Sudan conflict widens

Sudan’s war is pulling in more foreign players as hunger and displacement deepen across the country. (news.un.org) (al-monitor.com) (apnews.com) United Nations agencies said on April 10 that about 14 million people have been displaced by the fighting and that Sudan’s health system is still being hit by attacks as the war nears its third anniversary. The war began on April 15, 2023, with battles between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. (news.un.org) (ungeneva.org) The World Food Programme says 24.6 million people in Sudan face acute hunger, and UNICEF said on April 14 that 4.2 million children are expected to suffer acute malnutrition in 2026, including more than 825,000 severe cases. UNICEF also said at least 245 children were killed or injured in the first 90 days of 2026. (wfp.org) (unicef.org) The military balance has shifted over the past year, with the army regaining parts of Khartoum while the Rapid Support Forces remain entrenched in Darfur. NPR reported on April 15 that government institutions have returned from Port Sudan to Khartoum and that the airport has reopened. (wusf.org) That battlefield shift has not ended the war. Aid agencies said in April that Sudan remains the world’s largest displacement crisis, and the European Union, the United States, Britain, France, Germany and the African Union met in Berlin on April 14 to raise more money for the response. (ifrc.org) (ec.europa.eu) The foreign dimension surfaced again on April 20, when Reuters reported that Pakistan had put a $1.5 billion deal to supply weapons and jets to Sudan on hold after Saudi Arabia asked for the agreement to be terminated and said it would not finance the purchase. The report cited two Pakistani security sources and one diplomatic source. (al-monitor.com) (usnews.com) A day earlier, U.S. prosecutors said a 44-year-old woman was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport on suspicion of brokering Iranian-made drones, bombs, bomb fuses and millions of rounds of ammunition for Sudan. The Associated Press reported that prosecutors said the weapons were intended for the Sudanese Armed Forces. (apnews.com) (nbcsandiego.com) Sudan’s army has long had ties with states that back regular militaries, while the Rapid Support Forces have faced repeated accusations of receiving outside support through regional networks. Those rival channels have kept the war supplied even as mediation efforts have repeatedly stalled since 2023. (aljazeera.com) (hrw.org) For civilians, the result is a war that keeps widening even where front lines move. The United Nations says fighting, hunger, disease and displacement are still spreading faster than aid can reach people. (news.un.org) (wfp.org)