This is war without any rules, without any moral. In the current situation, we are seeing a progressive catastrophic situation unfolding. Things will get worse, things are going upside down, it's kind of endless suffering. If the trajectory continues like that, we will find ourselves in a very difficult situation. We are headed into the outskirts of Kum Sudan, which is one of the largest cities in Africa, and right now the city is torn between two warring forces in one of the most devastating wars in the world. Since April 2023, as many as 150,000 Sudanese have been killed, and some 10 million have been forced from their homes, according to the UN. Now, with no end to the fighting in sight, Sudan is teetering on the edge of a famine that could kill hundreds of thousands and is facing a potential genocide that international aid agencies say may already be happening. Since the war erupted, Sudan has been closed to most international journalists until

now Wall Street Journal journalists, accompanied by Sudanese Army officials, traveled to the front lines of the fight. This here is one of the very front lines, and this side is safe, this side is dangerous. You can see just the heavy destruction all around here. Bullet holes line almost every wall that we see. This is the toll of a year plus of war. Controlling this area would have given RSF controlling all the western side of our forces sector. So you can imagine how difficult and how tough a battlefield have been. The fighting began last year when two generals took their forces to war: General Abdul Fat Al Bran, commander of the Sudanese armed forces, and General Muhammad Hamand D Galo, known as Hamedi, commander of the Rapid Support Forces militia, or RSF. Once allies, they came together in 2019 after massive protests to oust the 30-year dictator Omar al-Bashir and a push for democracy. Then, two years later, teamed up once again to overthrow the civilian-led transitional government of

Sudan by 2023 their tense struggle for shared power finally resulted in all-out [Music] war now as the Sudanese Army has taken control of more territory around Khartoum they are unearthing countless Horrors so this is the national broadcasting and radio Center for Sudan this was a central point for the RSF to control and now it's completely destroyed they tortured them here so the soldiers here are telling us that this room was used as a prison and torture Center we're seeing sorts of tools used to restrain people there's bedding even women's bras on the ground it's clear that this is a place where some terrible things have happened Muhammad Malik Ibrahim was one of the prisoners at the broadcast Center the RSF accused him of being a Sudanese [Music] Soldier for he for he for he for he for he for he for he for he for he for he for he for he for he for he for he for he for he for he for he for he for he for he for he for he for he for he for he for he for he for he for he for he for he for he for he for he for he for he for he for he for he for he for he for he for he for he for he for he for he for he for he for he for he for he for he for he for he for he for he for he for he for he for he for he for he for he for he for he for he for he for he for he for he for he for

on the top here is some makeshift crude pipe tied together, and below they dug this hole so that they could knock out the chair to hang people here. The Sudanese Armed Forces said when they discovered it, they also discovered a mass grave nearby. This used to be a soccer pitch. There are so many spots like this all around the city that have been transformed by the intense violence that has happened here. The RSF has denied attacking civilians around Karum. The US has said both sides in the conflict are guilty of war crimes. The RSF is accused of ethnic cleansing, and aid groups say the military has blocked humanitarian aid from reaching areas controlled by the RSF around Karum. The city is still deeply divided. While the Sudanese military has spent months pushing into Amron, one of the three cities that makes up Greater Kum, Central Karum is still tightly held by RSF forces. Now, the majority of the fighting comes in the form of random artillery, mortar attacks, and kamikaze drones, and civilians are caught in the

crossfire. This is an emergency area where we act in your patient. This one of the victims of the L shelling on Friday, the injury to his pelvis. This is the injury, sharp nail in a huge wound here. He lost two of his friends of his age, died immediately. I will show another PCT, her name is Iman, the victim of the Friday bombing. She was at home. The bombing happened, had brain injury, and she has her brother died, 14 years old. How often you see injuries like this? Very often, every day, every time, day and night for us. Today is a normal day. So right now, we're at the al-Au hospital, the main hospital in the city, has been destroyed. So this tiny center is now being overwhelmed with cases. The wards here are packed with people. The doctors are saying there's just not that much that they can do. They're totally overwhelmed. Bing is coming every two, three days, sometimes every day, all civilians, all civilians. This hospital is filled with people suffering from strats, from artillery.

strikes that have happened. The shelling is just totally random around the city. A small kid, his name is M, 3 years old. She has now a battle fracture femur and battle fracture of the lower limb. Sharp nail inside the abdomen. His older brother died last Friday, about a week here. Sorry, their other child died a week before the same accident. Her other child, 7 years old, died just the same situation, sitting at their home, chilling and pumping. As we left the hospital, family had just identified a young man who had died. This is war from the militia is without any rules, without any moral. They just killing people for nothing. You saw VI yourself, they are not soldiers, are not armed, they are kids. This war has led to a level of food insecurity not seen in decades. According to a group of UN and major relief agencies, around a quarter of a million children could soon be on the verge of death at the Port Sudan Pediatric.

Hospital, the risk is clear. This is the last line of defense before children die. We have about 730,000 severely malnourished children, and we are quite concerned that the situation is really getting worse and worse as we go. What is needed now and what we are able to provide is not really matching. Over 10 million people displaced in Sudan, the highest in the whole world. [Music] Currently in this world, we have said many times, never again. Now, as you can see, the situation is quite concerning. [Music] As the fighting rages around the country, thousands continued to flee their homes. So, this is a transit point. This is the first point that people are outside of the RSF militia control and inside the Sudanese Armed Forces control. People we're talking to have spent all of their money and many, many hours crossing the front lines to be able to get away from the fighting. Brothers Zayn and Far are from a village under RSF control. We have decided to leave our own house because

We are no longer safe. My brother is just suffering a lot, and I have no means of help anymore. Far was recently arrested when RSF soldiers say they found a picture of a Sudanese soldier on his phone. [Music] It's difficult to describe how horrible the situation is. They arrest people, they torture people. We're heading to another place where I can meet my uncle and taking my brother to the hospital. Things are going upside down day and night. We pray to survive for the next day, but we are going to work harder even to maintain a good [Applause] life for ourselves and for the rest of the family. [Music]

‘They Are Just Killing People for Nothing:’ Inside Sudan’s Forgotten Civil War | WSJ

The Wall Street Journal takes you inside carefully selected stories and events in a visually captivating way so you can dig deeper into the news and insights that matter to you. 

‘They Are Just Killing People for Nothing:’ Inside Sudan’s Forgotten Civil War | WSJ

‘They Are Just Killing People for Nothing:’ Inside Sudan’s Forgotten Civil War | WSJ

Scripts