Description: Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have launched a barrage of attacks on the de – facto capital of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), Port Sudan. The attacks represented a major shift in the civil war, that has so far displaced over 12 million people, as the RSF reached Port Sudan militarily for the first time. Sudan’s war erupted in 2023 as a power struggle emerged between the leader of SAF, General Abdel Fattah al – Burhan and General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo – Hemedti, after attempts to form a civil government faltered and the generals failed to overcome disagreements regarding the direction the country was supposed to move towards. Peace mediation efforts have so far failed to deliver any concrete proposals as last week’s conference in London was subverted when the RSF leader announced the formation of a parallel government. The conflict also represents a geopolitical battleground for multiple countries with regional and global outreach such as the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Egypt, Russia and China.
Impact: Recent developments in the Sudanese war signal a protracted humanitarian and security crisis as the RSF and the SAF further diverge from any political or diplomatic compromise. The aerial attack attests to the growing logistical and operational support the RSF administers from their main backer, the UAE, supported by both Russia and China. The faltering of peace initiatives further aggravates the situation and imposes considerable risk of the war spreading beyond Sudan’s border as brewing political animosities in South Sudan and low scale disputes in Ethiopia and Eritrea also contribute towards severe regional destabilization.