How the war between Sudan's army and the RSF unfolded
Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, rose together after Omar al-Bashir's removal in 2019 and jointly ran Sudan after the 2021 military takeover, until a dispute over folding the Rapid Support Forces into the army turned into open war on 15 April 2023. The army retook Khartoum in March 2025 while the RSF took El Fasher and set up a rival government in Darfur. The United States has sanctioned both men and determined that the RSF committed genocide, and UN agencies describe one of the world's largest humanitarian crises.
11 April 2019 to today · 40 dated events · 61 sources
Where it stands now · as of 31 October 2026
Fighting continues in Darfur, Kordofan and Blue Nile, and drone strikes are reported on both sides. Burhan has ruled out talks and the army has sought changes to a US proposal for a 90-day ceasefire, while Dagalo heads the rival government in Nyala and was sentenced to death in absentia by a Port Sudan court in July 2026, a ruling the court referred to the Supreme Court for review.
Commander of the Sudanese Armed Forces and chair of the Transitional Sovereignty Council
VS
MH
🇸🇩 Side B
Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (Hemedti)
Commander of the Rapid Support Forces and head of the presidential council of a rival government based in Nyala
13 : 9Moves recorded
4 : 4Statement
5 : 2Leadership
4 : 2Military
0 : 1Talks
Timeline of events
Overview · 11 Apr 2019 to 16 Oct 2026 · click a dot to jump
2019
11 Apr 2019
Turning point
Leadership
Military removes Bashir after 30 years in power
Defence Minister Awad Ibn Ouf announced on state television that the military had arrested President Omar al-Bashir after weeks of protests, the Associated Press reported. He said a military council would rule for two years before elections.
Burhan takes over the military council, with Hemedti as deputy
Burhan was sworn in to lead the Transitional Military Council after Ibn Ouf quit a day into the job. Reuters described Dagalo, commander of the Rapid Support Forces, as the council's deputy head and second most powerful man, appointed by Burhan.
Burhan was sworn in as head of an 11-member Sovereign Council set to run Sudan for a three-year transition to elections, alongside a civilian cabinet led by Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, Africanews reported.
Burhan declared a nationwide state of emergency and dissolved the Sovereign Council and the transitional government, and Hamdok was detained, according to the information ministry. The US Treasury later described Burhan as having co-led the military takeover, and Asharq Al-Awsat described it as carried out jointly by the army and the RSF.
Burhan and Dagalo sign framework deal with civilian groups
Burhan, Dagalo and the Forces for the Declaration of Freedom and Change signed a framework deal for a civilian-led transition, the Associated Press reported. It pledged to unify the armed forces and named the RSF as a focus of reform, but left details of military reform for a later accord.
In a televised speech, Dagalo said the October 2021 takeover had become a route for the former government to return and said he wanted to hand power to a civilian authority, the Associated Press reported. Burhan had maintained the move was necessary, AFP reported.
“The most recent mistake was the 25th October coup.”Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, Africanews (Associated Press)
Explosions and gunfire hit Khartoum as the army and the RSF attacked each other's bases, AFP reported. The army said the RSF had attacked army camps, while the RSF said it was surprised by an army force entering its camps in Soba and claimed the airport and presidential palace, which the army denied. Disputes over integrating the RSF into the army had twice delayed a final deal on civilian rule.
Both sides sign the Jeddah declaration on protecting civilians
Representatives of the army and the RSF signed a Declaration of Commitment to Protect the Civilians of Sudan in talks hosted in Jeddah, the US State Department said. It was not a ceasefire. Talks were to continue toward a short-term ceasefire of about ten days.
Burhan removed Dagalo as deputy head of the Sovereign Council and named Malik Agar, leader of an armed group that signed a 2020 peace deal, in his place, according to a decree aired by state-run news agencies, The National and The EastAfrican reported.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken determined that members of both the army and the RSF had committed war crimes, and that the RSF and allied militias had committed crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing. Al Jazeera reported that the finding carried no penalties of its own.
“members of the SAF and the RSF have committed war crimes in Sudan”Antony Blinken, US Department of State (via GlobalSecurity.org)
The RSF said it had seized the army's 1st Infantry Division headquarters and controlled Wad Madani, capital of Gezira state. The army confirmed its forces had withdrawn and said it was investigating why. The IOM said 250,000 to 300,000 people had fled Gezira state in four days.
US-led talks with Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the UAE as mediators opened in Switzerland with an RSF delegation but no army delegation, which objected to the format. They ended on August 23 with agreement on two aid routes, through the Adre crossing and the Dabbah road, Al Jazeera reported.
Speaking in Port Sudan, Burhan said the government would not join the Swiss talks and that the army would fight for 100 years if necessary to defeat the RSF.
“We will not co-exist with the rebels and we will not forgive them.”Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, Al Jazeera
US determines the RSF committed genocide and sanctions Dagalo
Blinken concluded that members of the RSF and allied militias had committed genocide. The Treasury designated Dagalo the same day, and the Associated Press reported that seven RSF-owned companies in the UAE were also sanctioned.
“I have now concluded that members of the RSF and allied militias have committed genocide in Sudan.”Antony Blinken, US Department of State (via GlobalSecurity.org)
The army and its allies retook Wad Madani, which the RSF had held since December 2023, the Associated Press reported. The army said its forces were clearing the remaining fighters, and there was no immediate comment from the RSF.
The Treasury sanctioned Burhan under Executive Order 14098, saying the army had struck schools, markets and hospitals and that he had refused to join international peace talks. It also designated an army defence industries official and a Hong Kong company.
“Today's action underscores our commitment to seeing an end to this conflict.”Wally Adeyemo, US Department of the Treasury
Burhan landed at Khartoum airport hours after the army recaptured it and spoke at the presidential palace, which the army had retaken the previous Friday, the BBC reported. The army said it had recaptured all bridges across the Nile linking the three cities of Greater Khartoum.
On the war's second anniversary, Dagalo announced a government with a 15-member presidential council, the Associated Press reported, after the RSF and allied groups signed a founding charter in February, according to two signatories who spoke to Reuters. The UN humanitarian office said an RSF attack on the Zamzam and Abu Shouk camps in the preceding days had killed more than 400 people, citing local sources.
MMohamed Hamdan Dagalo15 Apr 2025
On this anniversary, we proudly declare the establishment of the Government of Peace and Unity.
World Court dismisses Sudan's case against the UAE
The International Court of Justice removed from its list Sudan's case accusing the UAE of breaching the Genocide Convention by arming and funding the RSF, saying it manifestly lacked jurisdiction because of a UAE reservation. The UAE said the case was baseless and that it is not involved in the war.
US finds the Sudanese government used chemical weapons
The State Department said the US had concluded that the Government of Sudan used chemical weapons in 2024 and would restrict US exports to Sudan and bar it from US government credit.
Dagalo sworn in as head of the parallel government
Dagalo was sworn in as head of a presidential council in Nyala, which The National and Reuters described as the RSF's de facto capital. The army-aligned government, led by Prime Minister Kamil Idris since Burhan appointed him in May, had met days earlier.
“This is the beginning of the end of suffering by the Sudanese people as a result of displacement and exile.”Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, The National
US, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Egypt propose a truce roadmap
The four countries, known as the Quad, proposed a three-month humanitarian truce followed by a permanent ceasefire and a nine-month transition to civilian-led government, Reuters reported. Neither side immediately responded.
The RSF said it had captured the army headquarters in El Fasher, Reuters reported, and the BBC said the city's fall gave the RSF all five Darfur state capitals. The UN human rights office urged states with influence to act to prevent atrocities by RSF and allied fighters, and the RSF denied accusations that it was killing civilians.
In a televised address, Burhan said he had approved the withdrawal because of the systematic destruction and killing of civilians, and vowed to fight until the land was purified, the BBC reported.
Dagalo says investigators have arrived in El Fasher
In a speech on his Telegram channel, Dagalo said investigators had arrived in El Fasher and that anyone who made a mistake would be held to account, and vowed to defeat the army through peace or war, AFP reported.
The Famine Review Committee of the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) confirmed famine conditions in El Fasher and Kadugli and projected a risk of famine in 20 more areas, FAO, WFP and UNICEF said. They said 21.2 million people, 45 percent of the population, faced high levels of acute food insecurity by September 2025.
“Too many communities are being pushed into starvation simply because we cannot reach them.”Ross Smith, WFP, United Nations in Sudan (FAO, WFP, UNICEF)
Burhan called the Quad's latest ceasefire proposal the worst yet, saying it would eliminate the armed forces and leave the RSF in its positions, and objected to the UAE's role in the group, Al Jazeera and Reuters reported. The UAE denies arming the RSF. Days earlier he had welcomed US and Saudi efforts toward peace after President Donald Trump said he would work on Sudan.
In a recorded address, Dagalo announced a three-month humanitarian truce and said the RSF approved a field monitoring mechanism, Al Jazeera reported. The RSF had said earlier in November that it agreed to a Quad truce proposal, then resumed drone strikes on army-held areas, the report said.
Prime Minister Kamil Idris announced the government's return to Khartoum after nearly three years in Port Sudan. The UN said 1.2 million people had returned to the capital between March and October 2025.
“Today, we return, and the Government of Hope returns to the national capital.”Kamil Idris, Al Jazeera
ICC finds war crimes and crimes against humanity in El Fasher
Deputy Prosecutor Nazhat Shameem Khan told the UN Security Council that her office had concluded war crimes and crimes against humanity were committed in El Fasher after the RSF siege, and that it was also documenting alleged crimes by the army.
“This criminality is being repeated in town after town in Darfur.”Nazhat Shameem Khan, UN News
The army said its forces had reached Kadugli, capital of South Kordofan, ending an RSF siege of more than two years, the Associated Press reported. The RSF had not responded and the claim was not independently verified.
“There is no truce that strengthens the enemy”Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, Africanews (Associated Press)
UN mission finds hallmarks of genocide in El Fasher
The UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan said RSF operations in El Fasher, mainly against Zaghawa and Fur civilians, bore hallmarks of genocide and that genocidal intent was the only reasonable inference.
“They formed part of a planned and organized operation that bears the defining characteristics of genocide.”Mohamed Chande Othman, The National
Donors meeting in Berlin on the war's third anniversary pledged more than one billion euros, though reported totals differed, and neither the army nor the RSF attended. The army-aligned foreign ministry said it had not been consulted. UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher had said nearly 34 million people needed aid.
“funding alone cannot substitute for peace”Antonio Guterres, The Irish Times (The Guardian)
UN rights council calls for an inquiry into El Obeid
After an urgent debate, the Human Rights Council adopted without a vote a resolution condemning escalating RSF violence in and around El Obeid and calling on the fact-finding mission to conduct an urgent inquiry. The states requesting the debate said about 500,000 civilians were at risk.
Port Sudan court sentences Dagalo to death in absentia
A court in army-held Port Sudan convicted Dagalo and 15 others in absentia of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide over killings in West Darfur, AFP reported, citing the state news agency SUNA. The court said it would refer the case to the Supreme Court for review. The RSF has repeatedly denied such allegations, and Al Jazeera reported that the RSF-led Sudan Founding Alliance rejected the ruling.
In a video released by the RSF, Dagalo told fighters to march on Khartoum, days after the army and its allies took the Kordofan town of Bara, The National reported.
“Think of Khartoum! We promise all our people from this spot that our target is Khartoum”Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, The National
US reported to withhold Burhan's UN visa over ceasefire plan
Reuters, citing sources, reported that the US was tying Burhan's visa for the UN General Assembly to his acceptance of a 90-day ceasefire proposed by adviser Massad Boulos. The State Department said neither force represented legitimate governance, and Sudan's foreign ministry criticised the US.
“nor their respective leaders, represent legitimate, constitutional governance for Sudan”Tommy Pigott, State Department spokesman, Al Jazeera
Speaking in Merowe, Burhan said there would be no negotiations and vowed to retake every inch of RSF-held territory, The New Arab and Radio Tamazuj reported. Radio Tamazuj said the army wanted changes to the US 90-day ceasefire proposal, including an RSF withdrawal from cities.
“there will be no negotiations with the rebels or with any other party”Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, The New Arab
Army strikes Nyala as each side gives a different account
The army said its air attacks on Nyala killed dozens of RSF fighters and hit command centres. The RSF said an army drone hit a livestock market and killed 30 civilians, AFP reported.
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Last updated 31 October 2026. Spotted an error? See corrections. Every event links to the record it comes from. Allegations are attributed to whoever made them.
Dawn (Associated Press)
