Civilians pay the price for Sudan’s civil war

Civilians in Sudan are facing “horrendous levels of violence” in the country’s 15-month civil war, the medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres said in a report published on Monday.

“The price paid by civilians in this war qualifies a conflict seemingly between warring factions as a war on the people of Sudan,” the charity said.

Fighting broke out in April 2023 between the regular army under Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces led by his former deputy Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, usually referred to as Hemedti.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed and more than seven million displaced. Both sides have been accused of war crimes including deliberately targeting civilians, indiscriminate shelling of residential areas and blocking humanitarian aid, and there is a threat of famine.

“The population has faced horrendous levels of violence, succumbing to widespread fighting and surviving repeated attacks, abuse, and exploitation,” Medecins Sans Frontieres said.

Vickie Hawkins, the charity’s general director in the Netherlands, said: “Nowhere is safe for communities trapped in Sudan conflict hot spots. Patients recount horrific stories of inhuman treatment and violence, perpetrated by armed groups.”
These included “forced defections, looting and arson, degrading interrogation, arbitrary arrest, abduction, and torture on a systematic level,” she said.

While many aid organizations closed operations in Sudan because of the war, Medecins Sans Frontieres continues to operate in eight states across the country. It has treated thousands of conflict injuries, most caused by explosions, gunshots and stabbings.