The war in Sudan began on 15 April 2023. It quickly became internationalized, with around 25 countries involved at varying levels of military, logistical, and political support. It is difficult to fully describe the wartime context or the assault on Sudan, as we are facing a war marked by systematic ethnic cleansing, siege, starvation, erasure of memory, deliberate destruction of the social fabric, and the collapse of educational and health infrastructure, alongside the strategic use of sexual violence as a tool for forced displacement.
With documentation nearly impossible, a total and continuous internet blackout for two and a half years across most of Sudan, and the direct targeting of journalists and human rights defenders, here are some horrifying facts, written with grief and anger:
The Sudanese war has killed more than 200,000 people, in a documentation context that captures no more than 12% of the reality and the genocide.
– After two years, up to the Sudanese army’s recapture of Khartoum, 61,000 people were killed. Due to the complete destruction of infrastructure in Omdurman locality alone in the capital Khartoum, 681 people died of cholera in a single day in May 2025.
– UN reports confirm that the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) committed genocide in El Geneina, West Darfur, between April and June 2023, killing between 10,000 and 15,000 civilians, in addition to systematic destruction and total looting. The militia made a deliberate effort to erase memory and target documentation workers. It is nearly impossible to determine the actual scale of sexual violence.
– In December 2023, Gezira State (Wad Madani) fell to the RSF, resulting in more than 5,000 deaths. The Sudanese army recaptured it in mid-January 2025. With extremely limited capacity, documentation continues, revealing hundreds of cases of sexual violence, in addition to systematic massacres such as the Hilaliya massacre, where more than 660 people were killed.
– In El Fasher, the RSF encircled the city with a sand wall during a 500-day siege, blocking all food from entering and killing anyone caught smuggling food. Trapped civilians were forced to eat animal feed and hides. About 600,000 civilians escaped the siege. When El Fasher fell last October, satellite images revealed clear evidence of genocide, blood traces and ongoing mass graves visible from space. More than 10,000 people were killed. 460 patients and their caregivers were massacred inside the Saudi Hospital in a single day. 2,000 civilians remain kidnapped, with ransom demands ranging from 7,000 to 43,000 euros.
A total of 1,600 cases of rape were recorded among those who reached Tawila locality after fleeing. Only 3% of the 260,000 civilians trapped inside the city managed to escape, while the RSF continued to block UN agencies from entering. Testimonies also document systematic blood extraction from detainees and the sexual enslavement of women for RSF fighters.
– 114,650 cholera cases have been recorded since 2024, with 3,082 deaths.
– Less than 25% of the health sector in Sudan is still functioning. Losses are estimated at $11 billion, with 70% of hospitals and health centers out of service, and 60% of pharmacies closed due to a lack of medicine.
– The destruction of electricity infrastructure is estimated at $10 billion.
– 13 million children are out of school.
– 9.8 million internally displaced people.
– 3.3 million refugees in neighboring countries.
– 24.6 million people are facing systematic, and enforced starvation.
– 3.7 million children under five, along with breastfeeding mothers, are in urgent need of treatment for malnutrition.
– 50,000 people are missing, including 500 women and 300 children.
– 1,138 documented cases of rape (with extremely limited access for registration or treatment), including 414 children, four of them under one year old.
– 220,000 pregnant women face the risk of dying during childbirth.
Resources:
الأمم المتحدة: 15 ألف قتيل في تصفيات عرقية بدارفور | أخبار | الجزيرة نت
الصحفية إنعام النور تروي تفاصيل مروعة عن إبادة جماعية.. الجنينة في سطور (1) – صحيفة مداميك
أكثر من 660 ضحية في مجزرة الهلالية بولاية الجزيرة وسط السودان | Ultra Sudan
https://www.amnesty.org.uk/press-releases/sudan-horrifying-reports-el-fasher-rsf-attacks-civilians
Sudan Crisis Regional Response Situation Update June 2025 – Sudan | ReliefWeb
