♦ Sudan news highlights ♦
Arrival of displaced people from El Fasher to Tawila in North Darfur - November 5, 2025 (Photo: Coordination of Displaced Persons and Refugees)
A recap of the most important news highlights from the past months.
The situation in Sudan has slowly received more international attention in recent months as the war rages on and news of atrocities in North Darfur by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) made its way out of the country. Meanwhile, some residents are returning to Khartoum, where the fighting subsided after a victory by the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF). Among the fighting and reports of war crimes, the humanitarian situation in the country deteriorated further as diseases and hunger spread. Whole areas of Sudan were forced to grapple with a cholera epidemic and ongoing famine without adequate services or facilities. As humanitarian organisations warn of a new genocide in Darfur, Ali Muhammad Ali Abdelrahman, known as ‘Ali Kushayb’ has finally been convicted at the International Criminal Court (ICC) for his involvement in war crimes during the 2003 Darfur Genocide.
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The fall of El Fasher
The fall of El Fasher to the Rapid Support Forces after a long siege has been one of the major events of this war that has sparked international outrage and concerns. Reports of starvation and violence during the siege, and mass killings after the RSF captured the city, have been met with widespread condemnation.
North Darfur capital falls to RSF as UN warns of ‘atrocities and mass displacement’
28/10/2025 – EL FASHER / GENEVA. Head of the Sovereignty Council and Commander-in-Chief of the SAF Lt Gen Abdelfattah El Burhan confirmed the fall of El Fasher to the RSF, amid reports of mass killings, displacement, and widespread abuses. The UN Human Rights Office said it had received multiple credible reports of atrocities by RSF fighters, including summary executions, arbitrary detentions, and ethnically motivated killings, in both El Fasher and Bara, North Kordofan.
Int’l outcry over North Darfur atrocities as US push for Sudan ceasefire
04/11/2025 – EL FASHER / CAIRO / WASHINGTON D.C. / DOHA / ISTANBUL. Global concern is mounting as world leaders, diplomats, and UN officials call for an urgent halt to the violence in North Darfur’s capital of El Fasher, where civilians remain trapped under the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Following the RSF’s capture of a Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) base last week, reports have emerged of mass killings, sexual violence, ethnic attacks, and starvation.
North Darfur: Displaced from El Fasher find safety in Qarni ‘after going through hell’
17/11/2025 – QARNI, NORTH DARFUR. Report by Abdulmoneim Madbou for Radio Dabanga. As the fighting intensified and the RSF seized control of El Fasher, and the SAF withdrew from the city, waves of displaced people streamed north towards the Qarni area. Hundreds of families sought refuge there, fleeing amidst the whizzing bullets and the smoke of fires that blanketed the city’s skies. On the roads of displacement, dust mingled with tears of loss, and in Qarni, a new story of survival began, told by faces worn down by fear they had endured for over 500 days.
During field surveys conducted by Radio Dabanga with a number of those who fled El Fasher, survivors spoke of a perilous journey during which they lost contact with the rest of their families, and of the generous welcome they received from the area’s residents who opened their homes and hearts to the displaced. Their testimonies paint a tragic picture, but they also reveal a rare solidarity that is healing the wounds of those who survived the war.
ICC convicts Ali Kushayb
On October 6, the Trial Chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, convicted Ali Muhammad Ali Abdelrahman, known as ‘Ali Kushayb’ and referred to as the ‘Colonel of Colonels’, on 27 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur, committed between August 2003 and April 2004. Prosecutors at the ICC asked for a life sentence for the convicted war criminal.
ICC: Sudan janjaweed leader Ali Kushayb guilty on 27 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity
06/10/2025 – THE HAGUE. The Trial Chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, the Netherlands, convicted Ali Muhammad Ali Abdelrahman, known as ‘Ali Kushayb’, on 27 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur, between August 2003 and April 2004, “beyond reasonable doubt”.
ICC prosecutors request life sentence for convicted Darfur janjaweed leader Ali Kushayb
19/11/2025 – THE HAGUE. Prosecutors at the ICC in The Hague asked for a life sentence for former Janjaweed militia leader known as ‘Ali Kushayb’ and referred to as the ‘Colonel of Colonels’.
Return to Khartoum
More and more people have been returning to Khartoum, since Sudan’s capital city was recaptured by the SAF and fighting subsided. However, the city has been ravaged by two years of fierce battles, basic facilities and services are lacking, some violence continues, and there have been rumours of pollution from chemical weapon use.
IOM: ‘More than two million displaced Sudanese returned in nine months
26/08/2025 – KHARTOUM. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) says that approximately 2,004,302 returnees were registered in 1,611 locations across 39 localities in seven states of Sudan between November 2024 and July 2025. According to a new report released by the organisation, the total number of reported returnees increased by 50% during the current period from November to June, reflecting an increase in return movements and the expansion of data collection.
Chemical pollution in Khartoum: Fact or myth?
03/09/2025 – KHARTOUM. As an increasing number of people displaced by the war return to the Sudanese capital of Khartoum, talk of chemical contamination in the city has increased as a result of the war that raged there from April 15, 2023, until it was recaptured by the Sudanese government forces in April 2025. However, the Federal Ministry of Health took pains to deny that any chemical or radioactive contamination has occurred in Khartoum.
Kordofan fighting intensifies
This summer saw intensified fighting between the RSF and SAF in Kordofan, which continues whilst both sides claim victories.
Red Cross: Attacks in Sudan’s Kordofan cause hundreds of deaths, mass displacement, and the collapse of essential services
31/07/2025 – PORT SUDAN. Attacks on civilians and essential infrastructure in Sudan’s Kordofan states — including hospitals, markets, and residential areas — have caused a high number of casualties, mass displacement and the collapse of essential services, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) confirms.
Outrage as five Sudanese Red Crescent volunteers slain in North Kordofan
29/10/2025 – BARA, NORTH KORDOFAN. The ICRC has reacted with “profound shock and outrage” to news of the killing of five Sudanese Red Crescent Society volunteers in Bara, in Sudan’s North Kordofan state.
Battles rage in Sudan’s North Kordofan with both sides claiming victory
19/11/2025 – EL OBEID. Fierce fighting continues between the SAF and RSF in North and West Kordofan, forcing thousands of civilians to flee. In a statement, the SAF claimed “significant advances on all fronts” in the Kordofan region following battles.
Women face increased violence and precarity
The toll of the war is heavy for the women of Sudan. Sexual violence, lack of healthcare and other facilities, care responsibilities, and the general violence brought by war are putting Sudanese women in a dangerous position.
UN Women warns of ‘systematic rape and starvation’ as Sudanese women demand peace table
11/11/2025 – GENEVA / EL FASHER / PORT SUDAN. UN Women has warned that rape is now being “used intentionally and systematically” in Sudan, where hunger and displacement deepen daily. Women and girls, the agency stressed, “are not just statistics, but a measure of our common humanity.”
A negotiating table without women: When the most-affected voices are ignored
16/11/2025 – KAMPALA / AMSTERDAM. Despite the pivotal role Sudanese women play at the societal and humanitarian levels after two years of war, their presence at decision-making tables and their participation in negotiation processes are limited and symbolic. This was emphasised by the UN Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed, who stated that “the space for women’s voices is shrinking while violence around them is increasing.” She added that women are burying their loved ones in conflict zones while not one in ten negotiators is a woman. She explained that women’s participation in peace talks makes agreements stronger, fairer, and more likely to last because they know what is at stake and experience the consequences of every war in their homes and communities.
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