Sudan War Explained: Causes & Key Players 🇸🇩

The war in Sudan has created the worst humanitarian crisis in the world. How did the fighting begin? Who are the two main sides – the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF)? And what are the main factors driving the war now?

Watch this #AJStartHere Sudan explainer with Sandra Gathmann to understand what’s happening.

Chapters:
00:14 - The two main sides and areas of control
00:54 - Sudan’s diversity and ethnic divisions
01:18 - Omar al-Bashir and the Janjaweed
01:32 - The Darfur genocide in the early 2000s
02:06 - How the RSF emerged from the Janjaweed
03:34 - The 2019 protests and the fall of Omar al-Bashir
04:11 - The 2021 military coup and outbreak of war
05:53 - RSF violence in Darfur
08:07 - How both sides are getting support from outside Sudan
09:40 - How gold is fuelling the war
11:18 - How diplomacy to end the war has failed so far

This episode features:

Mahitab Mahgoub | Non-resident Fellow, Tahrir Institute For Middle East Policy

Yassmin Abdel-Magied | Writer & Activist

Hiba Morgan | Sudan Correspondent, Al Jazeera English

Ahmed Soliman | Senior Research Fellow, Africa Programme, Chatham House

Kholood Khair | Founder & Director, Confluence Advisory

Hager Ali | Doctoral Researcher, German Institute for Global and Area Studies

Alan Boswell | Project Director, Horn Of Africa, International Crisis Group

Elbashir Idris | Sudan Analyst & Activist

You can find all Start Here episodes here: https://bit.ly/3o0BEIW
Subscribe Al Jazeera so you don’t miss future episodes: http://bit.ly/AJSubscribe
Follow Sandra Gathmann on Instagram and TikTok: @SandraGathmann

#Sudan #SudanWar #SudaneseArmy #RSF #Burhan #Hemeti #DarfurCrisis #SudanConflict #SudanHumanitarianCrisis #SudanExplained #Janjaweed #Khartoum #ElFashir #StartHere