The conflict in Sudan between rival generals has killed or injured hundreds and displaced more than a million people as ceasefire promises have failed to materialize.

Even the youngest Sudanese are paying the ultimate price in the power struggle. Over the past six weeks, at least 60 children died inside an orphanage while fighting raged across the capital city Khartoum, The Guardian reported. Orphanage and humanitarian workers on the ground said 26 children, including 3-month-old infants, died over two days (May 26-27), mostly from fever and a lack of food.

Fighting first erupted April 15 across Khartoum and a few other cities. Tensions between former allies – Sudan’s military ruler and head of the army Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, the country’s deputy leader and head of the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group – boiled over into a battle for control of the northeast African country.

The United States and other nations evacuated their embassy staff as scores of Khartoum residents fled the capital. Here is a CBS News report from shortly after fighting erupted in April:

Sudan appeared on the road to democracy after a civilian uprising in 2019 against longtime dictator Omar Hassan al-Bashir led to a military takeover. But the future of Africa’s third largest country is now uncertain.

Nearly 1.4 million people are displaced, either internally or in neighboring countries, amid reports of increasing sexual violence, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a new report released Sunday (May 28). 

Since fighting began, at least 730 people have been killed and another 5,500 injured. Humanitarian groups face an uphill battle to transport relief supplies to where they’re needed. At least eight workers have been killed and 18 injured in the battles.

Meanwhile, Sudan’s army said Wednesday (May 31) that it has walked away from negotiations organized by Saudi Arabia and the United States for a full ceasefire to facilitate humanitarian relief, The New York Times reported. The collapse of the talks suggests there’s no clear and immediate path to a resolution.

Power struggle at the core

Burhan, who leads Sudan’s official army, is in a struggle for power against Dagalo, who heads the Rapid Support Force, the country’s paramilitary force. According to CNN, the rivals were once allies in the military overthrow of Bashir and in a second military coup in 2021 that removed a civilian co-leader from government.

But tensions spiraled out of control when the two men attempted to negotiate which of them would be in charge when the paramilitary force integrated with the military as part of a plan to restore civilian rule.

Seeds of discord

Sudan’s recent turmoil started with widespread public protest in December 2018 against soaring bread prices, which led to the ouster of Bashir, an autocrat who maintained stability in Sudan for decades with an iron fist, according to Reuters.

When demonstrations reached army headquarters in Khartoum, the military detained Bashir in April 2019. The protesters demanded that the army turn over authority to a civilian government. That led to a government power sharing agreement between the military and a civilian leadership group led by Abdalla Hamdok, a former U.N. official. It was supposed to be a temporary partnership leading to democratic elections.

But on Oct. 25, 2021, a military uprising involving Burhan and Dagalo removed Hamdok and other civilian officials. Burhan dissolved the civilian government and other transitional bodies. 

But nearly two months later, Burhan agreed to restart another political transition to civilian democratic rule.

By April, negotiations for a transition to democracy broke down over disputes about civilian oversight of the military and the integration of Dagalo’s paramilitary group into the army. It led to the current conflict between Burhan and Dagalo.

U.S. response

“The Sudanese people did not ask for this war. The United States will continue to stand with them,” reads a White House statement released Thursday (June 1). “We will continue to support their rightful demand for a transition to democracy. And working with our partners, we will continue to hold the belligerent parties accountable for their unconscionable violence and defiance of the will of the people.”

On Thursday, the administration announced economic sanctions and visa restrictions “against actors who are perpetuating the violence” as an accountability measure against the warring parties.

The New York Times reports that the Biden administration hoped that Sudan would have transitioned to democracy to help counter the global influence of China and Russia as part of the president’s policy of defending democracy at home and abroad.

With Sudan in turmoil, American officials say that Russian mercenaries with the Wagner Group, a private military company, offered to arm Dagalo’s paramilitary group, according to The Times.

Meanwhile, the administration and Saudi Arabia have partnered to work toward negotiating a ceasefire between the generals to allow humanitarian aid to flow into the country. But the two sides breached the agreement.