Description: Rapid Support Forces have managed to take control over larger portions of territory in the city of El – Fasher in a battle with the Sudanese military that lasted for over seven hours. The advance was followed by weeks of artillery fire, shelling and intensive drone attacks which have mostly targeted civilian population and infrastructure. Sudan is under a communications blackout and only certain regions and cities are managing to report the atrocities committed by the RSF which have been accused of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity by the ICC (International Criminal Court). The group has started using more sophisticated military hardware and highly developed drones as it continues to be funded by foreign actors such as the UAE. The death toll from the armed confrontations has surpassed 150 thousand casualties, while 12 million people have reportedly fled the country.
Impact: The civil war in Sudan continues unabated with the security and humanitarian crises exacerbating by the day. RSF’s change in tactics and their usage of more sophisticated military equipment signals intensification of foreign involvement in the war which evidently aims at toppling the country’s military and establishing control over the country’s governing apparatus. The situation is further aggravated by the severe budget cuts within humanitarian organizations such as the UN, which are heavily invested in facilitating medical care and sheltering internally displaced civilians or the ones fleeing the country. Neither side has the capacity to militarily prevail over the other which indicates indefinite continuation of the hostilities as no concrete peace or ceasefire initiative is presented for the time being.