The humanitarian situation in Sudan remains dire as the country’s army – the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) – remains locked in a devastating conflict with the paramilitary, Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

The generals leading the two sides, both accused of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in the resource-rich Northeast African nation, show no real signs of yielding to international calls for a ceasefire.

Here are the key battlefield, humanitarian and political developments from this month.

Fighting and military control

• The RSF has been killing civilians and solidifying its control over the West Darfur state after taking over el-Fasher, the last remaining army stronghold in the region, in late October.
• The SAF holds most of the eastern and central parts of the country, including capital Khartoum and parts of Kordofan. But the RSF and some of its allied militias have been mobilising troops and equipment to take more areas in central Kordofan.
• The RSF has set its sights on Babnusa and el-Obeid, strategic cities that offer a vital military advantage as they provide a route to Khartoum and an economic edge as they are rich in agricultural, livestock and petroleum resources.
• Army soldiers celebrated their takeovers of Kazqil and Um Dam Haj Ahmed in North Kordofan in mid-November, and have been holding on to territory in central Sudan as international stakeholders push for a ceasefire that could potentially freeze battle lines.

Humanitarian crisis

• Witnesses and international aid agencies working on the ground in Darfur recounted widespread horrific instances of atrocities committed by the RSF in the aftermath of its bloody takeover of el-Fasher. Evidence shows RSF militias engaged in mass killings, rape of women and girls, and taking hostages for ransom.
• Thousands of people remain missing after fleeing el-Fasher for surrounding areas like Tawila. Thousands more Sudanese civilians were forced to run to neighbouring Chad, where the humanitarian situation is faring no better, and agencies are working to assist people amid depleting UN finances.
• Satellite images showed that the RSF systematically burned and buried a large number of bodies in mass graves across multiple areas of el-Fasher to hide what a Sudanese nongovernmental medical organisation called a “genocide”.
• The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, or IPC, in early November confirmed that famine had been detected not only in el-Fasher, but also in Kadugli, located in South Kordofan. The United Nations-backed global hunger monitor said 20 other areas in Darfur and Kordofan were also at serious risk of sliding into famine conditions as most aid remains blocked.
• Amy Pope, director general of the UN’s International Organization for Migration, said Sudan has the world’s largest displacement crisis and that it does not get the attention it deserves despite mostly affecting children and women. Nearly 14 million people are displaced internally or forced to flee to impoverished neighbouring countries.

Diplomacy and political developments

• The so-called Quad, comprising the United States, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, has put forward a truce proposal that envisages a future transition to civilian rule in Sudan. The fighting continues on the ground, even as the RSF has claimed to accept the proposal and the SAF has refused it.
• The RSF announced on November 6 that it had accepted the proposal from the mediators, and its commanding general, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, widely known as Hemedti, released a video message on November 26 to claim his paramilitary force is committed to an apparently unilateral three-month “humanitarian truce”. But the RSF attacks did not cease in November.
• The RSF commander’s announcement came a day after army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan told senior commanders in an address released by his office that he categorically rejects the Quad proposal. Al-Burhan said the proposal heavily undermines the armed forces, dissolves security agencies, and maintains the RSF in its positions.
• The army commander also singled out the UAE and said the Quad lacks credibility as “the entire world has witnessed the UAE’s support for rebels against the Sudanese state”. Abu Dhabi, the largest importer of gold from Sudan, continues to deny arming and funding the RSF.
• US President Donald Trump pledged “cooperation and coordination” to end Sudan’s war after an appeal by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during a White House visit. Trump’s senior adviser on Arab and African affairs, Massad Boulos, held a joint news conference in Abu Dhabi with Anwar Gargash, the diplomatic adviser to the UAE’s president, to push the truce proposal.