Sudan timeline January-March 2025: Power shifts as army wins major battle grounds in destructive war

Following a year of “record violence” in Sudan in 2024, the start of the new year sees new bouts of violence inflicted on civilians, especially by the SAF in Wad Madani, a strategic point on the map and capital city of El Gezira. A flailing RSF loses significant ground outside of the Darfur region. The United Nations asks for more aid for Sudan, an appeal made even more difficult after the US pauses international aid overnight. Famine is present in five areas of North Darfur, and is projected to hit a further five by mid-May, amid a rapidly deteriorating security situation, cash shortages, water scarcity, and harvest crises.

From mid-February, the Sudanese army begins to make strategic gains in Khartoum, White Nile state, and North Kordofan. Following AU calls for civil and democratic transition in Sudan, the RSF and allies begin to forge plans for a parallel government to the de facto transitional government in Port Sudan. The plans face staunch criticism, and civilian political actors call for international intervention.

Fighting intensifies around El Fasher in March, killing hundreds of civilians in the fight to control a strategic position. The SAF gains further ground in Khartoum, kicking the RSF out of the Presidential Palace and central bank, bolstering the Sudanese army and prompting pundits to ask if this could be a decisive moment in the war.

Evidence of war crimes rack up on both sides of the war, including reports of summary executions, torture, detention, ethnically motivated killings, rape, and targeted attacks on hospitals and mosques. Further sanctions and calls by international actors for accountability and peace are drowned out by fresh reports of displacement and violence as the war approaches the end of its second year.

January 1: On Sudan’s Independence Day from joint British and Egyptian colonial administration, Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) spokesperson Mohamed Zakaria calls for the RSF’s designation as a terrorist organisation. The Sudanese Joint Forces (SJF) report heavy RSF losses in recent clashes near Mellit and El Malha in North Darfur.

January 2: The United Nations launches an appeal for $4.2bn for 2025 Sudan humanitarian plan, and displaced in Zamzam camp, located in North Darfur capital El Fasher, denounce El Burhan’s famine denial. The Sudanese Embassy in Libya resumes issuing electronic passports.

January 5: Farmers in El Gedaref tell Radio Dabanga that they face a harvest crisis due to cash shortages. North Darfur is rocked by renewed clashes and aerial bombardments. El Fasher Saudi Hospital is attacked for the 14th time since the war began.

January 6: As a severe drinking water crisis is reported in Tongori refugee camp in eastern Chad and disease and hunger ravage Mayerno in Sennar, Sudan’s crisis is described as “man-made” and unprecedented in scale at a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) meeting. The Sudanese de-facto government lifts a nearly year-long force majeure on oil to Port Sudan.

January 7: A series of earthquakes and aftershocks in Ethiopia raises concerns for the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam and Sudanese water security. The US concludes that members of the RSF and allied militias have committed genocide in Sudan, and slaps new sanctions on RSF Commander Mohamed ‘Hemedti’ Dagalo.

January 8: The Sudanese army gains in Khartoum as civilian evacuations continue. US Envoy Tom Perriello tells Radio Dabanga that the latest RSF sanctions are part of a “continuing and escalating international effort”, while the Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) calls famine reports “inaccurate”. An AU commission seeks urgent reports of human rights violations in Sudan.

January 9: As the Khartoum offensive continues, the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) advance in El Gezira. A video of an “extrajudicial killing” by the Sudanese army sparks outrage on social media. Stories of life and death are told from El Fasher, where famine is predicted to continue until May.

January 10: Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders / MSF) calls ongoing attacks on hospitals and ambulances “despicable”. The SAF storms Taiba village in El Gezira, killing 17 civilians.

January 11: “Rape and physical enslavement of women is a tool of criminal war in Sudan,” says psychotherapist.

January 12: Following the SAF recapture of Wad Madani, Hemedti vows a “counterattack.” Malik Agar, deputy chairperson of Sudan’s Transitional Sovereignty Council, urges armed movements in Sudan to “avoid creating a parallel army.”

January 13: Drone attacks on the hydroelectric Merowe Dam in Sudan’s Northern State cause power cuts across northern Sudan.

January 14: Reports emanate from Wad Madani of widespread violations against civilians and ethnic targeting by the SAF, including alarming footage of torture, extrajudicial killings, and widespread destruction. SAF ally Sudan Shield Forces vows “to enter Khartoum within 48 hours.”

January 15: Pressure mounts on the Port Sudan government to take legal action to prevent further war crimes and to punish the perpetrators of violence throughout the April 15th war. Nine people are reported killed in an attack on Abu Gouta, El Gezira, marking the latest in a series of violent ethnic killings in the state, which have prompted “deep concern” from the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan, Clementine Nkweta-Salami.

*A Sudanese woman with her newborn in Nyala Teaching Hospital, after a C-section (Abdoalsalam Abdallah / MSF)*

January 16: The US imposes sanctions on Abdelfattah El Burhan, SAF commander-in-chief and chairperson of Sudan’s Transitional Sovereignty Council. A Yale Humanitarian Research Lab (HRL) report identifies drones at RSF-controlled Nyala Airport, in the capital of South Darfur.

January 17: Sudanese businesses are targeted in Juba, capital of South Sudan, in retaliation for SAF attacks, which reportedly targeted South Sudanese and Dafuri people in Wad Madani earlier that week.

January 18: Experts warn of more flooding along the White Nile, due to poor maintenance of the Jebel Aulia dam located south of Khartoum. The RSF launches an attack on the village of Jebel Halla near Burush, killing 40 civilians.

January 19: Within one week, over 90 civilian deaths are reported to and corroborated by Radio Dabanga, as violence between the SAF and RSF intensifies, spreading from Khartoum to North Darfur and White Nile states.

January 20: World Food Programme (WFP) aid trucks reach Wad Madani for the first time in a year.

January 21: The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and UNHCR report that more than one million people have fled from Sudan to South Sudan in the last 21 months.

January 22: A lack of medical services increases maternal and foetal mortality rates in Sharg El Nil (East Nile) area in Khartoum. The SAF and allies capture the Jebel Jarri area, 15 kilometres north of El Jeili oil refinery in Khartoum, as the RSF continues to lose ground in Khartoum Bahri.

January 23: An El Jeili oil refinery fire engulfs Khartoum in smoke, with the SAF and RSF pointing fingers over who is responsible. Elsewhere in the capital, medical and labour staff at Bashair Hospital begin an open-ended strike after an RSF member opens fire inside the surgical emergency department.

January 24: The US State Department orders an immediate halt to all existing US foreign assistance and a pause to new aid. Saudi Hospital in El Fasher reports further “horrific” bombing, which kills 70 people and injures dozens. At least 70 civilians are killed in an RSF attack on the headquarters of the administrative unit of Burush, 17 kilometres east of Umm Keddada locality. The SAF retakes its headquarters in Khartoum after nearly two years of RSF siege.

January 27: The US “does not support either side in this war,” says US Chargé d ’Affaires ad interim Ambassador Dorothy Shea at the ICC briefing to the UNSC. Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) Karim Khan says that they believe they know where Ahmed Haroun is, and calls on the Sudanese government for “concrete action.” The Central Bank of Sudan restricts the flow of foreign currency, in a bid to contain the deterioration of the Sudanese Pound against foreign currencies.

January 28: RSF attacks displace 3,960 families in North Darfur within three days, according to the Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM).

January 29: Sudan’s cash crisis threatens El Gedaref, putting millions of hectares of vital sorghum and millet crops at risk.

January 30: SAF claims that they took control of the area of Um Rawaba, North Kordofan. 23 humanitarian organisations operating in eastern Chad appeal to the international community to “urgently ramp up its efforts” to match the immediate halt of US foreign assistance funding.

*A drone that the Sudan army claims was shot down over El Obeid on January 30 (Photo: Media of the Fifth Infantry Division)*

February 1: At least 60 people are killed and 250 injured in an RSF strike on Sabreen Market in Omdurman, Khartoum state. The Arkwet Youth Initiative in El Gedaref explains the process of providing necessary support to over 1,500 households in shelters around the city.

February 3: The UN condemns the deadly shelling of Sabreen Market, and Nkweta-Salami calls the attack a “serious violation of international humanitarian law and human rights law.” Pundits warn that the SAF could lose El Fasher to the RSF, as the paramilitary force begins to surround the capital of North Darfur.

February 4: Six people are reported killed and 38 injured in an RSF strike on a hospital in Omdurman.

February 5: The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North under the leadership of Abdelaziz El Hilu has fiercely denied statements by the South Kordofan government accusing rebel combatants of launching attacks on army bases in the state capital of Kadugli over the weekend. SPLM-N El Hilu, in turn, condemns the SAF for attacking their sites.

February 6: Aid workers in Khartoum fear a new wave of reprisals against civilians and humanitarian workers, as the SAF regains control of nearly all of Khartoum North.

February 9: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reports that it will form a “new transitional government” ahead of elections, after regaining Khartoum military headquarters in January. A performer at the US Super Bowl raises the flags of Sudan and Palestine.

February 11: The United Arab Emirates calls for a ceasefire in Sudan during the upcoming month of Ramadan, which is rejected by the SAF. As SAF-RSF fighting in the North Darfur capital continues, the state’s Humanitarian Aid Commissioner, Abbas Yousef, announces a UN World Food Programme (WFP) cash support project targeting five localities.

February 12: The African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies (ACJPS) applauds El Burhan for instructing the Passports and Immigration Department of the Interior Ministry to ensure that no Sudanese citizen is denied a passport and identification documents. Sudanese Foreign Minister Ali Yousef says that a Russian Red Sea base deal is “still on the table”, after meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, in Moscow.

February 13: As the world marks World Radio Day 2025, Sudan marks 22 months of war. 445 journalists were killed, arrested, or tortured in the last 18 months in the country, and 20 journalists face charges for alleged links to the RSF. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reports that a record number of journalists were killed in 2024.

February 14: African heads of state convene at the AU summit in Addis Ababa to discuss the Sudan conflict. The RSF denies its presence in Zamzam camp, despite verified video footage which shows them storming the camp earlier in the week.

*The aftermath of an attack on Zamzam camp in El Fasher (Photo: RD)*

February 15: The SAF retakes strategic bridges and roads in Khartoum from the RSF. Residents and medics confirm that the RSF has attacked Zamzam camp; according to MSF, seven people were killed.

February 16: AU Commissioner for Peace and Security Bankole Adeoye says that the resumption of Sudan’s activities within the AU is conditional on “taking clear steps towards a constitutional and democratic transformation in Sudan.”

February 17: The government confirms that aid agencies are allowed to continue to use the Sudan-Chad Adré border crossing for a further three months. The UN seeks $6 billion “to ease hunger and catastrophe” in Sudan.

February 18: Sudanese Emergency Lawyers Group report that the RSF carried out a three-day assault on El Geteina in White Nile state, killing over 200 people. El Burhan denies ongoing communication with the Forces of Freedom and Change (FFC). The Civil Democratic Forces (Tagadom) are allegedly set to sign a political charter with Sudanese political groups and the RSF.

February 19: A political conference in Nairobi, aimed at forming a civilian government in areas controlled by the paramilitary RSF, sparks strong reactions.

February 20: UN Secretary-General’s spokesperson, Stéphane Dujarric, warns that any attempt by the RSF and allied groups to establish a parallel government would escalate Sudan’s crisis and deepen divisions.

February 21: Airstrikes and shelling in Darfur kill at least 11 people. The SAF reports advances in Khartoum, White Nile state, and North Kordofan.

February 23: The RSF, SPLM-N El Hilu, 22 smaller rebel movements, and political and civil society groups sign the founding charter for a parallel Sudanese government.

February 24: The MSF suspends work in Zamzam camp due to an increase in violent attacks. The UN World Food Programme (WFP) temporarily pauses the distribution of life-saving food and nutrition assistance in the famine-hit camp for displaced people. Sudanese legal expert Moez Hadra says constitutional amendments will make the new government a “dictatorial regime par excellence.”

February 25: Human Rights Watch says SAF-allied groups have been intentionally targeting civilians, committing acts that may amount to war crimes.

February 26: Death toll from SAF plane crash, attributed by sources to technical reasons, rises to 46.

February 27: More than 600,000 people in Sudan are “on the brink of starvation,” warns UN human rights chief Volker Türk. Delegates at an event at the 58th session of the UNHRC hear from several speakers of the profound importance of independent media as a vital lifeline to millions of people in Sudan.

February 28: On the first day of Ramadan, Nkweta-Salami expresses her deep concerns about recent reports of Sudanese unable to leave the beleaguered Zamzam camp. A Sudanese army ally claims major interception of RSF military supplies.

ميثاق نيروبي — *Signing of the charter for a parallel Sudanese government in Nairobi on February 22 (Photo: Social media)*

March 2: Seven civilians are reported killed as SAF and RSF clash in the town of Umm Kuraydim, north of El Obeid in North Kordofan.

March 3: The SAF and SAF-aligned SJF are accused of “turning camps for the displaced into battlefields”, while the RSF hold ground in sieges and attacks on the camps.

March 4: UNICEF reports that more than 200 children, some as young as one, have been raped in Sudan since the start of 2024. The RSF and allied groups sign a transitional constitution for a parallel Sudanese government, as the SAF gains further ground in Khartoum. El Burhan says that he is “ready to cease hostilities under specific conditions.”

March 5: Civilian Democratic Alliance of Revolutionary Forces (SOMOUD) leader Abdalla Hamdok appeals for an urgent UN-AU meeting; meanwhile, Sudan People’s Liberation Movement Revolutionary Democratic Current (SPLM-RDC) leader Yassir Arman is detained by Kenyan authorities. “About 80 percent of the 1,460 community kitchens across Sudan were shut down [when USAID paused all funding],” Hajooj Kuka tells Al Jazeera.

March 6: Sudan files a case with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) against the UAE, accusing the country of giving “direct support” to the RSF. Canada announces new sanctions on seven individuals and three entities associated with the ongoing conflict in Sudan. Nine Egyptian people are released from 19 months of detention by the RSF, as a new UN report highlights a widespread pattern of arbitrary detention, torture, and ill-treatment of detainees by the RSF and SAF in Sudan.

March 10: The 6th Infantry Division of the SAF claims to have shot down over 100 drones in 10 days.

March 11: The UN announces that it has only 6.3 per cent of the funding it needs to reach 21 million vulnerable people with life-saving aid and protection in 2025.

March 12: Over 200 health facilities in the North Darfur capital El Fasher are not functioning, and there is an acute shortage of medical staff, essential medicines and life-saving supplies, reports the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

March 12: The Sudanese Human Rights and Development Organisation (HUDO) accuses SPLM-N El Hilu of bombarding Kadugli, the South Kordofan capital, in response to an SAF attack. “Five children among 10 dead in El Fasher RSF shelling,” claims the SAF, as fighting intensifies around the state capital.

March 13: Sudanese refugees in Chad and Egypt face Ramadan under dire humanitarian conditions, an almost complete absence of humanitarian aid, and skyrocketing food prices.

March 14: As SAF-RSF fighting intensifies, thousands of civilians leave Khartoum, heading to already overcrowded camps in places like El Geneina, Nyala in South Darfur, and El Fula in West Kordofan.

March 15: Hemedti says that his forces will not withdraw from key positions in Khartoum, including the Presidential Palace.

*Frontline workers at a women-led organisation working on gender-based violence and child protection in Sudan (File photo: UNICEF / Tess Ingram)*

March 17: Red Crescent volunteers in hazmat suits and masks pull bodies out of a well and put them in black bags in Sharg El Nil. The UNSC condemns the RSF for abducting UN staff and looting a logistics convoy in Kadugli.

March 18: The Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) says that, in February, the annual inflation rate in Sudan rose 142.34 per cent higher than the corresponding month last year, with rural areas impacted hardest. International civil society organisations appeal to SAF to “end ethnically motivated killings, enforced disappearances, and destruction of agricultural camps” in El Gezira state.

March 20: Fierce battles continue across Sudan as the SAF pushes deeper into Khartoum, closing in on the Presidential Palace, amid clashes in North Darfur and North Kordofan. Civilians remain caught in the crossfire.

March 21: The SAF recaptures Khartoum’s Presidential Palace, marking a significant shift in its battle against the RSF. Former SAF Chief of Staff Hashim Abdelmutalib says the victory shows that “the end is near.” The RSF kill three state TV journalists and their driver in a drone strike, allegedly directly targeted for their coverage of the SAF’s advance into Khartoum.

March 22: The Sudanese army seizes control over the main headquarters of the central bank in Khartoum. In Libya, Sudan’s national football team retains its position at the top of Group B of the African Qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup.

March 23: A criminal court in El Gezira starts hearings against 950 individuals accused of working with the RSF, causing deep concern from the state’s Observatory for Human Rights.

March 24: The SAF bombs RSF positions in Omdurman’s El Sawra, Khartoum’s El Bageir near Soba Bridge, and other neighbourhoods south of Khartoum. An RSF drone strike on a mosque kills 11 people in Sharg El Nile. An SAF airstrike on the village of Tora, 40 kilometres north of El Fasher, kills dozens.

March 25: The UN accuses the RSF of squeezing relief supplies as famine spreads.

March 26: El Burhan declares Khartoum “free” of the RSF. The WFP calls for greater focus and action to prevent ‘wasting’ – the deadliest form of malnutrition – before its life-threatening impacts are felt in children. South Sudan is “on the brink of war,” according to UN Mission in South Sudan.

March 27: The Sudanese army clears the last pockets of RSF from Khartoum, and claims to be working to create conditions for an elected civilian government. A picture by Mosab Abushama is selected as a finalist in the ‘Singles Africa’ category of the World Press Photo contest.

March 29: In El Burhan’s Eid El Fitr speech, he says that “there will be no negotiations or compromise with those who violated the sanctity of the Sudanese people.”

March 30: Hemedti acknowledges the RSF retreat from Khartoum, vowing that the paramilitary force will return stronger. In El Fasher, RSF shelling kills at least nine civilians and injures 17. Reports confirm that 90 per cent of media, including TV, radio, and newspaper facilities have been completely destroyed as the SAF slowly regained control over much of Khartoum.March 31: At least seven people are killed and nine injured when indiscriminate RSF shelling strikes Abu Shouk camp for the displaced in El Fasher, as famine “takes hold” at the camp and other locations, affecting 640,000 people.