Amna's husband was killed while she was four months pregnant. Now she's among thousands of displaced families in El-Obeid facing a humanitarian catastrophe as Sudan enters the third year of the conflict between the army and the Rapid Support Forces. "We have been suffering since the day we arrived," she said. "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."
Drone strikes have devastated the strategic city's fuel supplies, power infrastructure and transport routes. Hospitals can't keep life-saving equipment running. Civilians have lost access to essential services. The war, which began in April 2023, has killed at least 59,000 people, displaced around 13 million and pushed large parts of Sudan into famine.
Healthcare on the Brink
At El-Obeid Teaching Hospital, doctors are fighting to maintain emergency care as diesel shortages threaten maternity services and incubators for premature babies. Dr. Muzammil Ahmed al-Safi, the hospital's Director General, described the precarious situation. "Unfortunately, only 10 minutes the generator was off because the fuel is depleted," he said. "But as you know, now the emergency room is functioning as normal."
That fragile normalcy won't last without fuel. Power cuts are frequent. The infrastructure damage from ongoing strikes means the hospital's ability to serve the most vulnerable—pregnant women, newborns, emergency patients—hangs by a thread.
Millions Need Help
The United Nations says more than 30 million people now require humanitarian assistance as fighting intensifies around El-Obeid. That's nearly two-thirds of Sudan's population dependent on aid to survive. The scale of need reflects a complete breakdown of the systems that keep societies functioning: food distribution, healthcare, power, water, shelter.
Displaced families like Amna's aren't just statistics. They're people who've lost everything—homes, livelihoods, loved ones—and now find themselves without the most basic necessities in a country where institutional support has collapsed under the weight of war.
New Front Opens Near Ethiopia
Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces claim they've taken full control of Geissan, in the Blue Nile region near the Ethiopian border. The Sudanese army disputes that, saying fighting continues and that it retains control of a key military base.
The fighting has displaced around 2,500 people, according to the IOM, with some civilians crossing into Ethiopia. The offensive came during harvest season. The RSF has been accused of looting crops and the central market, stripping communities of food security just when they need it most.
Geissan's strategic location gives the RSF greater influence along supply routes and near the Roseires Dam. Khartoum accuses Ethiopia of facilitating military support from the UAE to the RSF—allegations Addis Ababa denies. Analysts say the new offensive could be aimed at stretching the army as it makes gains elsewhere in Sudan.
Why This Matters:
Sudan's conflict has created one of the world's worst humanitarian crises, with more than 30 million people—the majority of the population—now dependent on aid. The systematic destruction of infrastructure, from hospitals to fuel supplies, isn't collateral damage. It's the deliberate erosion of the systems that protect the most vulnerable: pregnant women, newborns, the displaced, the hungry. When hospitals lose power, babies die. When crops are looted during harvest, famine deepens. The international community's response will determine whether millions receive the protection and assistance they desperately need, or whether they're abandoned to a conflict that shows no signs of ending. Every day without robust humanitarian access and accountability for attacks on civilians and infrastructure means more families like Amna's lose everything.