Sudan is not used to fighting in its capital

In a country long plagued by rebellions, coups and genocidal violence, the fighting scenes that take place in Sudan’s capital Khartoum are noteworthy because, until now, Sudan’s wars have been fought in geographical and political peripheries of the vast African nation.

For decades, the Sudanese military has waged brutal conflicts in the south, east and west of the country.

These fights led to the secession of south sudan in 2011; to the determination of International Criminal Court that pro-government forces committed genocide in the western region of Darfur; the loss of land in a territorial dispute with neighboring Ethiopia; and deaths, displacements and monumental suffering.

Here are some of the other conflicts the Sudanese Army has fought in recent years:

Civil war in South Sudan

A deadly struggle between secessionist fighters in the south and the Khartoum government in the north has consumed Sudan for decades, claiming more than 2 million lives.

The two sides finally negotiated a peace deal that divided the country in 2011 after southerners voted in a referendum to make South Sudan a new nation.

Within South Sudan, infighting within the government sparked riots in 2013, eventually sparking a violent dispute between the two largest ethnic groups.

The conflict officially ended in 2018, but the newer country Africa remains fragile and faces a humanitarian crisis that sees millions of people struggling to get food.

Genocide in Darfur

THE ethnically motivated violence in Darfur has killed up to 300,000 people since 2003, according to a United Nations estimate, with groups of Arab militiamen destroying and terrorizing villages inhabited mainly by ethnic African communities.

The atrocities, which began after ethnic minority rebels indicted the president Omar al-Bashir of repression, led to his trial by the ICC for genocide.

Al-Bashir was ousted in a popular uprising in 2019 that many Darfurians have been praying for an end to the violence.

But attacks against ethnic minorities in the region flared up again last year, partly linked to unrest in the central government.

One of the leading figures in the current conflict in Sudan, Lt. Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalowas commander of the dreaded militia Janjaweedwho committed some of the worst atrocities against the civilian population of Darfur.

Hamdan is now the head of the paramilitary group Rapid Support Forcesfighting against the Sudanese army.

Territorial dispute with Ethiopia

Sudan and Ethiopia have been at odds for more than a century over the lush Al Fashaga border region, where farmers from both countries have shared land.

The dispute escalated in late 2020 after fighting in the Ethiopian region of tigray it caused the departure of the Ethiopian soldiers presiding over al-Fashaga.

Sudanese troops then moved to capture parts of the disputed territory, driving out Ethiopian farmers in the process, according to aid groups.

Exchanges of shells took place throughout the disputed area, with some casualties.

The fighting has since died down, but the crux of the dispute remains unresolved.

Aid groups have warned that any escalation in the dispute could attract neighboring countries such as Egypt and Eritrea.

Conflict of the Nuba Mountains

Clashes between government forces and Nuba rebel fighters in Sudan’s South Kordofan state erupted after South Sudan’s secession, with Nuba fighters supporting South Sudan.

Many Nuba civilians have fled their villages and sought refuge in mountain caves, and aid organizations have reported food shortages, civilian deaths from government airstrikes and the displacement of thousands.

A ceasefire was announced in 2016, but the Nuba in the region have since reported being targeted by paramilitary groups loyal to the Khartoum government.

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