After the fall of Omar al-Bashir in 2019, Sudan briefly embodied the hope of a democratic rebirth driven by a powerful civilian revolution. Protesters demanded justice, civilian rule, and an end to decades of military domination. But this promise was steadily undermined from within. In October 2021, the army—led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and backed by his deputy Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti—overthrew the civilian-led transitional government. The revolution was sidelined, and power returned fully to armed men.

What followed was not stability, but rivalry. The alliance between the regular army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), forged to suppress the revolution, collapsed under the weight of competing ambitions. On April 15, 2023, their confrontation erupted into open war. Khartoum became a battlefield, and the conflict soon spread across the country, devastating Darfur, Kordofan, and central Sudan. Civilians were trapped between indiscriminate bombardment and militia violence.

The war is inseparable from the failure of the transition. The RSF, heir to the Janjaweed militias, carried out massacres, ethnic violence, and systematic looting—particularly in Darfur—while attempting to erase evidence of its crimes. The army, weakened and fragmented, bombarded cities it claimed to defend. Foreign powers fueled the conflict by supplying arms and political backing, turning Sudan into a theater of regional rivalries.

Today, Sudan is collapsing amid the ashes of its revolution. Millions are displaced, famine looms, and the civilian forces that once filled the streets have been silenced by weapons. What began as a popular uprising for dignity has ended in a brutal war between two military powers, neither of which represents the aspirations of the Sudanese people.