The Forgotten War

The war in Sudan is now referred to as the "Forgotten War" - forgotten because major news and media houses no longer talk about it, yet it has generated refugees in the millions. According to the UN, this is the biggest humanitarian crisis in the world right now.

Because this is an African war, events in Africa are sometimes very peripheral to international media houses. Western media like CNN, BBC, or France TV don't talk about it because from where they sit it is not a country that has a lot of strategic significance for them, and African media houses do not have the capacity to have people on the ground.

The net effect is that if you ask one out of 10 people in any country in Africa, they don't know what is happening in Sudan.

The Numbers

After more than 2 years of fighting:

1. Over 2.5 million people have died in civil conflicts over Sudan's history
2. Millions more displaced as refugees in Chad, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Egypt, and Libya
3. Over 600,000 people (half of them children) displaced from El Fasher alone
4. 260,000 civilians trapped in El Fasher, cut off from aid
5. 98% of South Sudan's income from oil has stopped
6. No agriculture going on, leading to food shortages

The Siege of El Fasher

The city of El Fasher had been the Sudanese military's last remaining holdout in Darfur and was besieged by the RSF for some 18 months. In August, the UN said more than 600,000 had been displaced from the city while an estimated 260,000 civilians remained trapped, cut off from aid and encircled by the RSF and an earth wall built around much of the city.

Indiscriminate shelling and drone attacks damaged or destroyed hospitals and mosques, maimed and killed civilians, and forced families into makeshift underground shelters.