Ivor Prickett

In April 2023, many were caught off guard when war broke out in the middle of Khartoum, the sprawling capital city of Sudan. The Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group, had been welcomed into the fold of Sudan’s Armed Forces (SAF) only to turn on it and move to seize power. Wars usually start on borders, coming into countries from the outside, but this conflict erupted in the heart of Sudan, which perhaps explains why it has been so devastating and difficult to stop.

Sudan now has the most perilous humanitarian situation in the world: more than nine million people have been displaced, and two million of them have fled the country. Vast swaths of the country have become frontlines in the conflict. According to figures for July 2024, more than 750,000 people are on the brink of starvation and death, and both sides have been restricting access to food supplies, a tactic used as a weapon of war.