Sudan's war between the army and the Rapid Support Forces

Sudan's army and a paramilitary force it once armed have been at war since April 2023. The two commanders had ruled together after a popular uprising removed the country's ruler of thirty years, and together pushed aside the civilians who were meant to lead the way to elections. They then fought over which of them would command the other. The war has driven about thirteen million people from their homes, brought famine to parts of the country and, in Darfur, killings that United Nations investigators describe as genocide. The army holds the capital, the east and the Nile valley. The Rapid Support Forces hold most of the west and have declared a government of their own.

Where it stands · September 2026

On 3 September a United Nations inquiry reported that foreign fighters and arms are fuelling the conflict and that possible war crimes have occurred. On 11 September the Security Council extended the Sudan sanctions regime and arms embargo. Switzerland's gold import ban, in force from 10 September, tightens pressure on the war economy. The United States denied Sudan's army chief a visa for the General Assembly on 22 September. South Sudan's Kiir dissolved the government on 23 September ahead of first national elections. The United Nations reports more than 55,000 Sudanese refugees have fled to eastern Chad this year.

What the dispute is about

One army or two. The plan for a return to civilian rule required the Rapid Support Forces to be merged into the army. The army wanted it done in two years, the paramilitaries in ten. The shooting started within days of the deadline.

Who is the state. The army's commander heads the government that holds Sudan's seat at the United Nations. The Rapid Support Forces say that government has no mandate from anyone and have set up a rival one in Darfur. Neither was elected.

Who is feeding it. Investigators and several governments say the United Arab Emirates arms the Rapid Support Forces through Chad and Libya, which the Emirates deny. Egypt, Turkey and Iran have supplied the army. Gold leaves through both sides' territory.

How each side explains it

The army's account

The armed forces are the national institution of a sovereign state, attacked by a militia that rebelled rather than accept integration. That militia is the old Janjaweed of Darfur under a new name, led by one family, paid by a foreign power and filled with mercenaries from across the Sahel. It has looted the capital, raped and killed its way through Darfur and starved El Fasher. There can be no negotiation that treats it as an equal; it must disarm and leave the cities, and the states that supply it must stop.

In our coverage

The Sudanese army is the legitimate authority against the RSF →349 headlines
Covered by:Al-Ahram · Al Arabiya · Anadolu Agency · The National · Egypt Today · Daily Sabah

The Rapid Support Forces' account

The army has ruled Sudan for most of its independent history and has never given up power willingly. Its command is controlled by the Islamists of the former ruling party, who started this war to get back what the 2019 uprising took from them. The Rapid Support Forces fight for the neglected peoples of the west and south against a Nile valley elite that has always run the country, and for a secular, federal Sudan. The army bombs markets and villages from the air, which only one side can do.

The account of Sudanese civilians and aid agencies

Two generals who together overthrew a civilian government are destroying the country to decide which of them keeps it. Both block food, both shell towns, both detain the volunteers who run the soup kitchens. Outside powers send weapons to their chosen side and statements to everyone else. The world's largest displacement crisis receives a fraction of the money and attention given to other wars.

In our coverage

Sudan is a humanitarian catastrophe and proxy war →369 headlines
Covered by:Al Jazeera · UN News · Anadolu Agency · Reuters · Deutsche Welle · BBC World

What each account leaves out

The army's leaves out that it created the Rapid Support Forces, armed them and used them in Darfur and against protesters in Khartoum; that it removed the civilian government together with them in 2021; that its air force has struck markets, a hospital and a court in session; that the United States has sanctioned its commander too, and found that it used chemical weapons; and that it has refused truces its opponents accepted.

The Rapid Support Forces' leaves out the killing of Masalit civilians in El Geneina in 2023 and of thousands in El Fasher after it fell, recorded by United Nations investigators and by their own fighters' videos; that a force built on the Darfur militias is an unlikely champion of Darfur's peoples; and that its commander's family owns the gold business that its campaign protects.

The civilians' leaves out that the civilian parties were themselves divided when the generals moved against them, that some have since aligned with one side or the other, and that no truce can be monitored without the consent of the two forces they refuse to legitimise.

The ledger

The army

Wanted: the paramilitaries dissolved into its ranks.
Gained: the capital back, and recognition as the government.
Paid: Darfur, and a reliance on Islamist brigades and foreign drones.

The Rapid Support Forces

Wanted: by their own account a new Sudan, by their opponents' account the state itself.
Gained: the west and its gold.
Paid: a genocide finding against them, and no government that recognises theirs.

The outside suppliers

Gained: gold, ports and influence on the Red Sea.
Paid: little so far.

Sudanese

Tens of thousands dead by the lowest counts and several times that by others, thirteen million displaced, and the civilian government they marched for in 2019 further away than it was then.

What changed the course

2003.
The government arms Arab militias to put down a rebellion in Darfur. Some three hundred thousand people die. The militias are later formalised as the Rapid Support Forces.
2019, April.
After months of protest the army removes Omar al-Bashir. In June the security forces kill more than a hundred protesters in Khartoum. A power-sharing government of soldiers and civilians follows.
2021, October.
The army chief, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the Rapid Support Forces' commander, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, dissolve the civilian-led government.
2023, 15 April.
Fighting breaks out in Khartoum over the merger of the two forces and spreads across the country. Thousands of Masalit are killed in West Darfur that year.
2025.
The army retakes Khartoum in March. The Rapid Support Forces declare a rival government, and in October take El Fasher, the army's last city in Darfur, after a siege of a year and a half.
From here on, entries link to events in our data
2026, 11 January.
Sudan's government announces its return to the capital, Khartoum.
In our data:Sudan's government announces return to capital Khartoum →
2026, 19 February.
United Nations investigators find evidence of genocide in El Fasher.
In our data:UN investigators find evidence of genocide in Sudan's El Fasher →
2026, 22 March.
A drone strike on a hospital kills dozens, children among them.
In our data:Drone strike on hospital in Sudan kills dozens, including children →
2026, 15 April.
The war enters its fourth year.
In our data:Sudan’s war enters a fourth year →
2026, 5 May.
Sudan accuses Ethiopia and the United Arab Emirates of organising drone attacks on an airport.
In our data:Sudan accuses Ethiopia and UAE of orchestrating drone attacks on airport →
2026, 3 August.
An army drone strike on a court session kills thirty-five, a rights group says.
In our data:Sudan army drone strike on court session kills 35, rights group says →
2026, 5 September.
New evidence points to chemical weapons use by Sudan's army.
In our data:New evidence points to chemical weapons use by Sudan's army →

Words in dispute

Names and terms the sides do not share. This page keeps them out of its own voice.

militia, rebels / Rapid Support Forces
the legitimate government / the Port Sudan authority
genocide
Janjaweed
Islamists, remnants of the old order
proxy war
humanitarian truce

Sudan's war between the army and the Rapid Support Forces

Where it stands · September 2026

What the dispute is about

How each side explains it

The army's account

In our coverage

The Sudanese army is the legitimate authority against the RSF →349 headlines
Covered by:Al-Ahram · Al Arabiya · Anadolu Agency · The National · Egypt Today · Daily Sabah

The Rapid Support Forces' account

The account of Sudanese civilians and aid agencies

In our coverage

Sudan is a humanitarian catastrophe and proxy war →369 headlines
Covered by:Al Jazeera · UN News · Anadolu Agency · Reuters · Deutsche Welle · BBC World

What each account leaves out

The ledger

The army

Wanted: the paramilitaries dissolved into its ranks.
Gained: the capital back, and recognition as the government.
Paid: Darfur, and a reliance on Islamist brigades and foreign drones.

The Rapid Support Forces

Wanted: by their own account a new Sudan, by their opponents' account the state itself.
Gained: the west and its gold.
Paid: a genocide finding against them, and no government that recognises theirs.

The outside suppliers

Gained: gold, ports and influence on the Red Sea.
Paid: little so far.

Sudanese

Tens of thousands dead by the lowest counts and several times that by others, thirteen million displaced, and the civilian government they marched for in 2019 further away than it was then.

What changed the course

2003.
The government arms Arab militias to put down a rebellion in Darfur. Some three hundred thousand people die. The militias are later formalised as the Rapid Support Forces.
2019, April.
After months of protest the army removes Omar al-Bashir. In June the security forces kill more than a hundred protesters in Khartoum. A power-sharing government of soldiers and civilians follows.
2021, October.
The army chief, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the Rapid Support Forces' commander, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, dissolve the civilian-led government.
2023, 15 April.
Fighting breaks out in Khartoum over the merger of the two forces and spreads across the country. Thousands of Masalit are killed in West Darfur that year.
2025.
The army retakes Khartoum in March. The Rapid Support Forces declare a rival government, and in October take El Fasher, the army's last city in Darfur, after a siege of a year and a half.
From here on, entries link to events in our data
2026, 11 January.
Sudan's government announces its return to the capital, Khartoum.
In our data:Sudan's government announces return to capital Khartoum →
2026, 19 February.
United Nations investigators find evidence of genocide in El Fasher.
In our data:UN investigators find evidence of genocide in Sudan's El Fasher →
2026, 22 March.
A drone strike on a hospital kills dozens, children among them.
In our data:Drone strike on hospital in Sudan kills dozens, including children →
2026, 15 April.
The war enters its fourth year.
In our data:Sudan’s war enters a fourth year →
2026, 5 May.
Sudan accuses Ethiopia and the United Arab Emirates of organising drone attacks on an airport.
In our data:Sudan accuses Ethiopia and UAE of orchestrating drone attacks on airport →
2026, 3 August.
An army drone strike on a court session kills thirty-five, a rights group says.
In our data:Sudan army drone strike on court session kills 35, rights group says →
2026, 5 September.
New evidence points to chemical weapons use by Sudan's army.
In our data:New evidence points to chemical weapons use by Sudan's army →

Words in dispute

Names and terms the sides do not share. This page keeps them out of its own voice.

militia, rebels / Rapid Support Forces
the legitimate government / the Port Sudan authority
genocide
Janjaweed
Islamists, remnants of the old order
proxy war
humanitarian truce

Events per week

Per-week distribution of events. Click a bar to see that week's top events.

Click a week bar to select. Light blue = active week.

Week of Sep 28, 2026(31)

Egypt, Eritrea, Sudan and Somalia Leaders Meet in Alamein

3 sourcesOct 3, 2026

Ethiopia Accuses Sudan and Egypt of Backing Tigray Rebels

5 sourcesSep 28, 2026

El-Sisi reaffirms support for Sudan unity, political solution in talks with Al-Burhan - Foreign Affairs - Egypt

1 sourcesOct 4, 2026

RSF attack in Sudan killed more than 25 civilians in North Kordofan, says medical group - Anadolu Ajansı

1 sourcesOct 3, 2026

Egypt to host 4-way summit with Eritrea, Somalia, Sudan amid Ethiopia conflict

1 sourcesOct 3, 2026

US's Massad Boulos proposes 90-day Sudan-RSF ceasefire

2 sourcesOct 2, 2026

Saudi crown prince reaffirms support for Sudan’s stability in call with Burhan

2 sourcesSep 29, 2026

Sudanese authorities accuse paramilitary RSF of attacking civilian facilities in El-Obeid - Anadolu Ajansı

1 sourcesSep 28, 2026

UAE at UNGA urges nations to 'build rather than destroy'

2 sourcesSep 28, 2026

RSF militia strike on UN aid trucks in Sudan kills one: WFP - War in Sudan - World

1 sourcesOct 4, 2026

+21 more this week