War in Sudan | DW Documentary

there are them quick quick quick it's November 2024 we're on the front line of a forgotten War when you see that building there's sers for nearly 2 years war has been raging in Sudan Africa's third largest country 12 million people around a quarter of the population have been displaced when we went to leave the city they blew up our houses and stores the half the population is an urgent need of food Aid and famine has been declared in parts of the country Aid groups warn it's the world's worst humanitarian disaster usually when famine is confirmed

it means people are already dying we cannot let that happen in the 21st century on our watch when there's something we can do about it what we know is that a brutal power struggle is driving the conflict between Army Chief and deao president abdal fatak aloran and his former deputy Muhammad hamand [ __ ] known as HTI he leads the paramilitary rapid support forces or rsf the two sides have been at War since April [Music] 2023 the United Nations and human rights groups accuse both sides of carrying out atrocities against civilians and possibly war crimes

the United States even accuses the rsf of committing genocide in the daur region we saw mb's lifeless body lying on the floor next to the fridge he had a big hole in his chest we were Keen to find out more but since the start of the war International journalists have been denied access to the war zone finally after repeated requests we received permission to film from the Sudanese Armed Forces we want to talk to people who are directly affected by the fighting Our Journey Begins in Port Sudan a city on the Red Sea hundreds of

thousands of internally displaced people have found Refuge here since the start of the war the city has so far been spared the fighting the government and armed forces have moved their headquarters here and human rights groups are based here too and yet the situation is critical the camps for displaced people lack the most basic supplies with insufficient Aid arriving forgetting their worries for a moment at least the children in the camps can do that from time to time in this play tent provided by the UN Children's Fund their drawings testify to the terrible violence destruction

and displacement that they've experienced Maya is seven and has been living at this Camp since early 2024 when we were inum things were good but then the rsf came and the war broke out I was scared when the rsf arrived I remember how when we went to leave the city they blew up our houses and stores May's family fled herum shortly after the war broke out in April 2023 a atic experience for her mother too we heard grenades exploding the doors were shaking we hid under our beds it was extreme we were petrified some of

our relatives were killed my uncle my cousin's husband and more than 10 men we knew from the village they were literally slaughtered a traa Edge deep in their memory Maya's older brother khed hopes that at least his younger sister will one day be able to forget like thousands of other displaced families in Sudan they lack sufficient drinking water and Food Supplies are irregular too then there's the constant threat of disease and again and again there's bad news from the front lines the rsf is said to have killed more than 120 people in a massacre in

a village including women and children the family is very worried this is my brother Abu ubaya I miss him very much I haven't heard from him for a long time I miss him so much I miss all my Brothers I don't know where they are it's been so long the uncertainty is hard to Bear they haven't been able to contact their families for months despite everything they hope that their lives will resume once the war is finally over I hope that my children can complete their education and then find a good job I hope that

they can return to Harum once it's safe there that they can lead a normal life like before the family and Maya in particular miss their home which lies in an area known as Kum North when they hear that we're heading that way they ask us to check on their house we promise to go there and look for it we leave port Sudan and make our way to the capital Harum here large SS of territory are still controlled by the paramilitary rsf from here on it's the Sudanese armed forces that are granting us access they accompany

us in an escort vehicle throughout we drive past remnants of fierce battles on our way to kartum North the Armed Forces only recently regained control here it took months to drive out the rsf the main road is still littered with unexploded ordinance South Latin they want to show us how their troops have been fighting the rsf street by Street house by house for security reasons we're not allowed to reveal the Army officer's identity 6 months ago ago yeah they living in this house a lot of them a lot of them more than thousands is say

staying here and were and all of these places how often do you get attacked from rsf here two or three times in one day we fight them another Street another Street every day uh all of them we are going to them they run one or two St is when do we come back he they come back again and how long will it take do you think to push them out completely I don't think we take a lot of time a few months is not more than that a minute a minute he's constantly on the lookout

for rsf posts we're approaching the front line there are them these bullets are for just malicious we move on past Furniture that's been set up as a shield for the soldiers we're heading to an army observation post quick quick quick silly on on see that building there are snipers who are get ins that building and shooting us all killing being with his neighbors kill and a lot of civilians so who are the fighters on the other side and what do they want Muhammad hamand dagalo heads up the paramilitary rapid support forces or rsf they grew

out of the janjaweed militia which 20 years ago committed genocide against the masalit F and sarawa people in the da region 300,000 people including women and children were killed now the United States is accusing the rsf of renew genocide and the international criminal court is investigating possible war crimes to have enough Fighters the rsf also uses foreign mercenaries many from neighboring Chad and child Soldiers the armed forces have now captured many of them they allow us to speak to some of them but only in their presence this 17-year-old asked to remain anonymous we were playing

soccer at our club in Chad someone came and took us away he drove us to Nala in darur and then he took us to 60th Street in Kum he tells us he knew nothing of the war in Sudan or the rsf the fighters he says promised him money for his impoverished family he was given a weapon and regular meals they assured him he would only have to man checkpoint controls but he ended up having to fight one day in the spring of 2024 the Army attacked the headquarters of the state broadcaster an rsf stronghold more

than 20 people died before my eyes one lost his leg others were already dead then I heard the cry God is great and I went outside and raised my weapon the army soldiers came and I surrendered now he's in custody along with nearly a dozen other young men they look thin but say they're given enough to eat he says it was only when he was in prison that he heard the rsf has also been killing and raping civilians if he'd known that before he says he wouldn't have joined them now he misses his family and

hopes to be able to return to [Music] Chad we want to see for ourselves and drive to the radio station the Sudanese Army tells us that rsf Fighters tortured prisoners here using this rope among other things a guard who doesn't want to be filmed confirms the claim we see writings on the walls there are many innocent people in this prison it [Music] says away from the theaters of war crimes are also being committed in secret with victims who often remain invisible the United Nations has documented cases of rape gang rape sexual slavery and trafficking of

girls and women the alleged perpetrators are as f fighters the UN estimates that a total of 6.7 million people in Sudan are at risk of sexual violence describing it as a battle being fought on the bodies of girls and women the rsf denies such allegations we meet a woman who says she was held captive as a sex slave by the rsf for over a year she was only recently freed by the Sudanese Army we'll call her Mariam she's in her mid-20s and tells us she was on her way to work in katum North in June

2023 when she was abducted by men in rsf uniforms they locked me in a house and took terms raping me one came the the other went five men I wasn't allowed to leave the house for a whole year they gave me water to drink from a container there were white pills in it I don't know what kind I was often unconscious together with nine other women she was held captive in a small room she says she tells us she was raped by five rsf Fighters every day for over a year she says most of the

time she was drun they called me a [ __ ] and other bad names they said you're a slave you're all slaves and you all support the Armed [Music] Forces they beat her and cut her skin with a knife her body she says is covered in scars once she tried to escape but was caught then in October 2024 the Armed Forces entered katum North and the rsf fled finally she was free but she was also afraid many thoughts go through my mind for example that I'll never again be able to lift my head in front

of people or look at them I'll never be able to look my mother in the eye or my family she now lives in an apartment with the nine other women they are guarded by soldiers day and night she's still in pain pain and tells us she desperately wants to go home we ask the soldiers but they tell us it's not safe for her to leave yet adding that she can probably go soon in addition to women children are also disproportionately affected by this conflict the United Nations says 14 million of them are in urgent need

of humanitarian Aid and attacks are often indiscriminate leaving them caught in the [Music] middle we've come to the alau hospital in omdurman considered kum's Twin City on the other side of the Nile it's one of very few hospitals still in operation safia sulan is hoping for a miracle her nephew suan was injured in a drone attack while out shopping with his mother she died at the scene his leg will probably have to be amputated I don't have a good feeling if they really do amputate his leg I just couldn't bear it it would be such

an ordeal for him and I'm alone my husband divorced me and doesn't support me I'm very worried about the boy but if I don't support him who will his father recently died of an illness his aunt safia will be the sole carer for the six-year-old along with his siblings and her own children five in total suan is one of many children being treated at a now Hospital more are arriving every day we will check on suan again later the hospital director first wants to show was another young patient is here he's 20 years old and

was at a busy Market in underman when he was hit by a bomb shrapnell destroyed his face he can only be fed through a feeding [Music] tube he's no has no family here no family member of his family left alive he's alone had now is blind he lost both eyes and he has a severe defect and Trauma to his face he needs multiple reconstruction surgeries a blind without family with uh such a trauma I don't think he going to survive and such patient such patient are many here [Music] and there are fewer and fewer hospitals

where they can be treated before the war there were dozens of medical facilities in Amman now most of them are closed due to a lack of drugs medical equipment and staff human rights groups say some hospitals have also been deliberately bombed and doctors and nurses have either fled or been killed this hospital in katum North used to treat a lot of patients but like most in the area its facilities have been destroyed and looted and the whole building abandoned traces of Blood on the floor it could be alamani alhaj blood the pharmacist survived the attack

by rsf Fighters one of them punched us the other shouted you doctors are treating the Army here aren't you I was hit in the head and could feel the blood running down he assured the attackers that they were only treating civilians but they didn't listen and went into the next room he heard gunshots a colleague covered in blood shouted maab has been hit it was his friend and colleague we saw moab's lifeless body lying on the floor next to the fridge he had a big hole in his chest he was swimming in his own blood

his chest was open and we could see his lungs sticking out [Music] uh of his with them alhad story is consistent with the reports of many survivors they say the rsf is deliberately killing medical personnel accusing them of supporting the other side we contacted the rsf asking for their response to all the allegations in this report but we received no response alhajj and his colleagues are continuing to work in the only hospital that's still open in katum North losing someone like muab Who provided Medical Care to people during this war and died in the [Music]

process I think how could we stop now but how can we carry on he is our motiv a to keep going meanwhile the casualties keep arriving the rsf could attack here again too we live in constant fear that something could happen to this day why is this happening what are we doing wrong they had to hastily bury their friend m at night in a nearby Cemetery now alhaj no longer remembers exactly where I hope that the Sudanese people will be able to live safely and receive free health care and just be treated like human [Music]

beings the next day we return to alow hospital we want to know how suan and his aunt are doing his leg was amputated a few hours ago he's just coming round from the anesthetic his aunt is relieved that the operation at least went well I'm doing a bit better now he's sleeping well and doing well but yesterday before the operation I was very worried I wondered if he would ever walk again and how he would fare but I will stand by him until I die or he dies God willing Dr Jamal is also wondering about

what will happen after suan leaves the [Music] hospital who going to help this child further who's going to rehabilitate him who is going to perform him artificial limb in such our situation our country as you know such children needs help needs international organization to help them 4 weeks ago it seems that suan is starting to grasp what the amputation will mean for his life this is a war against civilian as you saw in our hospital all of them are civilian no soldiers here the question is why they are fighting such people [Music] human rights organizations

and the United Nations report consistently that both sides the paramilitary rsf and the sanese armed forces are bombing civilian facilities hospitals and markets killing many bystanders the Sudanese Armed Forces reject the allegations National Army you know and it follows all the rules and uh commitment by Geneva laws this is a well organized Army of more than 100 years experience so it cannot commit such things and this is he also denies another accusation that the Army is preventing the delivery of Aid to rsf controlled areas effectively using hunger as a weapon I'm me tell you something

here is like some Aid deliveries have recently been allowed into rsf areas but the UN world food program says it's nowhere near enough we have restrictions from both Waring parties on the Sudanese Armed Forces side on the government side it's much more lengthy clearance processes bureaucratic impediments um and then lack of security guarantees to be able to move into areas that are not under their control Lenny Kinsley says the rsf on the other hand threatened their staff and demanded that they pay to access the area the consequences are catastropic half the population is suffering from

hunger and urgently needs food Aid and in some parts of the country a famine has been declared the situation in samsam Camp in North darur is particularly dramatic here people have resorted to eating leaves to survive finally we want to make good in our promise to the badra Alin family back in Port Sudan to take a look at their house thanks to the GPS coordinates we're able to find it their neighbor shows us the house it looks just like it did on the day the family fled back in April 2023 the neighbors have been close

friends for 15 years we are one family there's no difference between me and him when he needed me he came to me and when I needed him he was always there for me he's one of the few in the neighborhood who stayed he says he was lucky that this part of katum North has so far been spared the violence and looting using our phone he tries to call the Badin in Port Sudan for the first time in a year and a half oh khid khid how are you hello hello hello hello how are you I'm

well thank God how does the house look everything's okay with the house how is your mother your father and your sisters I thank God I can hear your voice again relieved they update one another on their news then little Maya wants to talk to Salah how are you how am I are you good how is Port sedan did the rsf come to you no they didn't come did they touch our house no they came close but we drove them away we drove them all away they didn't come here we miss you huh we miss you

I miss you all too they look forward to the day when they can meet again and finally return to their home even if it's not yet clear when that will be the armed forces are winning back more and more territory but the rsf continues to put up Fierce [Music] resistance despite the rubble left behind by the war people in Sudan hope to one day reunite the families torn apart by the fighting and rebuild their lives