Sudan Conflict Explained

Context

Diplomats met in Paris to raise humanitarian aid for the northeast African country of Sudan grappling with a year-long period of conflict. 

Sudan Conflict

• Sudan Conflict Background: Fighting broke out in the country last year among rival groups who are fighting for power. 
  • Among those affected were numerous Indian workers, notably from the Hakki Pikki tribal community of Karnataka, who were present in Sudan at the time.
• Indian Embassy Alert in Khartoum: The Indian Embassy in the capital city of Khartoum issued a notice urging Indians to exercise “utmost precautions.” 
• Impending Famine and Humanitarian Crisis in Sudan: Today, Sudan is close to a famine and around 25 million – half the total population are in need of assistance. Life as usual has been severely affected. 

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Why is Sudan at War?

• Violence Amidst Efforts to Shift from Autocracy: Sudan is seeing violence and fighting among groups amid an attempt to transition its polity from an autocracy. 
• Ousting of Omar al-Bashir: In 2019, military generals ousted Omar al-Bashir amid a popular uprising. 
  • People within the country and major powers were critical of his rule on account of corruption, rising costs of living towards the late 2010s, and repression of social groups.
• Sudan’s Ties with Osama Bin Laden and International Response: Between the years 1992-1996, Sudan also played host to Osama Bin Laden. 
  • The US then declared Sudan as a “state sponsor of terrorism” in 1993 and the United Nations imposed sanctions on it the next year.

• Power-sharing Arrangement: Following the ousting of his regime in 2019, a power-sharing arrangement between civilian groups and the military was established.
  • Abdalla Hamdok assumed the role of Prime Minister until elections could be conducted.
• Occurrence of Military Coup:  A military coup under General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, head of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), took place in 2021. 
  • The RSF was founded by the former dictatorial ruler Omar al-Bashir as an Arab counterinsurgency militia. 
  • Bashir wanted to crush a rebellion in the region of Darfur that began more than 20 years ago due to the political and economic marginalisation of the local population.

International Peace Efforts in Sudan

Talks led by Saudi Arabia and the United States in Jeddah in 2023 aimed to mediate a ceasefire between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese army.

About Sudan:

Sudan is a country in Northeast Africa with the capital city Khartoum. 

• Khartoum, is located roughly in the center of the country, at the junction of the Blue Nile and White Nile rivers.
• Sudan Bordering countries: It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Egypt to the north, Eritrea to the northeast, Ethiopia to the southeast, Libya to the northwest, South Sudan to the south, and the Red Sea.