As the war between Sudan’s security forces continues into its 21st month, casualties mount in North Darfur’s besieged capital El Fasher, which has been cut off from food aid amid spreading famine while local markets are being bombed.

The Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which has been at war with Sudan’s army since April 15, 2023, broke into the family home of Haitham Dafallah, the chief editor of Al-Maydan newspaper, and abducted him along with his brother, on January 19.

Thousands have been killed and over four million displaced by the war between Sudan’s military and paramilitary that is set to enter its fifth month with no signs of respite. Only 18 of the country’s 89 main hospitals are functioning, that too only at partial capacity

The Sudanese Communist Party argues that the ceasefire mainly serves for the warring parties resupply their forces and resume fighting with greater intensity

“The occupation of our party office is a part of the ongoing attempts by the Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese Armed Forces to silence the voice of the democratic forces that opposed this catastrophic war,” SCP spokesperson Fathi Elfadl told Peoples Dispatch

While the national capital Khartoum has seen the most intense battles between the army and the paramilitary RSF, most of the internal displacements are occurring in Darfur due to escalating armed conflict between militias. The region already has most of Sudan’s 3.7 million Internally Displaced Persons

As the people of Sudan continue to experience conflict and violence, the role played by international financial institutions is often ignored. Decades of IMF-imposed austerity policies and cuts on spending played a huge role in the deterioration of living conditions in the country

While its military rulers continue armed infighting, driving Sudan toward a humanitarian catastrophe, the radical grassroots organizations that were leading the pro-democracy mass protests against military rule have stepped up to the rescue of civilians

The Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces have begun fighting each other. The root of the conflict lies in disagreements over integrating the paramilitary into the army. The Sudanese left has noted that both parties seek to escalate armed conflict, so that it can be used as a reason to not hand over power to civilian forces

Earlier major armed attacks by the Janjaweed militias in the last week of April had targeted West Darfur’s Kereinik town and the capital city of El Geneina, killing at least 200 and displacing around 100,000

While international bodies, including the EU and UN, have welcomed the lifting of the state of emergency, little has changed on the ground, according to pro-democracy activists

Reiterating the call for a UN force to protect the displaced who have been “left at the mercy of militias,” Adam Rojal, spokesperson of Darfur’s refugees and IDPs, told Peoples Dispatch that violence in Darfur is part of the military junta’s campaign “to kill the surviving victims of genocide and war crimes”