Sudan is a country located in northeastern Africa, positioned at the crossroads of Arab and African cultures. For decades, it has faced ethnic, religious, and political divisions. Northern Sudan is predominantly Arab and Muslim, while the southern regions have historically been home to diverse African ethnic groups and Christians. These differences led to internal conflicts soon after Sudan’s independence in 1956.
The first civil war broke out between the northern government and southern rebels from 1955 to 1972, ending with the Addis Ababa Agreement, which brought temporary peace. However, another rebellion erupted later, leading to the deaths of nearly 2 million people. In 2005, the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) was signed, officially ending the war. Following a 2011 referendum, South Sudan became an independent state, but internal divisions within Sudan persisted.
The current conflict began in April 2023 between two powerful factions: the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), commanded by General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemeti. The conflict is primarily a power struggle. The fighting has devastated the capital, Khartoum, and other cities. By June 2025, approximately 3,384 civilians had been reported killed. Both factions have targeted civilian areas, destroying hospitals, water and power infrastructure, and blocking humanitarian aid routes.
According to the United Nations, nearly 30 million people now require humanitarian assistance, and 10.5 million have been internally displaced-most of them women and girls who urgently need protection. Health facilities are largely nonfunctional, and ethnically and religiously motivated violence, sexual assaults, and forced displacement are rampant. Limited access to aid has made the crisis even more severe.
The immediate spark for the war was a dispute over the integration of the RSF into the SAF. The SAF wanted to quickly dissolve the RSF and place it fully under the national army’s control. Due to a lack of trust between the two sides, clashes broke out in Khartoum on April 15, 2023, and soon spread nationwide. The struggle for power and resources has crushed innocent Sudanese civilians.
The RSF has a vast financial network, largely funded through gold mining, trade, and smuggling. Sudan is rich in natural resources and one of Africa’s major gold producers, with significant mines in Darfur, Nile, and Kordofan regions-many under informal RSF control. Gold is smuggled illegally to countries like the United Arab Emirates, generating billions of dollars that fund RSF’s operations, salaries, and weapon purchases. If the RSF loses, it would lose this entire economic base.
The SAF, meanwhile, controls Port Sudan, agriculture, oil companies, government contracts, foreign aid, and trade revenues. The army seeks to weaken the RSF’s financial dominance derived from gold. Although most oil reserves lie in South Sudan, the pipelines run through northern Sudan to Port Sudan, earning the north millions of dollars annually.
Thus, the key drivers of the current war are control over gold trade and oil transportation routes. Regional actors such as the UAE, Egypt, Chad, Libya, and others also have vested interests in the conflict. For ordinary citizens, however, the war has brought economic catastrophe: inflation has exceeded 300%, food and medicine are scarce, and the Sudanese currency has sharply depreciated. Agriculture and trade have almost completely collapsed, leaving millions without livelihoods or homes.
The only viable solution to the Sudanese conflict is direct, unconditional negotiations between the RSF and SAF. These talks must include not only the military but also political parties, women, youth, and civil society-since this is a matter of national stability and unity. Islamic countries, the United Nations, the African Union (AU), and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) can play crucial mediation roles.
Both armed forces should be merged into a professional, non-political national army under international supervision to prevent future betrayal. The military should operate under a parliamentary system, and impartial investigations must be conducted into human rights violations. A special tribunal within Sudan should ensure justice-because without justice, peace will only be temporary.
If Sudan’s natural wealth-its gold, oil, and ports-had been used for the development and prosperity of its people, the country could have been among the richest in the world. Therefore, forming a transitional civilian government is essential to lead Sudan back toward stability, growth, and prosperity.
