Massacre, Siege, and Starvation: The War on Civilians Intensifies in Sudan
September 22nd–26th, 2025
This week added new layers to Sudan’s suffering as climate shocks and preventable diseases compounded the ongoing genocide at the hands of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF). Seasonal flooding has swept through parts of Darfur, destroying homes and roads and worsening already dire living conditions in displacement camps where civilians from across the region have sought refuge due to forceful displacement. At the same time, cholera outbreaks have surged, with thousands of suspected cases and rising fatalities, driven by the collapse of municipal services and the shutdown of already fragile health systems due to the ongoing war. In North Darfur, intensified RSF bombardments and siege conditions forced 7,500 people to flee Abu Shouk camp and parts of El Fasher between September 17th and 19th. These events highlight how war, famine, epidemics, and climate disasters are colliding to devastate Sudan’s most vulnerable communities. At the international level, Sudan’s crisis was brought to the forefront of the United Nations General Assembly, where leaders from Kenya and the UK, alongside a coalition of 25 countries, pressed for stronger global action towards a civilian transition in Sudan.
Voices From the Ground: DWAG Tawila Field Report
On September 24, 2025, DWAG’s field team conducted a visit and survey in North Darfur’s Tawila IDP camp, where newly displaced families continue to arrive daily from El Fasher, Al-Kurma, and surrounding villages. The team brought to light many of the harrowing conditions that civilians in Sudan continue to face. Many of the displaced were wounded by live ammunition, with nearly 90% requiring major surgeries or daily dialysis, while children faced acute malnutrition, and pregnant women in late stages of pregnancy had no access to care. Large numbers of people with chronic illnesses such as diabetes, hypertension, and kidney disease remain untreated, while girls face heightened risks of rape and other violations. Elderly persons and those with disabilities are in life-threatening danger, with disability rates among the wounded reported as high as 70–80%. Food security has collapsed to level 5 (emergency stage), leaving displaced families without adequate food, clean water, or livelihoods. DWAG and our field team urgently calls for immediate international intervention to provide emergency surgeries and dialysis, nutritional support for malnourished children, maternal healthcare and protection for women and girls, emergency food and water, and robust protection mechanisms to safeguard vulnerable populations from further harm.
Escalation of Violence & Civilian Targeting
Violence against civilians in Sudan grew even worse this week as attacks became more deliberate and indiscriminate. On September 25, RSF drones attacked El-Obeid in North Kordofan, killing and injuring civilians and forcing around 1,650 people to flee in just two days. On the same day in El Fasher, another RSF drone strike hit a crowded marketplace, killing 15 people and wounding 12, including traders and shoppers. These attacks come only a week after the massacre at a mosque in El Fasher during dawn prayers, which left at least 75 civilians dead. Together, these incidents reveal a disturbing and systematic pattern: markets, mosques, neighborhoods, and other civilian spaces are being singled out as primary targets. People who cannot escape remain trapped under siege, facing daily bombardments and the constant threat of death. These attacks demonstrate that no place in Sudan is safe, and they expose the genocidal intent behind the RSF’s campaign of terror.
Flooding, Cholera, and Environmental Impacts of War
Sudan’s war is destroying lives not only through bombs and bullets, but also through the collapse of health and environmental systems. Heavy rains and seasonal floods have torn through Darfur, washing away homes and roads and leaving whole communities cut off from lifesaving aid. Floodwater has fueled the spread of cholera, with over 5,200 suspected cases and more than 250 deaths reported this week. While vaccination campaigns have begun, insecurity and blocked roads mean aid workers cannot reach those most at risk, leaving thousands exposed to preventable death.
At the same time, Sudan’s cities are drowning in uncollected garbage. With local authorities unable to function due to war and municipal services having collapsed, waste has piled up in neighborhoods and markets. This rotting garbage contaminates scarce water supplies already damaged by flooding. These overlapping crises of war, floods, epidemics, and environmental collapse show how civilians are being attacked on every front. Their survival is threatened not only by violence but also by hunger, disease, and deliberate neglect that denies them the most basic means to live.
Recent International Developments
At this year’s United Nations General Assembly, Sudan’s crisis briefly took center stage. Sudanese representatives joined high-level meetings to call for urgent action on famine, mass displacement, and the relentless targeting of civilians. Kenya’s President William Ruto and UK leaders called for stronger international action, with the UK pledging £36 million to support Sudanese refugees in Chad. In parallel, a coalition of 25 nations, co-hosted by the EU, AU, France, Germany, and the UK, backed a statement condemning systematic violations and urging the UN to intervene more forcefully. They endorsed the Quartet’s roadmap for Sudan, which calls for a three-month humanitarian truce, a ceasefire, and a nine-month political process leading to a civilian transition. Yet while these commitments mark progress on paper, civilians in El Fasher, Kordofan, and across Sudan continue to endure massacres, sieges, and famine conditions. Words of concern, no matter how forceful, will remain meaningless unless translated into decisive protection, humanitarian access, and accountability. The international consensus must now be matched by action that delivers real safety and relief to those under attack.
UN Human Rights Report Findings
The latest UN Human Rights Office mid-year report (Jan–Jun 2025) underscores the catastrophic scale of atrocities in Sudan. In just six months, 3,384 civilians were killed, with the highest tolls in North Darfur, Kordofan, and Khartoum. The report documents 990 unlawful killings outside direct combat, 228 cases of conflict-related sexual violence (the majority committed by the RSF), and widespread child recruitment of boys as young as 12. Humanitarian workers have been directly targeted, with 30+ aid staff killed and a UN convoy destroyed by a drone attack. The siege of El Fasher continues to drive famine-like conditions, with only 20–30% of health facilities functional nationwide and 24.6 million people facing acute food insecurity, including 637,000 in famine-like conditions. These figures confirm the ongoing genocide: civilians are being killed not only by bombs and bullets, but also through starvation, disease, and systematic denial of aid.
DWAG urges the United Nations, regional organizations, and all member states to:
- Immediately open and secure humanitarian corridors into El Fasher, Abu Shouk, and other besieged areas to deliver food, medicine, and vaccines.
- Pressure both RSF and SAF to agree to an immediate humanitarian truce with a clear path to a permanent ceasefire and political transition.
- Extend and reinforce the UN Fact-Finding Mission’s mandate, to preserve evidence and ensure that violations of rights are recorded and survivors are given a voice.
- Deploy international protection mechanisms around hospitals, markets, and displacement camps to safeguard civilians from further atrocities.
- Scale up emergency funding for survivors of sexual violence, displaced families, and communities facing famine-like conditions.
The suffering of civilians in Sudan has reached intolerable levels. Darfur, Kordofan, and Khartoum have become sites of daily massacres, siege-induced famine, and the deliberate targeting of markets, mosques, and displacement camps. These atrocities are not isolated events but part of a systematic and ongoing genocide. The international community can no longer respond with words alone. Under international law, when civilians are under attack and grave crimes are being committed, the world has a duty to act. DWAG calls on all leaders to fulfill that obligation now to protect the vulnerable, to end impunity, and to deliver the lifesaving aid and justice Sudan’s people so desperately need.
With Gratitude,
Niemat Ahmadi
President, Darfur Women Action Group
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