Dave Patterson: Sudan Civil War - A Horrendous Human Crisis

While the world’s attention has been captured by the Iran conflict and the Russian-Ukrainian war, lives are being lost at a horrendous rate in Northeast Africa. The Sudan civil war is entering its fourth year with no end in sight. Sides have been established, and fighting is continuous and brutal. The losers have been hundreds of thousands of hapless Sudanese caught in the middle.

War Continues in Sudan

For the last three years, war has raged between two factions vying for power, the Sudanese government Armed Forces (SAF), under the leadership of General Abdul Fatah al-Burhan, and a paramilitary group, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), led by General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, also called Hemedti. As Liberty Nation News reported, in 2021, the two combatants had collaborated to take control of the Sudanese government. But now they are in opposition.

The US State Department, in an April 17 statement, explained the cost of the conflict in terms of human misery. “Since April 2023, over 150,000 people have been killed, more than 14 million displaced [roughly a quarter of the country’s population], and famine conditions persist in conflict-affected areas,” the press release explained, describing the situation as the “world’s worst humanitarian crisis.”

Despite pleas to the international community for assistance in alleviating the suffering of the Sudanese people, the fighting continues. A UN publication pointed out: “Even though nearly four million people have begun returning to their communities, ‘they find broken water systems, destruction, and a lack of basic shelter and healthcare,’ said Zoe Brennan of UN migration agency IOM [International Organization for Migration], speaking to journalists in Geneva.” The conflict “continues to deepen with no end in sight.”

Support for the two factions has an international dimension that the US Department of the Treasury is addressing through sanctions. On Dec. 9, 2025, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) levied sanctions on foreign entities and individuals for supporting RSF in its role in the Sudanese civil war:

“Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control imposed sanctions on four individuals and four entities for their roles in fueling the civil war in Sudan, a conflict that has provoked the world’s worst ongoing humanitarian crisis. This transnational network — primarily composed of Colombian nationals and companies — recruits former Colombian military personnel and trains soldiers, including children, to fight for the Sudanese paramilitary group known as the Rapid Support Forces.”

The Treasury press release went on to describe the extent to which former Colombian military personnel have made their way to Sudan to engage in the conflict as “infantry and artillerymen, drone pilots, vehicle operators, and instructors, with some even training children to fight in the RSF.” What was once thought of as confined to the unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, drones have become ubiquitous machines that kill innocents in Sudan. “UN figures show that nearly 700 civilians were reportedly killed in drone strikes during the first three months of this year,” the UN report stated.

Failed State and Open to Terrorist Groups

This war further destabilizes an already fragile region, creating opportunities for terrorist groups that threaten US interests and regional security. It is one of the reasons the United States is extremely interested in bringing the fighting to a halt. To that end, the principal ceasefire negotiating effort is being pushed by the “’Quad’ – the United States, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates – which has focused on aligning external actors to reduce arms flows and pressure the warring parties to reach a ceasefire,” Al Jazeera reported. The Intergovernmental Authority on Development and the African Union have attempted to mediate a ceasefire, but all efforts to halt the carnage have failed.

The fighting is affecting the Sudanese people’s ability to obtain food. Again from Al Jazeera:

 

“According to the FAO, nearly 30.4 million people – almost two-thirds of the population – including 15.6 million children, require urgent humanitarian assistance … Agriculture, the main source of food and income for up to 80 percent of the population, is being dismantled by violence, displacement, and economic collapse.”

Sudan is a perfect example of a failed state, and the violence being meted out on the people is unconscionable. Yet, without effective international intervention, the killing will continue. The United Nations, the organization formed to address just this sort of human crisis, simply reports on the atrocities, seemingly helpless to do anything about the situation. The Quad may be the only initiative with the full weight of the United States to resolve the situation. But where to begin? Neither of the warring parties seems to have ideological reasons for the conflict; they simply want power. That makes mediation difficult. With the rate of destruction taking place, however this crisis ends, the victor may have power, but over what?

Dave is a retired U.S. Air Force Pilot with over 180 combat missions in Vietnam. He is the former Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense, Comptroller and has served in executive positions in the private sector aerospace and defense industry. This article was first published HERE