Sudan's Ruinous War: The Two Generals Driving a Nation to Collapse

2 hours ago7 min read

Sudan is being torn asunder by a civil war propelled by the personal ambitions and deep-seated rivalry of two generals, a brutal power struggle that has pushed the nation to the brink of collapse. The conflict reached a critical turning point as the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) captured El Fasher, a strategic hub in Darfur, effectively splitting the country between their forces and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF).This is more than a military victory; it is a catastrophic humanitarian failure. For a year and a half, the people of El Fasher endured a state of suspended terror, subjected to relentless shelling and drone strikes that deliberately targeted hospitals and clinics.When the RSF finally overran the city's defenses, the horror was systematic and visceral. Militants moved from house to house, dragging families into the streets, executing men, and raping women and girls in front of their relatives.The perpetrators documented these atrocities, sharing videos that capture a depth of cruelty that is almost incomprehensible. At the center of this maelstrom are General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, leader of the SAF, and General Muhammad Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, commander of the RSF.Burhan positions himself as the head of Sudan's legitimate government, a career military officer whose past includes involvement in the Darfur conflict and leading troops in Yemen. His power base is a fragile coalition reliant on entrenched Islamist factions who control finances and contribute some of his most effective—and vengeful—fighters.While Burhan speaks of restoring order, it is the same order that civilians had previously risen up against, and his own forces stand accused of war crimes, including blocking critical international aid. His rival, Hemedti, is a different kind of leader.A product of the notorious Janjaweed militias, he has built a reputation on ruthless efficiency. He once boasted of his role in the meticulously planned destruction of a village, an operation documented by African Union monitors.Hemedti has leveraged this brutality into immense wealth, controlling gold mines and building a formidable private army. His rhetoric casts him as a champion of democracy and the marginalized, a claim starkly contradicted by the genocidal campaign his forces have waged in Darfur and the systematic looting and rape they inflicted upon the capital, Khartoum.He envisions a Sudan run as a personal fiefdom. The rise of these two men is the product of a decades-long cycle.Pressures of hunger, conflict, and trauma, compounded over forty years, have forged a political culture of merciless ambition. The international community's pragmatic recognition of Burhan has done little to curb the violence.Now, with the country divided and atrocities mounting, the path forward is obscured by the smoke of El Fasher's ruins. The two generals fueling this war are not anomalies; they are products of a broken system they now fight to dominate, leaving millions of Sudanese civilians trapped in the crossfire of their personal vendetta.

#Sudan

#civil war

#Rapid Support Forces

#Sudanese military

#human rights

#featured

#al-Burhan

#Hemedti

Stay Informed. Act Smarter.

Get weekly highlights, major headlines, and expert insights — then put your knowledge to work in our live prediction markets.

Comments

Loading comments...