Thousands of displaced families in Sudan's strategic city of El-Obeid face worsening humanitarian conditions as the conflict between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces intensifies. Drone strikes have crippled essential infrastructure, damaging fuel supplies, power grids, and vital transport routes. Hospitals now struggle to maintain life-saving equipment, leaving civilians without basic services.
Amna, a woman who fled the violence after her husband was killed, described her ordeal. "My husband was killed while I was four months pregnant, killed in this war," she stated. "We have been suffering since the day we arrived. We don't have anything. I don't have a bed, I don't have a pan, I don't have a bucket. I don't have any food."
At El-Obeid Teaching Hospital, doctors contend with frequent power cuts. Diesel shortages threaten emergency care, maternity services, and incubators for premature babies. Dr. Muzammil Ahmed al-Safi, Director General of El-Obeid Teaching Hospital, confirmed the dire situation: "Unfortunately, only 10 minutes the generator was off because the fuel is depleted... But as you know, now the emergency room is functioning as normal."
This conflict, now in its third year, began in April 2023. It has claimed at least 59,000 lives and displaced approximately 13 million people. Large parts of Sudan have been pushed into famine conditions. The United Nations reports that over 30 million people now require humanitarian assistance as fighting escalates around El-Obeid.
Controlling Resources and Routes
Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) claim full control of Geissan, a town in the Blue Nile region near the Ethiopian border. The Sudanese army disputes this, asserting that fighting continues and they retain a key military base. This struggle for territory highlights the strategic importance of controlling supply routes and resources.
Geissan's location offers the RSF greater influence over these critical supply lines and proximity to the Roseires Dam. The offensive reportedly occurred during harvest season. The RSF stands accused of looting crops and the central market, a direct extraction of surplus from the labor of local producers.
Around 2,500 people have been displaced by the fighting in Geissan, according to the IOM. Some civilians have crossed into Ethiopia seeking refuge. Khartoum also alleges that Ethiopia is facilitating military support from the United Arab Emirates to the RSF, a charge Addis Ababa denies. Analysts suggest this new offensive aims to stretch the Sudanese army, which has made gains elsewhere.
The Cost to Labor
The war's true cost is borne by the working people and the dispossessed. Their homes are destroyed, their families torn apart, and their livelihoods vanish. While factions vie for control of strategic assets and external powers potentially back proxies, ordinary Sudanese face starvation and death. The humanitarian aid provided by international bodies, while necessary for immediate survival, does not address the underlying struggle for power and resources that fuels this devastating conflict.