July 17, 2025 | Flash Brief
Paramilitary Group Massacres Hundreds in Overlooked Humanitarian Crisis in Sudan
July 17, 2025 | Flash Brief
Paramilitary Group Massacres Hundreds in Overlooked Humanitarian Crisis in Sudan
Latest Developments
- Women and Children Killed in Sudan Massacre: At least 300 civilians were massacred by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary organization in western Sudan, including children and pregnant women. According to media reports, RSF forces attacked villages near the city of Bara in North Kordofan state between July 10 and 13, killing more than 200 in the village of Shag Alnom, 46 in Hilat Hamid, and 38 more in other villages. Simultaneously, RSF forces conducted drone strikes in the villages of al-Fula and Abu Zabad in West Kordofan, including an attack on a school sheltering displaced families.
- ‘World’s Largest Humanitarian Crisis’: The escalating violence is part of a more than two-year-long civil war in Sudan being fought between former allies, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the RSF, which has been described as the “world’s largest humanitarian crisis.” In two years, tens of thousands of people have been killed, and more than 12 million have been displaced, while diseases — including cholera — have been spreading rapidly. More than half of the country has been plunged into food insecurity, with a total of 24.6 million people facing acute food insecurity according to the World Food Programme and 637,000 facing catastrophic levels of hunger — the highest anywhere in the world.
- U.S. Points to Double Standard: During a UN Security Council briefing on Sudan on July 10, U.S. Acting Representative to the United Nations Dorothy Shea remarked, “It is highly regrettable that the heavily politicized ICC [International Criminal Court] has devoted its resources and attention on Israel, despite the atrocities in Sudan.” Both warring factions have been accused of committing human rights violations. The United States sanctioned RSF leaders in January and the SAF in April for its use of chemical weapons against the Sudanese people.
FDD Expert Response
“The RSF is a paramilitary death machine systematically wiping out civilians, razing villages, and starving millions. What happened in North Kordofan is a part of a larger brutal strategy of terror employed by the militia. While U.S. sanctions on RSF leaders are a step in the right direction, Washington must prioritize this crisis. That means treating the RSF as the transnational threat it is and dismantling its financial networks.” — Mariam Wahba, Research Analyst
“The international silence is deafening. Sudan is facing perhaps the worst humanitarian crisis in the world today, but the college quads are empty, the streets of Europe are enjoying business as usual, and the United Nations has barely taken notice. If Israel could be blamed, then maybe these supposed human rights defenders could muster the energy to speak up. Or maybe the carefully curated narrative of a supposed genocide in Gaza has distracted the world from real atrocities elsewhere.” — David May, Research Manager and Senior Research Analyst
FDD Background and Analysis
“Sudan Is the War No One Cares About,” by Hussain Abdul-Hussain
“Sudan army chief appoints prime minister, allied militia retakes West Kordofan from RSF,” by Mariam Wahba and Rebecca Goldsmith
“Sudanese Armed Forces retake Khartoum from Rapid Support Forces,” by Mariam Wahba
“‘Systematic Murder’: Biden Administration Calls Out Genocide in Sudan,” FDD Flash Brief