Worthy Christian News > World News > Massive Starvation as Sudan’s Forgotten Conflict Rages; Christians Urge Prayers (Worthy News In-Depth)

Massive Starvation as Sudan’s Forgotten Conflict Rages; Christians Urge Prayers (Worthy News In-Depth)

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

KHARTOUM (Worthy News) – With much of the world focused on Gaza, hundreds of thousands of people under siege in Sudan’s western Darfur region cried for attention Tuesday as they are running out of food and come under constant artillery and drone barrages.

Those who flee face the threat of cholera and violent attacks, adding to anxiety among minority Christians, who comprise roughly 4 percent of the Islamic northeast African nation’s 50 million people.

Al-Fashir, the capital of North Darfur state, has become the biggest remaining frontline in the region between Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in a two-year war believed to have killed 150,000 people.

With fighting ongoing, about 12 million people have fled their homes in what the United Nations has called “the world’s largest humanitarian crisis.”

One doctor, who asked not to be named for her safety, said hunger was an even bigger problem than the shelling.

“The children are malnourished, the adults are malnourished. Even I today haven’t had any breakfast because I can’t find anything,” she stressed.

The RSF has blocked food supplies, and aid convoys trying to reach the city have been attacked, according to locals.

EXPENSIVE GOODS

Prices for the goods that traders can smuggle in cost more than five times the national average, reporters observed.

Many people have reportedly resorted to eating hay or ambaz, a type of animal feed made out of peanut shells — but even ambaz is running out, aid workers warned.

Many residents fleeing the city have sought shelter in Tawila, about 60 kilometers (40 miles) west, witnesses said.

Some of those who made it told Reuters news agency they were attacked by groups of RSF fighters along the way.

“We fled to Shagra (village) first before getting to Tawila and they attacked us again,” recalled 19-year-old Enaam Abdallah.

“If they find your phone, they take it. Money, they take it. A donkey or anything, they’ll take it. They killed people in front of us and kidnapped girls in front of us,” she added.

On Monday, Emergency Lawyers, a human rights group, said at least 14 people fleeing al-Fashir were killed and dozens injured when they were attacked in a village along the route.

Tawila is now hosting more than half a million displaced people, most of whom arrived since April when the RSF stepped up its assault on al-Fashir.

CHOLERA CASES

Since mid-June, medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) says it has treated 2,500 cases of cholera.

Some 52 people have died from the disease, according to the Coordinating Committee for Displaced People, a Sudanese advocacy group operating across Darfur.

Vaccines needed to stem the outbreak will take time to arrive due to heavy rains.

An assessment by the Norwegian Refugee Council found that only 10% of people in Tawila had reliable access to water, and even fewer had access to latrines. Most families reported eating one meal a day or less, the organization said.

“We don’t have houses to protect us from the rain and we don’t have tarps. We have to wait for the rain to stop for the children to sleep,” said mother-of-four Huda Ali, sitting among roofless shelters made of straw.

She said she tried to ensure her children washed their hands and only ate food that had been properly heated.

CLASHES CONTINUE

Fighting has also been reported elsewhere. Sudan’s military recently said it took full control of the Greater Khartoum region, which includes the capital Khartoum, after a long-running battle against remnants of the RSF in the west and south.

Yet clashes continued amid concerns the country could split into at least two parts.

Sudan plunged into civil war in April 2023 after a struggle for power broke out between its army and a powerful paramilitary group, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The conflict has led to famine and accusations of genocide in western Darfur.

Darfuris believe the RSF and allied militias are trying to transform the ethnically mixed region into an Arab-ruled domain, where women and even small children suffer atrocities.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) confirmed that armed men have been raping and sexually assaulting children as young as one. Some children reportedly attempted suicide as a result. Women were told to carry “Arab babies,” survivors said.

GENOCIDE CONCERNS

Advocacy group Human Rights Watch (HRW) said it is possible that the RSF and allied militias are committing genocide in Darfur against the Massalit people, other non-Arab communities, and non-Muslims, including Christians.

The armed conflict is the latest in a series of tensions following the 2019 ousting of long-serving autocratic President Omar al-Bashir, who seized power in a coup in 1989.

Massive street protests called for an end to his near-three-decade rule. The army removed him but civilian demands for democracy continued.

ANOTHER COUP

A joint military-civilian government was formed but was overthrown in another coup in October 2021. That coup was staged by the two men now at the heart of the conflict: General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, head of the armed forces and de facto president, and his deputy, RSF leader Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, better known as “Hemedti.”

Observers say both men disagreed on the country’s political direction and the integration of forces into a unified army, with each fearing loss of power and wealth.

CHRISTIANS IN CROSSFIRE

Darfuris believe the RSF and its allies aim to Arabize the region, putting Christians in the crossfire, according to Christian advocacy group Open Doors.

“Neither side is sympathetic to Christians, and the conflict has given Islamist extremists more opportunity to target them. More than 100 churches have been damaged so far, and Christians have been abducted and killed,” said Open Doors.

As the conflict escalates, Open Doors warned: “Christians are also experiencing exceptional hardship in the hunger crisis because local communities discriminate against them and won’t give them support. Much of the church in Sudan, which might have been able to help with aid distribution, is on the run.”
The group added that Christians from Muslim backgrounds are particularly vulnerable. “They face violence, imprisonment, being shunned by their families, and may be forced to flee their homes. In the parts of Sudan where intense fighting is ongoing, all Christians are vulnerable to being targeted and persecuted.”

Sudan ranks 5th on the annual World Watch List of 50 nations where Open Doors says Christians face the most persecution for their faith.

A Sudanese Christian who uses only the name Alia, said: “There are many diseases, we fall sick, we need medicine to cure us and our children. We have so many challenges and pray that what I say, God will hear and see my tears due to this situation and war.”

With cemeteries unable to cope with the influx of bodies, the United Nations has called for a humanitarian pause to fighting in al-Fashir as the rainy season begins. However, the RSF rejected the call.

Fighting has also raged across Sudan’s Kordofan region, which borders Darfur, as both sides attempt to demarcate zones of control — while peace remains a distant dream for those suffering.

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