Sudan has been witnessing deadly fighting between the country’s army and a paramilitary group for the last six days. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), 270 people have been killed and 2,700 have been injured.

Explosions rocked the Sudanese capital Khartoum despite growing international calls for an end to hostilities.

The violence has forced terrified Sudanese civilians to shelter in their homes with fears of a prolonged conflict that could plunge the country into deeper chaos, dashing hopes for return to civilian rule.

India is coordinating closely with various countries to ensure the safety and security of Indian nationals in violence-hit Sudan.

Sudan has a history of instability

• Sudan has suffered coups since gaining its independence from Britain and Egypt in 1956. Sudanese leader Omar al-Bashir came to power in 1989 in one such takeover, which removed the country’s last elected government.

• In April 2019, Omar al-Bashir, who ruled the country in autocratic style, was overthrown and arrested in a coup by the armed forces, ending his three-decade rule.

• Since al-Bashir was forced from power in 2019, Sudan worked to slowly rid itself of the international pariah status it held under the autocrat. But Sudan’s economy struggled with the shock of a number of economic reforms called for by international lending institutions.

• Four months after al-Bashir’s ouster, the generals and the protesters reached a power-sharing deal to rule the country through elections in 2023.

• In October 2021, Sudan’s military seized power by dissolving the transitional government. The October coup had upended Sudan’s plans to move to democracy.

• The military overthrew the power-sharing government putting two men at the helm — General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, head of the army and his deputy General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, who is also the head of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Both were at odds over the process of restoring civilian rule.

• The coup by the generals derailed a transition to civilian rule following the 2019 ouster of Bashir, triggering international aid cuts and sparked protests met by a deadly crackdown.

What triggered the violence?

• Tension had been building for months between Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) following the October 2021 coup.

• Under international pressure, Burhan and Dagalo had recently agreed to a framework agreement with political parties and pro-democracy groups, but the signing was repeatedly delayed as tensions rose over the integration of the RSF into the armed forces and the future chain of command.

• Tensions have been brewing for weeks between Sudan’s two most powerful generals. Those tensions erupted into an unprecedented battle for control of the resource-rich nation of more than 46 million people.

• Fighting erupted on April 15 at a military base south of Khartoum, with each side blaming the other for having initiated the violence. The army accused the RSF of illegal mobilisation in preceding days. The RSF, as it moved on key strategic sites in Khartoum, said the army had tried to seize full power

• Since then, the military and the RSF have battled each other with heavy weapons in densely populated areas of the capital and the adjoining city of Omdurman. 

• Movement has been restricted, making it difficult for health workers and ambulances to reach health facilities, thus putting further lives at risk. Fuel shortages for hospital generators, as well as water and power cuts are also reportedly affecting the running of hospitals and other health facilities.

• The violence has raised the specter of civil war just as Sudanese were trying to revive the drive for a democratic, civilian government after decades of military rule.

• Conflict could not only destroy those hopes but destabilise a volatile region bordering the Sahel, the Red Sea and the Horn of Africa. It could also play into competition for influence in the region between Russia and the United States, and between regional powers who have courted different actors in Sudan.

• International parties have called for a ceasefire and a return to dialogue, but there has been little sign of compromise from the warring factions.

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