The Sudan War in 10 Charts

Sudan’s civil war has now entered its fourth year with its two main factions locked in a grinding war of attrition. The conflict began on April 15, 2023, between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary, led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, popularly known as Hemedti. Today, the country is split roughly in two, with the SAF in control of the east and the RSF in control of the west.

As a result of the war, Sudan is now the world’s largest displacement and hunger crisis. Rape and sexual violence are both widespread and systematic, and have become a defining feature of the war. Sudan’s rich cultural heritage, too, is being erased.

Outside Sudan’s borders, the conflict very quickly became an international war, with over 10 countries picking sides between the warring parties. Various mediation efforts have failed to make meaningful progress, in part because of the number of countries involved. The following 10 charts offer snapshots of the magnitude, brutality, and international implications of the Sudan war.

Civilians Bear the Brunt of the Sudan War

Catherine Nzuki

It is hard to know exactly how many people have died from violence, hunger, or lack of access to healthcare in Sudan; death toll estimates range from 150,000 to 400,000. The Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED) has tracked over 58,000 reported fatalities since the war began, but the actual number is certainly much higher. Both the SAF and RSF have been accused of committing atrocities and war crimes. The U.S. government found the RSF and its allied militias had committed genocide in Darfur in 2023 with systemic targeting and killings, and sexual violence against ethnic Massalit and other non-Arab communities. In the city of El Geneina alone, a UN panel estimated that between 10,000 and 15,000 people were killed by RSF in 2023. El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, was the last SAF stronghold in the Darfur region. The RSF laid siege to the city for 18 months, systematically weakening the population through starvation, deprivation, and confinement. When the SAF withdrew in October 2025, the siege ended in RSF and allied militias sweeping through the city, killing more than 6,000 people in just the first three days of the offensive, but the total death toll is significantly higher. UN investigators subsequently concluded that the RSF’s actions in El Fasher bore “the hallmarks of genocide.”

An Unprecedented Hunger Crisis

Joely Virzi, Rose Parker, and Zane Swanson

Sudan is facing a clear example of a multifaceted, manmade hunger crisis, driven by violence, mass displacement, destruction of infrastructure, restricted access to resources, and high food prices. Over the past decade, Sudan has faced variable but significant levels of acute food insecurity. In 2016, about 12 percent of the population experienced crisis levels of food insecurity or worse. By 2022, that number had grown to nearly one in four people. By 2024, more than half of Sudan’s population, some 25.6 million people, faced severe hunger. Famine was first confirmed on August 1, 2024, at the Zamzam internally displaced persons (IDP) camp, and then expanded to five localities across the towns of El Fasher and Kadugli.

As is too often the case, the rates of acute food insecurity and incidence of famine conditions are likely higher than reported, as data collection in conflict zones is extremely difficult. Also present are food consumption gaps that lead to high levels of acute malnutrition, particularly among vulnerable groups including children, pregnant and lactating women, and the elderly. Waiting to act until official famine confirmation delays essential aid and services that could otherwise prevent suffering and loss of life.

The World’s Largest Displacement Crisis

Andrew Friedman and Anne Frederick

As of April 2026, the displacement crisis in Sudan stands at roughly 11 million IDPs. An additional four million people have crossed into neighboring Chad, Egypt, and South Sudan as refugees and asylum seekers. Furthermore, approximately 900,000 individuals who had previously sought safety and shelter in Sudan from conflicts in South Sudan, Ethiopia, and the Central African Republic saw no choice other than to return to their dangerous circumstances. This places further strain on the already limited resources of fragile states.

A Strained Healthcare System Under Attack

Michaela Simoneau, Sophia Hirshfield, and Caitlin Noe

Sudan’s civil war has beaten down a health system already strained by major underinvestment, disparities in access to care, and a double burden of infectious and chronic disease. Since the beginning of the war, both the SAF and the RSF have perpetrated over 721 attacks on healthcare, including on health facilities, medical staff, and healthcare supply chains, in direct and repeated violations of International Humanitarian Law. These disruptions have left fewer than 39 percent of health service delivery points even partially functional across the country, while continuing strikes on electric, water, and transit infrastructure further impede operations and access. The population now faces expansive and compounding health challenges with limited means of redress, including acute malnutrition, trauma and injury, widespread reporting of sexual violence and related protection issues, insufficient psychosocial support, and concurrent outbreaks of cholera, dengue, measles, malaria, hepatitis E, and diphtheria.

The destruction of infrastructure has also resulted in prolonged disruptions of essential health supply chains. Recent U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran have further disrupted regional humanitarian corridors and driven up the cost of programs, threatening imminent shortages of critical medical supplies. As cross-border displacement continues, neighboring healthcare systems that already host large numbers of refugees and lack the surge capacity to support such dire needs are put under even greater pressure. Despite immense strain, several key humanitarian organizations continue to operate and deliver essential medical care, adapting capabilities built over decades of local engagement in this severe operational environment.

Over Half of Children in Sudan Are Missing Critical Vaccines

Katherine Bliss and Priya Chainani

Diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis (DPT) are vaccine-preventable bacterial infections that can lead to illness and death. DTP vaccine coverage is used as a proxy for access to health services. Since the start of the conflict in Sudan, coverage with three doses of the vaccine given in a child’s first year of life has dropped from 84 percent in 2022 to 39 percent in 2024. Over half of all children have not received a single dose of DTP, making it likely that they are missing other routine immunizations and early childhood health interventions. Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and UNICEF are collaborating with nongovernmental organizations to strengthen the delivery of routine immunizations to children in Sudan, even in the midst of violence.

The Civil War Aggravates the Malaria Burden

Katherine Bliss and Priya Chainani

Over the past 25 years, malaria has remained a persistent challenge in Sudan, due to flooding and changing weather patterns favorable to mosquito proliferation, along with limited health services for displaced people. The arrival of new malaria-transmitting mosquito species adapted to urban environments has also expanded the population at risk of infection. While Sudan has recorded a 100 percent increase in malaria incidence since 2015, estimated cases have spiked since the outbreak of violence in April of 2023. Sudan accounted for 44.6 percent of all malaria cases in the 22 countries and territories within the World Health Organization (WHO) Eastern Mediterranean Region in 2024, and the confirmed 1.3 million cases and 850 deaths in 2025 are almost certainly underreported. Pregnant women and children are especially vulnerable to infection, severe illness, and death. But with increasing reports of drug-resistant cases, and with numerous hospitals and clinics damaged in the conflict, the number of health facilities capable of treating severe cases of malaria is limited, making prevention through indoor residual spraying, use of protective clothing and insecticide treated bed-nets and vaccines essential. 

Severely Underfunded Humanitarian Crisis

Andrew Friedman and Anne Frederick

Sudan continues to constitute one of the world’s largest humanitarian disasters. Humanitarian needs are continually among the highest in the world, while the gaps remain significant. Since 2023, humanitarian funding has never been higher than 38 percent of need, and in 2026, only 8 percent of the need has been met. This underfunding compounds the multiple ongoing crises including greater acute malnutrition and hunger, a lack of vaccines and other medicines for populations who need them, systemic sexual violence, and many others.

The Internationalization of the Sudan War

Catherine Nzuki

What began as a power struggle between the SAF and the RSF has transformed into an international quagmire with far-reaching implications. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is the primary backer of the RSF, supplying the paramilitary with weapons and financing channeled largely through Chad, Libya, and, most recently, Ethiopia. The UAE denies this claim, but evidence and analysis show otherwise. Egypt, Iran, Turkey, and others have backed the SAF and provided military support. Russia’s Wagner Group, now known as the Africa Corps, has at different times provided military equipment or training to each warringparty. External actors are interested in Sudan’s strategic location by the Red Sea, a vital waterway that sees 10 percent of global trade pass through. Mineral resources, as well as regional rivalries and longstanding alliances, also drive foreign interests in Sudan. As external actors deepen their involvement, Sudan’s conflict risks becoming an entrenched proxy war, complicating pathways to a negotiated ceasefire.

Gold Is Fueling the Sudan War

Catherine Nzuki

Gold production in Sudan ramped up quickly after the start of the civil war, as the SAF and RSF use Sudan’s gold trade to purchase weapons, pay fighters, and finance the conflict. Sudan’s gold production hit 70 tons in 2025, surpassing official targets by 13 percent, underscoring how critical gold extraction and sales have become to financing both sides of the war. Sudan is one of Africa’s top gold-producing countries, and at least half of its gold production is smuggled out of the country each year. The UAE is the main destination for both declared and smuggled Sudanese gold.

Aerial Attacks Are Making the Sudan War Deadly

Yasir Atalan and Nico Vacca

Fatalities from aerial attacks have intensified throughout the war as both warring parties have gained increased access to drones. ACLED has recorded over 3,000 air and drone strikes from the first day of war and at least 9,000 fatalities related to these attacks. Both the RSF and SAF have used drone strikes on civilian infrastructure including schools and health facilities. Although tracing suppliers can be murky, reporting suggests that RSF’s inventory includes Chinese systems in addition to Serbian and possibly Iranian platforms or munitions, and some U.S. drones, often linked to UAE support. By contrast, the SAF’s drone inventory is more mixed, including Iranian systems, Chinese small drones, domestically identified platforms, and some Turkish and commercially available drones.

This commentary is made possible by general support to CSIS.