Sudans War: Conveniently Forgotten, Conveniently Exploited
By: Pierre Haski
Source: worldcrunch.com
For nearly two years, Sudan — a country of 44 million, with an area nearly four times the size of France — has been gripped by a devastating civil war.
The conflict shows no sign of abating. Omdurman, a large historic city within Greater Khartoum, the capital, was heavily bombarded on Monday. Rescuers reported 120 fatalities and innumerable injuries, adding to the tens of thousands of innocent victims who have already perished while the world looks away.
This indifference extends to the two generals fighting for power for the last two years, whose struggle has ravaged the nation, driven a million refugees into neighboring Chad, and displaced millions more within Sudan. Humanitarian organizations regularly sound the alarm, with UNICEF estimating that three million children are at risk of acute malnutrition.
There are no good guys or bad guys in this war. The two generals in question originally agreed to work together to stage a coup, putting an end to one of the more audacious democratic projects on the continent. Two leaders for a coup, it turns out, are too many — and the inevitable rivalry was launched.
Fueling the war
There are two main factors that have fueled this unending war. First, neither side is capable of achieving a decisive victory. Both the national army led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the paramilitary group, headed by General Hamdan “Hemetti” Dagalo, are unable to win — but that doesn’t stop them from continuing the war.
The second reason is that foreign interference exacerbates the conflict. Unable to justify anything better, the international community is content to just provide humanitarian aid, while certain foreign powers are getting involved to prolong the fighting.
The United Arab Emirates has actively supported Hemetti’s RSF. Accused of war crimes, Hermetti has longstanding ties with the UAE, having supplied mercenaries for their campaign in Yemen. Egypt, meanwhile, backs General al-Burhan and his national army, which retains a semblance of legal authority. Russia, previously involved through the Wagner Group, has shown renewed interest in the conflict after the humiliating defeat of its Syrian ally.
Ending the conflict
The United States made unsuccessful attempts at mediation when the generals first clashed in Khartoum. Since then, the fighting has spread nationwide, particularly to Darfur, where massacres reminiscent of the atrocities under former dictator Omar al-Bashir, who fell in 2019, have resumed.
If a functional international community existed, it would at least work to curb foreign interference and stop the flow of arms from reaching the warring factions. But this kind of collective action doesn’t exist anymore in the world of power plays that we’ve entered into, which isn’t going to get any better with Donald Trump.
In 2019, Sudanese citizens surprised the world by peacefully toppling an Islamist dictatorship. But since then, two power hungry generals have plunged the nation into tragedy. Today, it is the Sudanese people who must bear the heavy price of this conflict, as the world watches — powerless, and indifferent.
