. Even after the military coup, the UAE and Saudi Arabia promoted the RSF domestically and internationally through monetary endowments and even helped to postpone the transition to civilian government. Further, during the post-coup protests, the UAE and Saudi Arabia assisted the transitional government in returning power to the people by funding top-ranking generals. Today, Gen Dagalo controls parts of Sudan’s gold mines and allegedly illegally sells to the UAE in return for drone strikes against the Sudanese army. The UAE denies the allegations. Likewise, the Sudanese army’s Gulf backer, Qatar, has been investing billions of USD into Sudan’s economy. Egypt also has a strategic interest in the outcome of the conflict, as it shares not only a border with Sudan but also the Nile, a critical resource. The magnitude of capital flowing, if not forced, into Sudan is typical of regional influence and power plays. And, while all states engage in foreign policy with their neighbours, the Gulf states’ money has been contributing to the massacres like the ones at el-Fasher.
The brutality in Sudan and other similar conflicts is often too horrific to comprehend, especially to those who live so far removed from these environments. That is why Cary Joji Fukunaga wrote and directed Beasts of No Nation. The book was adapted into a movie, telling the story of Agu from an unnamed West African country as he is forcibly recruited into a rebel military group as a child soldier. As such, he is subjected to the separation from and murder of his family, recruitment procedures, guerrilla lifestyle, sexual violence, being moulded into a murderer, and UN interactions. While this movie takes place in an unnamed West African country, the story applies to Sudan post-2023. Anyone living under either the RSF or military forces in Sudan can and does live the life of Agu. This movie is spectacular in how accurately it conveys suffering and the hope that lies beyond, without degrading the real experiences that inspired this work. Because the rebels have concentrated their power in western Sudan, concerns have arisen that Sudan may split again, similar to the 2011 independence movement of South Sudan. This could further destabilize the region and lead to more destruction; however, very little has been done to address this crisis by either the UN or other international community blocs. Indeed, Sudan might be written about in the coming decade as a resounding failure, much like Rwanda in the 90s.
Edited by Olivia Moore
Disclaimer: This is an article written by a Staff Writer. Catalyst is a student-led platform that fosters engagement with global issues from a learning perspective. The opinions expressed above do not necessarily reflect the views of the publication.
Sonia Oulamine is a second-year student at McGill University, currently pursuing a B.A. in International Development Studies with minors in Political Science and Arabic Language. She serves as a writer for Catalyst and has a particular interest in international relations, law, and human rights.