# Sudan enters fourth year of war as aid chiefs warn of an abandoned crisis
Sudan’s war has entered its fourth year, with the United Nations and aid organisations warning that the conflict has become a neglected humanitarian catastrophe, according to the supplied AP report.
The war began after a power struggle between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces exploded in April 2023, following the collapse of Sudan’s post-uprising political transition. Since then, the country has fractured into rival zones of control, millions of people have been displaced and basic services have been shattered.
The report says U.N. aid coordinator Denise Brown criticised the international community for failing to concentrate on ending the fighting. That complaint reflects a broader frustration among relief workers, who have repeatedly described Sudan as one of the world’s worst emergencies even as attention has shifted elsewhere.
The military-backed government in Khartoum controls the north, east and central regions, including the Red Sea ports and oil infrastructure, while the RSF and its allies hold Darfur and parts of Kordofan. The result is not a single front line but a broken state with competing authorities, damaged transport routes and deepening civilian suffering.
The supplied evidence also highlights the war’s toll on health care. Hospitals, ambulances and medical staff have been attacked, and the World Health Organization has said more than 2,000 people have been killed in such assaults. The conflict has also been marked by mass killings, sexual violence and repeated allegations of war crimes.
International actors have worsened the geopolitical complexity. The report says Egypt supports the army, while the UAE has been accused by U.N. experts and rights groups of arming the RSF, an allegation Abu Dhabi denies. Such external involvement has helped prolong the war and made a negotiated end harder to reach.
There are small signs of movement in some areas. The AP says the army’s seizure of Khartoum and other central cities in early 2025 allowed about 4 million people to return home, but those returns have not restored normal life. People are coming back to damaged houses, broken water systems and a fragile security environment.
The most important fact is that Sudan remains trapped in a war with no obvious military solution. Neither side can achieve a decisive victory, the report says, and the country’s civilians continue to pay the price in displacement, hunger and the collapse of public services.
Entering a fourth year, the conflict is not just continuing. It is hardening into a new normal that many outside Sudan have learned to overlook, even as aid workers warn that the crisis is still expanding.
