How to use this timeline: Scroll down to trace the war's evolution from a power struggle in Khartoum to a nationwide fracture.

🔴 Battle / Violence

🔵 Political / Diplomatic Event

⚠️ Humanitarian Crisis

PHASE I: THE OUTBREAK & URBAN WARFARE

(April 2023 – July 2023)

April 15, 2023 🔴 The Spark: Explosions rock Khartoum, the Northern city of Merowe, and bases across Sudan.

• Event: After weeks of tension over security reform, the RSF launches preemptive attacks on SAF positions, including the Presidential Palace and Khartoum Airport.
• Outcome: The SAF loses control of Khartoum’s streets but retains air superiority; the RSF embeds in residential neighborhoods.

April 24–27, 2023 ⚠️ The Exodus: Foreign nations rush to evacuate diplomats via Port Sudan. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of Sudanese civilians flee Khartoum for the first time, heading to Egypt and Chad.

May 11, 2023 🔵 Jeddah Declaration: Representatives from both sides sign a "Declaration of Commitment to Protect the Civilians of Sudan" in Saudi Arabia.

• Result: It is ignored almost immediately. Fighting intensifies.

June 15, 2023 🔴 The Geneina Massacre (West Darfur): The darkest chapter of the early war.

• Atrocity: RSF and allied Arab militias overrun El Geneina. West Darfur Governor Khamis Abakar is captured and executed on camera hours after accusing the RSF of genocide.
• Casualties: Estimated 10,000–15,000 Masalit civilians killed in what is widely termed ethnic cleansing.

PHASE II: RSF EXPANSION & THE BREADBASKET

(August 2023 – December 2023)

October 26, 2023 🔴 Fall of Nyala & Zalingei: The RSF captures Nyala (South Darfur) and Zalingei (Central Darfur), effectively cementing control over 80% of the Darfur region.

December 18, 2023 🔴 The Shock of Wad Madani:

• Event: The RSF overruns Wad Madani (Gezira State), Sudan’s agricultural heartland and a safe haven for displaced people.
• Impact: The SAF retreats in humiliation. The "breadbasket" is looted, halting food production and triggering a secondary wave of displacement.

PHASE III: ATTRITION & FAMINE

(January 2024 – December 2024)

March 12, 2024 🔴 SAF Counter-Offensive (Omdurman):

• Event: The SAF, bolstered by new Iranian drones, breaks the siege on the Corps of Engineers in Omdurman.
• Significance: The first major victory for the Army, regaining control of state media headquarters.

April 2024 🔴 Siege of El Fasher Begins: The RSF encircles El Fasher (North Darfur), the last Army stronghold in the west. The city holds 1.5 million civilians.

August 1, 2024 ⚠️ Famine Declared: The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) confirms famine conditions in Zamzam Camp (North Darfur).

• Stat: 25 million people are now facing acute hunger.

October 2024 🔵 Parallel Governments:

• RSF: Establishing civil administrations in Darfur and Gezira.
• SAF: Operating a de facto capital from Port Sudan on the Red Sea coast, backed by Egypt and the UN's recognition.

PHASE IV: THE FRACTURED STATE

(January 2025 – Present)

January 11, 2025 🔴 Recapture of Wad Madani:

• Event: In a surprise turn, the SAF launches a massive offensive and recaptures Wad Madani from the RSF.
• Result: A morale boost for the Army, but the city is found largely destroyed and looted.

May 2025 ⚠️ Total Health Collapse: The WHO reports that less than 15% of hospitals in conflict zones are functional. Cholera and Dengue outbreaks become unmanageable in the east.

October 2025 🔴 Fall of El Fasher:

• Event: After an 18-month siege, El Fasher finally falls to the RSF.
• Atrocity: Reports emerge of house-to-house executions and mass detentions of non-Arab civilians. The SAF withdraws to the desert border with Libya/Chad.

December 2025 (Current Status) 🔵 The Stalemate:

• The Map: Sudan is effectively partitioned.
• West/Center: RSF controls Darfur, Kordofan, and parts of Khartoum.
• North/East: SAF controls Port Sudan, the Nile River state, and the recaptured Gezira state.
• Diplomacy: Talks remain frozen. The US and Saudi Arabia struggle to bring parties to the table as external actors (UAE, Iran, Russia) continue to fuel the war.