Sudan: de facto partition

Sudan’s war has hardened into a de facto split, with the army holding the north, east and much of the center and the Rapid Support Forces entrenched in Darfur and parts of Kordofan. (apnews.com) The war began on April 15, 2023, as a power struggle between army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and Rapid Support Forces commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo. Three years later, United Nations officials say there is still no clear path to a settlement. (news.un.org) The territorial map shifted sharply after the Rapid Support Forces captured El Fasher in October 2025, ending an 18-month siege of the last major army-held city in Darfur. Armed Conflict Location and Event Data said that fall consolidated Rapid Support Forces control across Darfur and pushed the main front east into Kordofan. (acleddata.com) That leaves the Sudanese Armed Forces in control of Khartoum, Port Sudan and the Red Sea corridor, along with much of the country’s state infrastructure. National Public Radio reported on April 15 that government institutions have moved back to Khartoum from wartime Port Sudan and that Khartoum airport has reopened. (apr.org) The human toll keeps rising even as the front lines harden. The United Nations humanitarian chief in Sudan said on April 13 that 6,000 people were killed in three days around El Fasher, based on verified information, and said the real number could be higher. (news.un.org) Sudan is also the world’s largest displacement crisis. The United Nations said on April 10 that 14 million people have fled their homes since the war began, including 9 million displaced inside Sudan and 4.4 million who crossed into countries including Chad, South Sudan and Egypt. (news.un.org) Hunger and the collapse of basic services now define daily life for much of the country. The United Nations said 21 million people face acute food insecurity, including 6.3 million in emergency conditions, while more than 40 percent of Sudan’s population needs urgent health assistance. (news.un.org) Children are being born into that collapse at a huge scale. Save the Children said on April 14, citing Sudanese health ministry figures, that about 5.6 million babies were born between April 2023 and April 2026, or more than 5,000 a day on average. (savethechildren.net) The charity said maternal mortality rose to 295 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2025 from 263 in 2022, and estimated 70 percent to 80 percent of health facilities in conflict-affected areas are no longer operating. It also cited World Health Organization data showing more than 200 verified attacks on health facilities between April 2023 and December 2025. (savethechildren.net) United Nations officials now describe Sudan as an “abandoned crisis” as the war enters its fourth year. On the ground, the map looks less like a temporary battlefield and more like two rival zones settling in for a longer fight. (news.un.org)