Wars are too quickly forgotten. A conflict starts and the whole world watches. When it drags on with no resolution, the world moves on — especially if there is no ideological battle being fought, or if another, fresher conflict grabs our attention.

Such is the case with Sudan. The world may be ready to let the violence there fade into the background, seeing it as another Yemen or Somalia, a place of perpetual violence better left ignored. But the people of Sudan, including the large Christian minority in the country, cannot move on.

Civil war has been raging in Sudan for over six months now. The cost in human lives is mind-boggling. An October 15 UN report reveals that perhaps as many as 9,000 people have been killed, 5.6 million have been displaced, 25 million are in need of humanitarian aid, and 19 million children have been unable to attend school.

On October 31, I sat down with a Sudanese Pastor, Younan Kuku, to talk about the situation. Pastor Kuku hails from the Nuba mountains on the border between Sudan and South Sudan. He currently lives in another Arab country where he pastors a church of Sudanese refugees and expatriates.

The Background of the Conflict

Sudan is a diverse country. Dozens of tribes speak dozens of languages and adhere to a mixture of religions — Muslim, Christian, and traditional animism. Some tribes have Arabian ethnic origins, speak Arabic as their mother-tongue, and consider themselves Arabs. Many of them live the traditional Arab lifestyle of nomadic pastoralism.

Oher tribes speak a variety of African languages and identify as African. Many are settled farmers who do not want nomadic pastoralists roaming over their lands. These differences — “Arab” vs. “African,” Muslim vs. Christian, agriculturalist vs. pastoralist — are the roots of the ethnic, religious, and economic conflicts that have beset the country for decades.

For thirty years, Sudan was ruled by the dictator Omar al-Bashir, an Islamic extremist from an Arab tribe who wanted to impose Sharia law throughout the country. He adopted a policy of ethnic cleansing with the aim of turning Sudan into an Arab Muslim nation. For this the southern part of the country, which was predominantly “African” and Christian/animist/syncretistic, seceded in 2011 to become the world’s newest independent nation, South Sudan.

Three other regions are controlled by rebel groups and have dreams of succession or overthrowing the government in Khartoum, but are not strong enough. They reside in the vast Darfur region in the west of the country, the Nuba Mountains in South Kordofan State on the southern border, and Blue Nile State in the southeast.

In the Darfur region, al-Bashir used an Arab militia group called the Janjaweed to carry out his genocidal plans while avoiding implication in the crimes. Eventually, the Janjaweed was made official and integrated into the Sudanese military government as the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

In 2019, a popular uprising unseated al-Bashir. He ended up in jail, and Sudan ostensibly began the transition to democracy. However, many of al-Bashir’s people remained in place in the government and the military.

In 2021 the military initiated another coup, overthrowing the civilian transitional government leadership. General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan became the leader of the country. Burhan’s grip on Sudan was not strong, so he kept up the pretense of a transition to civilian rule. He left al-Bashir in jail, perhaps partly because al-Burhan would rather be in change than second fiddle.

For more than a year, the country was consumed with pro-democracy protests demanding that al-Burhan step down.

In April 2023 the leader of the RSF/Janjaweed, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (usually referred to as simply “Hemedti”), took advantage of al-Burhan’s unpopularity and the overall instability, and attempted to overthrow him. He portrayed himself as the true champion of the Sudanese people — despite the fact that it was he who oversaw many of the atrocities in the past Darfur conflicts.

The two men are now fighting over control of the country, but as far as most Sudanese people are concerned, both are villains.

“No Sense of Belonging”

The first thing Pastor Kuku says when I ask him about the situation is that the Muslim Brotherhood is to blame.

“As far as they are concerned, they must be in control,” he says. “No one is allowed to govern the country while they are around — the country will be ruined, or they rule it… They feel that anyone else who might rule are infidels.”

The Brotherhood is an Islamic organization active in many countries. It supported the old dictator al-Bashir, and now supports his successor al-Burhan.

The trouble is, Kuku says, the Brotherhood does not feel any sense of patriotism or belonging to Sudan. Their loyalty is to the Brotherhood. If they can rule Sudan, good — if not, let it be destroyed. If Sudan is ruined, they can move on. That’s their perspective.

The Janjaweed, which is currently occupying the capital Khartoum, isn’t any better. The Janjaweed just want to loot and pillage, in Kuku’s view. They don’t feel that they will get to keep Khartoum, so they want to destroy it out of envy and spite.

Khartoum

As a result, there are not many residents left in Khartoum proper, Kuku says — the city is mostly empty. However, people remain in the poorer urban areas on the edges of Khartoum proper, such as Omdurman and El-Haj Yousif. Residents of those areas don’t have the resources even to leave. Many of them came to Khartoum in the first place fleeing Darfur and other war torn areas of the country.

There is no real government in Khartoum. In the days of Omar Bashir, at least there was a government, Kuku says. “Now everything is ruined.”

I can see why any leadership at all would seem preferable to the current state of things. A video recently circulated in the Sudanese community that showed an iconic skyscraper in the capital burning. Khartoum does not have many skyscrapers, and I was shocked to see it destroyed — it had been perhaps the most impressive part of the skyline when I visited the city in 2022, a symbol of progress and development. Now it’s gone, and Khartoum is on its way to becoming a dystopian waste.

If the Janjaweed retains any control in Sudan, it will most likely be in its home turf of Darfur.

Darfur

“There many voices saying that Darfur must secede,” Kuku says.

In fact, people in Darfur have wanted to secede for a long time. The Janjaweed will support that idea, Kuku predicts, so that they can be left in charge of Darfur, and give the rest of Sudan to the al-Burhan and the Muslim Brotherhood.

However, the atrocities committed by the Janjaweed were part of the reason that many people in Darfur wanted to secede in the first place. If the Janjaweed takes over Darfur, the region could be left in the hands of a government just as genocidal as al-Bashir’s. The African tribes in Darfur want independence from Sudan, but not like this.

“I think it will happen,” says Kuku.

Nuba Mountains

Meanwhile, the rebels in the Nuba mountains don’t want to get involved in the war at all, because they consider both sides their enemies — and if they side with one side, the other side would punish them if it won.

So they are staying out of the conflict as much as possible. However, they are seizing the opportunity to re-take control of their own region, while the Sudanese military is otherwise occupied. The Nuba Mountains has its own functioning autonomous government. They have been thinking about independence for a long time. Kuku thinks that if Darfur secedes, the Nuba Mountains will ask for independence as well. But if there is any sort of peace compromise, they will be patient and hope for a better situation under the new government.

The Christian Community

Meanwhile, the Christian community scattered throughout the country is caught in the middle of the war. Both sides of the conflict are Islamic extremists. Kuku thinks that if the conflict resolves in any sort of compromise or peace agreement between the factions, there is hope that Christians may experience a little relief. But if the country is simply divided between Hemedti and al-Burhan, it could become very hard for the Christians in the new regimes.

Unfortunately, Christians don’t have much say in what happens to the country. They are left to make the best of it.

As reported here previously, the Christian community in the city of Wad Madani has been active in taking care of people flooding in from the capital. The situation remains very hard in Wad Madani because of the huge number of displaced people. People are sleeping in the schools, under trees, and beside houses, Kuku says.

The situation in the northern city of Atbara is similar.

The route for aid to reach the suffering people in Wad Madani and Atbara is through the Muslim Brotherhood in Port Sudan. Kuku indicates that although there is corruption, it is possible for some aid to actually reach them, especially if it is designated for the churches and not for the government. But not nearly enough aid is being sent.

The Future of Sudan

Most people in Sudan are Muslims, but they are not extremists and do not agree with the Brotherhood. The majority adhere to Sufism, a charismatic or mystical form of Islam that many Islamic extremists consider heretical. Syncretism and Muslims-in-name-only are also common.

Many people in Sudan, especially young people from the capital, want the Sudan to remain united. The younger generation wants change, and they want democracy, but they do not want the country to fall apart.

But politicians have other loyalties and think differently, Kuku says. The Sudanese people don’t want the Muslim Brotherhood to rule the country, nor the military. They want a civilian government. But the military won’t allow it.

“As far as I’m concerned, if Sudan remained one country it would be strong,” says Kuku.

I mentioned to him that on October 26, the RSF/Janjaweed and the military resumed peace talks in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

“It won’t succeed,” says Kuku simply.

Neither side is serious about peace right now. The military leaders only understand the language of threats, Kuku thinks. If a more powerful military forced them to stop tearing the country apart, they would listen. But mere admonitions of peace won’t do anything. Both sides are treating the war like a game.

Please continue to pray for Sudan, especially our Christian brothers and sisters there.

 

Peter Rowden is a friend of The Stream living in the Middle East.