“Forgotten war” is not a term that researcher Gerrit Kurtz likes to apply to the war in Sudan. The confrontation for control of the African country between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), previously partners in the Government, has been brutal over the two and a half years it has already lasted, recalls this scholar of peace and war, with a focus on diplomacy in the Horn of Africa, at the German Institute for International Affairs and Security.
“Forgotten for whom? There are so many countries trying to influence Sudan… It is clearly not forgotten by the Egyptians, the Iranians, the Turks, the Qataris, the Saudis and the Russians. It’s a very naive term, considering the scale of this war.” This “scale” is so blatant, and the wave of civilian murders so relentless, that satellite images managed to capture the blood spilled on the ground in recent days.
After an approximately 18-month siege by the RSF, the town of El Fasher in the Darfur region fell to the paramilitary group last week. Mass murders followed. In a maternity hospital, at least 460 patients and their families were executedaccording to the United Nations (UN).