The Sudan conflict shifted in December 2025 from Darfur to central Kordofan, with the RSF seizing the Heglig oilfield and South Sudanese forces entering under a tripartite arrangement. Drone strikes and sieges caused heavy civilian casualties, including a preschool attack that killed at least 116 people and a strike on a UN base that killed six peacekeepers. The UN halved its 2026 appeal to $23 billion, and the WFP warned of up to a 70% cut in rations, heightening famine risk. Political deadlock persisted even as a civilian 'Third Pole' formed and international sanctions and an ICC conviction signalled rising pressure for accountability.
Sudan War Deepens — RSF Seizes Heglig, Kordofan Becomes New Epicentre as Aid Collapses (December 2025)
A young displaced Sudanese girl sits after spending a night with others in Gedaref city eastern Sudan on December 26, 2025 [AFP]
The brutal conflict in Sudan, now in its third year, has shifted from Darfur to central Kordofan, raising fears the country could be split. In December 2025 the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) expanded their offensive, capturing key oil infrastructure, tightening sieges on provincial capitals and stepping up drone attacks, while the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) intensified aerial operations. Humanitarian assistance has sharply contracted, prompting UN warnings that life‑saving programmes will be forced into 'survival mode' and leaving millions at risk of severe hunger in 2026.
Fighting and military control
Battle for oil and a South Sudan deployment. On 8 December the RSF captured Heglig — Sudan's largest oilfield in West Kordofan. After a deadly drone strike at the site, a tripartite agreement involving SAF, RSF and Juba led to the deployment of South Sudanese forces to secure and neutralise the facility to prevent further combat there.
Kordofan Emerges As The New Epicentre. Violence surged across Kordofan in December. The RSF claimed control of Babnusa — a gateway to West Kordofan — though SAF denied the city had fully fallen. The RSF maintained what it described as 'airtight sieges' of Kadugli and Dilling in South Kordofan while pushing toward el-Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan.
Escalation Of Drone Warfare. Both sides increased use of armed drones with catastrophic civilian consequences. A strike on the Atbara power plant in River Nile state cut electricity to major population centres, including Port Sudan. In Kalogi, South Kordofan, a drone attack on a preschool and nearby hospital killed at least 116 people, including 46 children, according to local and aid-agency reports.
Attack On UN Peacekeepers. On 13 December a drone struck a United Nations logistics base in Kadugli, killing six Bangladeshi peacekeepers and wounding eight others. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the attack and warned it may amount to a war crime.
El-Fasher Documented As A 'Crime Scene'. A UN team visiting el-Fasher for the first time since its capture in October found a largely deserted city and described scenes consistent with mass atrocities. Research by the Yale Humanitarian Research Lab documented allegations that bodies were burned and evidence destroyed following mass killings.
Military Transport Crash. An Ilyushin Il-76 military transport aircraft crashed at Port Sudan's Osman Digna airbase after a reported technical malfunction, killing the entire crew.
Humanitarian crisis
Aid Funding Collapse And Food Cuts. The UN said it was forced to halve its 2026 humanitarian appeal to $23 billion amid donor fatigue. The World Food Programme warned that, as a result, it would cut general food rations by up to 70 percent from January — a reduction that would push already vulnerable communities closer to famine.
Sudan Tops Emergency Watchlists. The International Rescue Committee placed Sudan at the top of its Emergency Watchlist for 2026, citing the confluence of violent conflict, economic collapse and shrinking international aid.
Systematic Sexual Violence. The Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa (SIHA) recorded nearly 1,300 incidents of sexual violence in its recent report, attributing approximately 87 percent of documented cases to the RSF and detailing patterns of rape used as a tactic of war against non-Arab communities.
Health Catastrophe And Malnutrition. Malnutrition has surged across conflict-affected areas: UNICEF reported that 53 percent of children screened in North Darfur were acutely malnourished, while a household survey in Khartoum found 97 percent of families facing food shortages. Authorities have begun exhuming makeshift graves in residential areas to transfer remains to official cemeteries.
EU Air Bridge And Access Challenges. The European Union launched an 'air bridge' to deliver emergency supplies into Darfur, describing the region as one of the world's hardest-to-reach humanitarian environments due to fighting and access constraints.
Diplomacy and political developments
Deadlock At The UN. Prime Minister Kamil Idris presented a UN Security Council-backed peace proposal calling for RSF withdrawal and disarmament; the RSF dismissed the plan as unrealistic. SAF commander Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, speaking from Türkiye, likewise ruled out negotiations and said the conflict would end only with RSF surrender and disarmament.
Civilian 'Third Pole' Initiative. Civilian leaders in Nairobi — including former prime minister Abdalla Hamdok and rebel leader Abdelwahid al-Nur — signed a declaration forming a new anti-war bloc aimed at reclaiming political agency from the warring generals and pushing for a civilian-led settlement.
International Pressure And Sanctions. The United States intensified diplomatic pressure and the Treasury issued sanctions on four Colombian nationals and associated companies accused of recruiting mercenaries to fight for the RSF.
ICC Conviction. In a landmark verdict, the International Criminal Court sentenced former Popular Defence Forces (Janjaweed) leader Ali Kushayb to 20 years in prison for war crimes committed in Darfur during 2003–2004 — the court's first conviction related to that period and a notable milestone for accountability in the region.
