♦ Sudan news highlights ♦

A compact digest of the past month’s most-read highlights, from the heart of Sudan. Subscribe to receive this regular digest in your inbox.

Op-ed: A land abandoned – The cost of global silence on Darfur
 
28/01/2026 – AMSTERDAM / DARFUR. By Ikhlass Ahmed. I write this not only from a place of pain but from the centre of an open wound, one that has been bleeding for over two decades. I write because silence has never saved us. And today, once again, global silence is enabling genocide. What is happening in Darfur is nothing new. This is a continuation of a deliberate campaign, based on racial persecution, militarised patriarchy, and a policy of extermination. Since 2003, non-Arab groups in Darfur, the Fur, the Masalit, the Zaghawa, have faced persecution for who they are.
 
The war that broke out in April 2023 only began to peel back the curtain on what we in Darfur have long known to be a given, that our land was already under siege, and our people under attack.

Sudan’s war threatens fragile progress against FGM
 
06/02/2026 – DABANGA SUDAN. Each year, an estimated four million people worldwide are subjected to female genital mutilation (FGM). In Sudan, where prevalence has historically ranked among the highest, years of fragile progress are now under threat from a war that has dismantled health services, weakened law enforcement, and reshaped the social and economic pressures.
 
On February 6, the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation draws attention to a practice affecting over 230 million girls and women worldwide. Defined by the World Health Organisation as “the partial or total removal of external female genitalia” for non-medical reasons, FGM has no health benefits and can cause lifelong physical and psychological harm. Data from 2014 indicates that 86.6 per cent of women in Sudan aged 15-49 had undergone FGM.

UN High Commissioner Volker Türk, calls for accountability, more efforts to end war in Sudan
09/02/2026 – GENEVA. Briefing the UN Human Rights Council in Gene on the situation surrounding the North Darfur capital of El Fasher, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk has called on the international community to hold those responsible for atrocities and war crimes accountable, and to do more to end the senseless war in Sudan.
 
Sudanese refugees in South Sudan and Uganda face worsening humanitarian crisis
05/02/2026 – WEDWEIL REFUGEE CAMP / KIRYANDONGO REFUGEE CAMP. Sudanese refugees in Ugandan and South Sudanese camps are enduring dire conditions as food subsidies shrink and financial support fails to cover basic needs, according to sources in the camps.
 
Exclusive interview: Former Sudan PM Hamdok in Europe ‘to rally support for peace’
01/02/2026 – THE HAGUE. Amid the ongoing war, Radio Dabanga’s Editor in Chief Kamal Elsadig spoke to Dr Abdallah Hamdok, former Prime Minister of Sudan and head of the Civil Democratic Alliance for Revolutionary Forces (Somoud) in The Hague, the Netherlands. The interview addressed  Hamdok’s European tour, his vision for ending the war in Sudan, and the role of civil forces and the international community in achieving sustainable peace and democratic transition.
 
Experts warn of ‘illegal’ crackdown on Sudanese refugees in Egypt
30/01/2026 – CAIRO. Legal experts and political analysts are sounding the alarm over a surge in detentions and forced deportations targeting Sudanese nationals in Egypt. Critics characterise these measures as a direct breach of international refugee protocols.
 
Blue Nile: From the margins to the centre of Sudan’s war
28/01/2026 – EL SILAK. The Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED) has stated that the Rapid Support Forces’ (RSF) decision to push the battle to the Blue Nile is aimed at reigniting the fight for control of central Sudan – Khartoum, Sennar, and Gezira. If the RSF seize Blue Nile, it will open routes towards Sennar, which has been under  Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) control for years.
 
Drone attacks wreak death, injury among South Kordofan civilians
25/01/2026 – DELLING. Drone attacks attributable to both sides in the Sudan conflict have wreaked death and injury among civilians in South Kordofan, including women and children, as intensified fighting in has forced thousands of people to flee their homes.
 
Davos 2026: UN commissioner fears that Sudan war could spread to neighbouring countries
22/01/2026 – DAVOS. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Barham Salih, has warned that the ongoing war in Sudan will not be contained within its borders, and calls on the international community to take action to end the conflict. He added: “This conflict could have been avoided or contained in its early stages if a unified international effort had been made”.
 
Yale Humanitarian Research Lab: ‘Possible siege preparations around North Kordofan capital’
18/01/2026 – EL OBEID. The Humanitarian Research Lab at Yale University in the USA has identified activity suggesting preparations by the SAF and allied groups for a potential siege of the North Kordofan capital of El Obeid, according to an analysis of satellite imagery.
 
Rights report warns of ‘sharp escalation in killings against Darfur civilians’
13/01/2026 – NYALA / KUTUM / KABKABIYA / MASTURA. A human rights report has warned of a serious deterioration in security and humanitarian conditions across Darfur, as the war between the SAF and the paramilitary RSF moves towards its third year.
 
Sudan timeline October-December 2025: ‘A collective failure’ to end a brutal war
11/01/2026 – DABANGA SUDAN. Sudan’s battlefield map shifts significantly in the second half of 2025, marking one of the most notable territorial changes since the war began in April 2023. As the conflict enters its third year in 2026, analysts warn that the country has entered a new phase, with serious humanitarian and political implications.