Amid security concerns related to the conflict in Iran, humanitarian shipments intended for Sudan have been rerouted as far as the Cape of Good Hope—a six-thousand-mile, three-week extension in travel time (Think Global Health)
Report: Sexual Violence a Systematic Threat
In its latest Sudan report, Doctors Without Borders said armed parties in the country’s civil war are using sexual violence—including assault, harassment, and rape—as weapons against women, particularly in the embattled Darfur region (AP)
Additionally, as Ethiopia and Egypt continue to dispute water-based claims linked to the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, experts predict that the ongoing civil war in Sudan could trigger regional conflict as Addis Ababa and Cairo continue to support rival factions (Lowy Institute)
Latest Funeral Strike Ignites Fear
An airstrike that killed seven and injured dozens more at a funeral gathering in West Kordofan state heightened fears of indiscriminate drone-based violence in Sudan, where such attacks have menaced civilians at hospitals, markets, and schools in recent weeks (UN)
Women, Children Dead in RSF Barrage
Hours of RSF attacks on residential areas in South Kordofan state’s capital killed at least fourteen—including seven women and children—as observers continue to warn of impending catastrophe in the region (Al Jazeera)
Hospitals in Kordofan Under Immense Stress
As drone attacks and resource gaps continue to impact healthcare facilities in central Sudan’s critical Kordofan corridor, doctors described intense pressure and tragedy in the region’s overcrowded, underfunded hospitals (UNFPA)
RSF Strikes Rock Sudan, Killing Dozens
Medical sources described harrowing scenes as at least twenty-eight civilians, including an infant, died in a set of RSF drone strikes—one on a crowded market, the other on a highway (Guardian)
The assaults came as UN representatives warned that Sudan’s crisis could soon devolve into a regional migration fiasco akin to Syria’s civil war over a decade ago (Politico)
Additionally, a leading medical authority on the Sudanese civil war’s humanitarian impact said RSF fighters had displaced thousands and looted critical supplies in the country’s southern Blue Nile state—a move that could trigger cross-border migration flows and healthcare shortages (Anadolu Agency)
Death Toll Climbs in Hospital Strike
The UN said an SAF strike on a Darfur hospital that killed at least seventy—including women, children, and healthcare workers—illuminates the continued challenges posed to healthcare, de-escalation, and culpability (UN)
Chad Prepares Sudan Response
As tensions mount along Chad’s eastern border with Sudan, President Mahamat Idriss Déby said his government will begin to move Sudanese refugees further into Chad as its army prepares to retaliate—an escalation that N’Djamena said will secure its border zones (Reuters)
UAE Shifts, Continues RSF Support
Amid heightened criticism of the UAE’s support for the RSF, the Emirati government has diversified its supply routes to Sudan in an effort to incorporate regional partners and avoid a critical international spotlight (Le Monde)
Strike on Hospital in East Darfur
At least sixty-four people, including thirteen children, were killed in a Friday night strike on a hospital in the western city of Al Daein, the head of the World Health Organization wrote in a social media post; he called for an end to the country’s civil war (WHO)
The Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group blamed the hospital attack on Sudan’s army, which denied responsibility (BBC)
As Sudanese refugees continue to flow across the Egyptian border, illegal gold miners from Sudan’s resource-rich interior have used the chaos to smuggle goods north—a dynamic that has prompted Cairo to crack down on border security measures (BI Africa)
Drone Strike Pulls Chad Into Fray
Chad’s President Idris Mahamat Déby ordered retaliation and a total border closure with Sudan—which had previously only been open to humanitarian aid—following an alleged RSF drone strike that killed seventeen funeral-goers during a religious ceremony (BBC)
These developments come amid increased warnings about drone warfare in Sudan, which observers said has killed hundreds of civilians over the last week alone (Al Jazeera)
RSF Target Darfur Border Town
Rebel militants attacked an isolated SAF stronghold near the Chadian border in Darfur, killing dozens and injuring upwards of sixty more; local medical staff said their efforts were impeded by a lack of resources and infrastructure to meet booming healthcare needs (AP)
Critical Aid Supplies Stuck in Dubai
As war in the Middle East freezes critical shipping lanes, humanitarian groups in Sudan say securing access to half a billion dollars’ worth of medical supplies stranded in Dubai—including pediatric medicine, antimalarials, and antibiotics—is essential to preventing outages across Sudan within the next two weeks (Reuters)
RSF Launch Kordofan Offensive
Rebel militants launched a series of attacks on towns peripheral to El-Obeid, Kordofan state’s regional capital, in the latest escalation intended to secure Sudan’s critical central corridor—an area where cities and villages have continued to rapidly change hands between the SAF and RSF in recent months (AFP)
Khartoum Detains Pro-Iran Ally
In what observers described as an attempt to distance Khartoum from anti-American sentiment among its ranks, Sudan’s armed forces arrested an SAF-allied paramilitary commander and religious teacher who previously vowed support for Iran and Hamas (Sudan Tribune)
Four Dead in SAF Market Strike
Doctors Without Borders accused Sudan’s army of a drone strike on a market near the country’s border with Chad in the besieged Darfur region, where four died, and dozens more were injured as the SAF targeted fuel reserves in the market (AP)
RSF Strike Kills Seventeen Schoolchildren
Local officials and humanitarian observers blamed the RSF for a drone strike south of Khartoum that targeted a secondary school and a hospital, killing seventeen civilians—most of them students (AP)
Washington Sanctions Sudan’s Muslim Brotherhood
The U.S. State Department announced that it will designate the Sudanese Muslim Brotherhood as a foreign terrorist organization, a label that will make it illegal to provide the group with material support (Al Jazeera)
Report: RSF Targeting Food Supply
Researchers at the Yale Humanitarian Lab said satellite imagery suggests RSF militants have engaged in a sustained, strategic campaign to stunt agricultural production in North Darfur (Guardian)
Market Strikes Kill Dozens in Kordofan
After drone strikes on crowded markets in Sudan’s central Kordofan corridor killed dozens of civilians, locals said the SAF bore responsibility for the attacks—an accusation the Sudanese government has vehemently denied (France24)
Amid Conflict, Sudan’s Treasures Pillaged
As fighting has continued to rage around Khartoum, cultural heritage experts have said thousands of ancient relics have been destroyed and looted—an incalculable loss to Sudan’s historical memory (NBC)
SAF Makes Inroads in North Kordofan
A barrage of air strikes and troop movements allowed Sudanese government forces to capture Bara, the second-largest city in Sudan’s North Kordofan state; the news comes as the SAF continues to secure its position in the state capital, el-Obeid (Al Jazeera)
UN Security Council Decries, Sanctions RSF
As violence and famine continue to menace civilians and aid groups in Kordofan, the UN Security Council “expressed grave concern” over the deteriorating security situation in the embattled region (Al Jazeera)
The statement comes as the UN announced sanctions against RSF leaders—including the so-called Butcher of El-Fasher—in response to atrocities committed during the prolonged siege of El Fasher (BBC)
RSF Strikes, Torches Darfur Village
A civil society organization in Sudan accused RSF rebels of storming Mastariha, a village in North Darfur state, where the group said militants burned homes and used drones to attack key infrastructure points (Anadolu Agency)
Separately, a new report detailed how the RSF rebel forces taunted and murdered disabled individuals—including point-blank executions of amputees and people with Down syndrome during last October’s siege on El Fasher (HRW)
Chad Shutters Sudan Border Crossing
After RSF militants killed five Chadian soldiers and three civilians in a cross-border assault, officials in N’Djamena—who have accepted upwards of one million Sudanese refugees—announced they would limit border crossings to humanitarian aid in an effort to curb violence against Chadian citizens (Al Jazeera)