Fighting has intensified in Kordofan and elsewhere, exacerbating the tragic suffering of Sudanese civilians.
In a press conference on 19 December, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio set a ten-day timeframe to establish a humanitarian truce in Sudan, aiming for it to go into effect by the beginning of the new year. It was the first time the US set an explicit deadline for the belligerents—the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) — since it first announced its intent to actively intervene as a mediator over two and a half years after the outbreak of the war in April 2023. In his statement last month, Rubio said his country was engaging “intensively” with several regional parties, notably Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt, and also coordinating with the UK in a push to achieve a humanitarian truce that would enable the expansion of relief operations.
“Ninety-nine per cent of our focus is this humanitarian truce and achieving that as soon as possible,” Rubio said. “And we think that the new year and the upcoming holidays are a great opportunity for both sides to agree to that, and we’re really pushing very hard on that regard.”
Rubio blamed both sides for violating their commitments to facilitate the delivery of urgent relief and expressed his concern over attacks against humanitarian aid convoys. Describing the situation in Sudan as “horrifying” and “atrocious”, he said, “One day the story of what’s actually happened there is going to be known and everyone involved is going to look bad.”
The conflict in Sudan is being waged on several fronts. It is as though the belligerents are racing against time to gain as much territory as possible before Washington blows the whistle to tell them to stop, brokers a truce and engineers a transitional process tailored to its interests. Until such time as this, wholesale bloodshed will continue, wreaking countless civilian deaths and injuries, along with horrific atrocities, starvation and the never-ending violation of Sudanese dignity.
In late December, Foreign Policy described the Sudanese crisis, now nearing the end of its third year, as one of the gravest humanitarian disasters of the world in 2025 and warned that ignoring the atrocities being committed in the country risks entrenching a culture of impunity.
Amid widespread devastation and massive internal displacement, the spread of disease and growing risk of starvation, the fighting between the SAF and RSF drags on. It is especially fierce in the strategic Kordofan region, which connects western, northern, southern and central Sudan through its three states — North, South and West Kordofan — where the stench of death and destruction is said to fill the air.
Recent reports indicate that the SAF has obtained sufficient advanced weapons to enable it to curb the advances of the RSF. In autumn last year, the rebel forces seized Al-Fasher, the capital of the Darfur region, and then moved towards Kordofan, where they took control of Babanusa, the capital of West Kordofan, and the Heglig oil field. They also began to lay siege to Al-Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan, and Kadugli, the capital of South Kordofan. However, these cities have so far been able to hold out. The SAF has also reportedly managed to repel many RSF drone attacks and strike several areas under RSF control. Naturally, most of the victims were innocent civilians — the fodder of this merciless war.
However, according to Sudanese reports, one SAF air strike managed to take out the security adviser to RSF Commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti and five people who were with him. The army also repelled a drone attack against the headquarters of the 19th Infantry Division, the Merowe Dam, and the airbase there.
On the other hand, the RSF shelled the Al-Obeid electricity plant, causing a power outage in the city.
In response to reports of RSF movements, the governor of Gedaref State in southeastern Sudan opened recruitment camps to muster fighters to protect the Sudanese-Ethiopian border — a precaution against RSF attempts to circumvent SAF defences and exploit the porous border region.
As accusations of war crimes and crimes against humanity mount against the RSF, the RSF-led Tasis (Founding) Alliance has attempted to deflect the blame, charging the SAF with targeting civilians in areas under Tasis control. A member of this alliance — the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM)–North, led by Abdelaziz Al-Hilu — announced that it had ordered its forces to secure roads and open crossings for civilians leaving the cities of Kadugli and Dilling in South Kordofan to areas under SPLM control.
The first of January marked the anniversary of Sudan’s independence. Sudanese civilian forces took advantage of this occasion to step up their calls for an end to the war. The Sudanese Creativity Salon organised a seminar entitled “Towards a National Project to Unite the Sudanese Nation”. Speakers called for an end to fighting, a just and comprehensive peace, a new social contract based on a unifying national identity and a new political culture.
In the same spirit, 45 Sudanese entities and figures launched the “Cairo Charter” to stop the war and revive the path to a civilian democratic constitutional order in Sudan.
The Sudanese Federal Gathering issued a statement saying the true commitment to the spirit of national independence demanded an immediate end to the war and bringing everyone responsible for igniting and perpetuating it to account. It called for the reestablishment of professional national institutions on foundations of justice and equal citizenship without discrimination.
Statements calling for an end of the war, national unity and the resumption of the political process leading to a civilian democratic state were issued by other political forces, such as the Sudanese Congress Party and the National Umma Party. Deputy Chair of the latter, Mariam Al-Sadiq Al-Mahdi, stressed that the belligerents were no longer fighting for a cause, for reform, or for grievances. Rather, they were fighting a war of disintegration, fuelled by short-term calculations, fanaticism, tribalism, regionalism, external powers and the illusion of decisive victory through force.
Meanwhile, SAF Commander and Chairman of the Sovereignty Council, General Abdel-Fattah Al-Burhan issued a call for reconciliation while simultaneously affirming the need to continue the war. Some greeted this positively, as a sign the SAF has stepped back from its hardline position. Al-Basha Tabiq, adviser to the RSF commander, dismissed it as an attempt to mislead the international community.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 8 January, 2026 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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