Sudan is entering a fourth year of war marked by famine and massacres in what the United Nations calls an "abandoned crisis." The conflict between the military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces has displaced 13 million people. At least 59,000 people have died. Regional powers like the United Arab Emirates are reportedly backing combatants while global attention has shifted to the Middle East. Fuel prices have surged and food costs as well. The war is rooted in a power struggle after Sudan's transition to democracy and could spill over borders. The International Criminal Court is investigating potential war crimes.
U.N.-backed investigators say Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces have carried out a campaign in the city of el-Fasher in the Darfur region that shows "hallmarks of genocide" against non-Arab communities. The fact-finding mission says the group inflicted mass killings and starvation-like siege conditions that targeted the Zaghawa and Fur people. U.N. officials say thousands of civilians were killed and many others disappeared after the city fell to the paramilitary forces in late October. The team's report describes executions, rape, torture, abductions and selective targeting of women and girls. It said the violence looks planned, not chaotic. It calls for accountability and stronger civilian protection as the war spreads.
