NewsHour: Inside Sudan’s Civil War

This recent PBS NewsHour documentary Inside Sudan’s civil war is compiled from a series of previous segments going back to August. It provides a compelling and urgent exploration of the crisis, providing a human-centered look at the grim realities of war with the complexities of international politics. It delves deeply into the humanitarian catastrophe resulting from the ongoing civil conflict, illustrating the devastating impact on civilians through harrowing personal stories and broader social implications. The latter segments focus on examining the failures of global powers to effectively mediate peace and address the suffering of millions, challenging us to reflect on the consequences of international inaction.

Hightlights:

• US Special envoy to Sudan, Tom Perriello, responds to accusations that the U.S. is not working hard enough to put pressure on external forces (UAE, Egypt), including through sanctions.
• Perriello claims "Over 8 million pounds of food have moved—3,000 tons last week—into areas that have not seen emergency food distribution for four months."
• Survivors recount their personal stories of facing famine, being forced to fight, and fleeing violence.

Transcript

Note: No transcript is currently available on Youtube. This is an unofficial transcript generated with Whisper and cleaned up imperfectly - it may contain errors!

For nearly two years, the bitter civil war in Sudan between the army and a rogue militia has forced 11 million Sudanese from their homes. Up to 150,000 are feared dead and millions more face unimaginable trauma. PBS News special correspondent Leila Molana-Allen, with support from the Pulitzer Center, reported from the front lines of this ongoing brutal civil war. Watch the series of reports here.

First report

Sudan has been caught in a bloody war between the country's army and a militia, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), for 16 months, with tens of millions of Sudanese civilians caught in between. This week, the United States mediated peace talks in Geneva. The RSF militia sent a delegation but, at the last minute, appeared to not officially participate in the talks. The Sudanese armed forces refused to attend altogether.

In the first of her reports from a rare trip inside the country with the support of the Pulitzer Center, special correspondent Leila Molana-Allen sat down with Sudan's Vice President in Port Sudan on the Red Sea. Five years ago, elated Sudanese, young and old, danced in the streets after countrywide protests brought down Sudan's 30-year dictator and indicted war criminal Omar al-Bashir. Democracy had arrived. But just two years later, the Sudanese army and a rehabilitated militia, the RSF, united under Army Chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and took power in what Sudanese civil society calls a coup against the people.

Malik Agar is Sudan's Vice President and deputy head of the military junta that's ruled the country since 2021. A former insurgent leader, he's been a leading political and military figure for decades. Before the explosion of the conflict last April, RSF leader General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, widely known as Hemeti, was Vice President. Agar succeeded him after the RSF broke away from Sudan's army and began to fight against it.

The war erupted seemingly without warning, taking most Sudanese by surprise in its speed and ferocity. The NewsHour sat down with Vice President Agar to discuss the latest on the fighting and the prospects for peace.

"The attacking force was a collateral force, very huge. And they put the Sudan government army into a position of defense. After one year, the Sudanese army managed to change the mood of the war. Now the Sudanese army is on the offensive. To fight them and follow them from area to area is rather difficult for a conventional army. This is why it's taking long."

Agar has been an outspoken critic of international attempts to mediate the conflict and encourage negotiations with the RSF, saying the only solution is the complete military destruction of the militia.

U.S. Foreign Minister to Sudan: "Any leader in Sudan who can go into negotiations with the RSF is committing political suicide. The RSF is an instrument, a tool for the U.A.E. and others. Hemeti has no control over the forces here. How do you kill people? How do you rape girls and women and everybody and destroy the infrastructure you want to rule? Then you have no control of these forces."

Multiple foreign governments, including the United Arab Emirates, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Iran, have taken an interest in the conflict, resulting in a steady flow of foreign weapons and mercenaries on both sides. In June, Agar traveled to Russia to meet with President Vladimir Putin. We asked what he hoped to achieve.

"I'm fighting a war. When I'm fighting a war, I don't need pens; I need weapons. Who manufactures weapons? If I have the ability to get those weapons, if I have the means of getting this one, I will get it."

Attention to the conflict has been muted in the West. But news that Sudan's government had repaired diplomatic relations with Iran and signed a new weapons deal this spring raised alarm. Agar says if the United States is worried about where they get their weapons, it should sell to Sudan itself.

"We are not saying here, I'm not convincing here we are buying weapons from Iran, but we are ready to buy weapons from any country. Human rights groups have documented evidence of weapons being supplied to the RSF by the U.A.E., Russia, and Turkey, among others, smuggled into RSF territory via neighboring Chad. The United States is a leading arms seller to the U.A.E."

"What impact are those foreign weapons having on your ability to fight this war?"

"Definitely, they have an effect, a great effect, because these are new weapons. They are not used. The Sudanese army has never had such weapons. These militias are being supported by the U.A.E., let me put it bluntly, by the U.A.E. and others. The U.A.E. has a lot of economic interests in Sudan. Number one of them is gold mining in Sudan. They want some sort of agricultural lands in Sudan, and they also have an interest in having an area on the Red Sea for their own interests. We believe there are other interests from other countries also. So it is a complex situation."

"What do you want the United States to do in terms of taking responsibility for the use of those U.S.-manufactured weapons being used to slaughter innocent civilians here in Sudan?"

"One thing that the U.S. government can do is, one, stop supplying the U.A.E. They know, the Americans, they know that weapons are being used in Sudan. There is no doubt about that because the evidence is there. So then for them also, they have to decide: Do they want a war in Sudan to continue, or do they want, as they talk about democracy and human rights, to preserve the human rights of the Sudanese? You cannot bring democracy on the mother of the guns, and you cannot bring democracy when you are using militias."

"So you believe that these efforts on behalf of the United States to try and become involved in peace talks for Sudan are simply political posturing ahead of the election?"

"Yes, yes, yes, definitely yes. They are just political alibis, and they are not serious about it. When these elections are over, they will change their mind."

The U.S. is mediating talks this week in Geneva aimed at improving the humanitarian situation. But both of the chief parties to the conflict are absent. Leaders say they have little faith in the process.

"What is it that makes you feel that this U.S. administration isn't a serious partner for peace in Sudan?"

"U.S. engagement has been patchy. Special envoy to Sudan Tom Perriello has never visited the country in his role. A planned visit alongside USAID Director Samantha Power was aborted after the U.S. team refused to travel any further inside Sudan than the airport, citing security concerns."

"What does that say to you about their seriousness in being involved in peace talks in Sudan?"

"If you are serious about solving a problem somewhere, why don’t you go and meet the president in his country? Why don’t you meet us in our country? But this is not happening."

Meanwhile, civil political leaders say they have been cut out of the peace talks and plans for Sudan's future.

"Is it the intention of the Sudanese armed forces to immediately give back power to a democratically elected leader when the war is over?"

"Yes, they are ready to take the country to elections and hand over power. And that is what will happen."

"That is what's supposed to happen?"

"Yes. You win the war first, and then you go for the establishment of democracy. For now, as the war rages on, democracy has been put on the back burner."

For the PBS NewsHour, I'm Leila Molana-Allen in Port Sudan.

Second Report

In her second report in a series, special correspondent Leila Molana-Allen traveled to cities on the front lines in central and southeastern Sudan, where she met the people caught in the middle of this violence. Ravaged after a year and a half of war, this is what remains of the Sudanese capital Khartoum's residential suburbs, once home to millions. The bullet-battered streets tell a story of hand-to-hand combat, with craters from missiles fired at close range ripping through walls and rooftops every few yards.

A century-old mosque is scarred by hails of gunfire. The area's largest bank has been devastated. Life-saving hospitals have been gutted.

Leila Molana-Allen: "So the RSF are using this as a base?"

Local Resident: "Yes, as a base. Right. When the army liberates this place, the militia bombs it and destroys it."

After months of fighting, the Sudanese army has managed to recapture this area, but danger isn't far. Just across the Nile in Khartoum City, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) continue to shell, shoot, and raid. Not a single street is unscathed by the violence. The ache of loss echoes through the eerie silence here.

Blocked off from the main cemetery by the constantly moving front lines, civilians have been burying their family members killed in the fighting in a makeshift cemetery in the grounds of an old football field where kids used to play. A few former residents wander, shell-shocked, through once-familiar alleyways. But one family never left.

Mariam Adam is 75. As the RSF swept through town last spring, their neighbors fled in terror. But when militiamen came to their door, the Adams refused to leave.

Mariam Adam: "We've seen everything that happened here. We saw the lights of weapons shoot across the sky. We heard all the sounds and we're still here. A shell hit the house, shattering the glass and walls. That was the first shell that hit our home, injuring me here and here."

Mariam's brother was killed, but miraculously, the rest of the family survived. For a year, they lived on almost nothing, sheltering in their stone house as the bombs rained down.

Mariam Adam: "When the area was under the control of the RSF, they cut off the water and electricity. Last fall, we had to drink rainwater because there was no other water. Schools have been shut since the war began."

All five-year-old Abak wants is to see her friends and teachers. She doesn't know who's still alive.

Abak: "I love studying. They were teaching me the letter A for apple, B for boy, and C for chicken. I have friends at school, but the teacher left and the kindergarten closed its doors."

As we embrace, their emaciated bodies tell how these proud elders gave everything they had to the younger family members. There's more food and water here now, but nothing's guaranteed.

Mariam Adam: "This has not exhausted me. I am happy because I am still standing. I am a fighter. We hope to God that Sudan returns to how it was."

Just a few streets away, battles rage on. The emergency room is packed with panicked, injured families. The Ibrahim's home was just hit by an RSF shell.

Al-Khayyar: "We went to the mosque, and on our way back, shells started falling on us like rain on the streets and on the houses, and we were running everywhere."

Jane Ferguson: "Al-Khayyar's brother, Tijani, believes nothing is being done to protect civilians in this war."

Al-Khayyar: "Children, women, and the elderly are unarmed. They have nothing to do with the SAF or RSF, nothing to do with politics. Our home has become a grave. Why? Why all this? For democracy? Overseas, they announce democracy and human rights. They speak beautifully while acting despicably. And here we are in Sudan dying by the weapons they provide while they say no more war."

Ambassador: "Even here, they are not safe. The hospital has been hit five times already in as many months. Targeting hospitals in a conflict is a war crime."

All of Omdurman's hospitals have been hit multiple times by shelling and small arms fire throughout the course of the war. Most of them aren't functioning anymore. Here at Al Naou Hospital, the only surgical hospital still working, every time there's a strike, they patch up the damage and carry on. Four days after the NewsHour left, Al-Naw was hit again. Omdurman's largest private hospital already lies in ruins. The Al-Bulut Children's Hospital has only just managed to reopen after being shelled last month.

Here, overstretched doctors work to save young lives under the constant threat of attack.

Doctor Musadal: "I can't even find words to describe this. Hospitals are some places where people come to find sanctuary. I myself have been a victim of a stray bullet two months ago while working. I specialize in infant malnutrition, a brutal side effect of this war, which is devastating Sudan's children."

Mugahid is just 10 months old. He has acute malnutrition.

Doctor Musadal: "Mugahid's little body can't cope. His lungs are failing. He weighs just half what he should at this age. It's heartbreaking. Truly, it's heartbreaking. The hospital sees more than 100 cases like this each month."

Families like Mugahid's are trapped behind fluid front lines, with little access to food and water. Undernourished mothers can't produce the breast milk their babies need. Risking the journey to get them here is the only chance to save them, but they don't always make it. Nine-month-old Ukran, named for another bitter war of survival, has had so little to eat in her early life that her organs are failing.

Zakiya: "We fled here. Most of us walked on foot. It was very tough. Some people couldn't walk and others couldn't find food. We left everything behind, even my children's birth certificates."

Jane Ferguson: "Zakiya's husband was killed in a missile attack. If Ukran survives, Zakiya must now raise her and her three other children alone, with no home and no breadwinner."

The level of need across the country is staggering. With little government or international aid, Sudanese communities are rallying to provide. Each evening, these displaced women in Omdurman gather to bake surhum bread, much cheaper than wheat. The next morning, eager lines form down the block to collect rations of bread, lentils, rice, and broad beans, all paid for by donations from locals and Sudan's diaspora. This will be the only meal many of these families eat today.

If nothing is done, by fall, millions of people will be starving to death.

Gadaref's rolling green hills and idyllic pastoral scenes belie the growing threat. This region is Sudan's breadbasket, but the RSF has agricultural states home to grain reserves, stockpiling food.

Local Resident: "Yes, people are asking, 'Why are you taking all the crops?' They will starve, and the forces are closing in on Gadaref in a pincer movement. An RSF victory here would be nothing short of catastrophic for the country's dwindling food supply."

As hundreds of thousands of the elderly, the injured, the desperate mothers, and their weary children search in vain for a safe place to wait out this war and enough food to survive it, international leaders meet, promising to find solutions. Few here believe that help is coming.

For the PBS NewsHour, I'm Leila Molana-Allen in Gadaref, Sudan.

Third Report

In her third report from the front lines in Sudan, with support from the Pulitzer Center, special correspondent Leila Molana-Allen follows some of the families desperately searching for sanctuary.

Leila Molana-Allen, PBS NewsHour Correspondent: "Inchon, Sudan, a perilous journey, inching along the front line with only the occasional cover of the mountains. As we're led through the rough sands by an armed escort of Sudanese soldiers, black plumes of smoke from fresh shelling rise through the air. But we're not going to the battle zone. We're here to meet Sudanese families trying to outrun the conflict."

To get out, they have to make it through this treacherous strip alone. This is the northernmost point of Omdurman where displaced people arrive after escaping from frontline and RSF territory. We are wearing protective equipment because, in recent days, the RSF has been shelling this area.

Even as people make it here after their dangerous journey, they are still not safe yet. An exhausted mother has made it here with her baby and toddler.

Exhausted Mother: "The fighting is very intense in our area. There's no food there. We have nothing to eat."

She is at the very end of her strength. Her eyes glazed, she sits, staring, a brief moment of rest before they have to move on again.

Exhausted Mother: "We're sick, hungry, and we have small children. We are so tired of this war. We won't survive. Living like this is so very hard."

All these families arrived just this morning. They are a few of the millions of civilians traversing the country, forced from their homes by this bloody war. If they're lucky, they can afford a seat in a minibus or a donkey cart. But for most, it's an arduous journey on foot, covering hundreds of miles in the baking heat. They're running from the greatest of horrors: looting, killing, and rape at the hands of Rapid Support Forces militiamen.

At this construction site in Gedarif, the air is thick with the trauma of what they have endured. There are thousands of people staying in this makeshift reception center. They're practically in the open air, completely exposed to the heat of the day and the wind at night. They're hoping for a spot in an official displacement camp, but with so many people arriving, there just isn't space. Many of them have fled from other displacement camps that have now been overrun by the RSF.

In the past few weeks, the RSF's latest offensive has swept through the southern state of Senar, sending its residents running for their lives. For most here, it's far from the first time they've had to flee. This is the fifth time Salma's family has been displaced by this war. Four of her six kids are younger than five.

Salma: "The journey was long and rough, sleeping on a blanket on the roadside each night, fending off snakes and scorpions. Ten days on the road from place to place until we got here. When they said they were hungry, I told them we're almost there. When they said they were too tired, I told them we're almost there. I would point and promise them, look, your father will be there when we arrive."

But their father was not at the end of the long road. He stayed behind to earn money for his family when they first fled. Salma hasn't heard from him since. The attacks happen so fast that family members are often separated. When the RSF descended on their first displacement shelter, her neighbor was out trying to find work. So Salma grabbed the woman's teenage daughters, along with her own kids, and ran.

Salma: "I couldn’t leave them behind. Until now, there’s no news about their mother, not even a phone call."

With no work to be had, they survive on the kindness of others. Volunteers distribute one meal a day to the families, and locals from the city bring what they have to share. But now, fears of an attack on Gedarif are growing. Salma doesn't know if she has the strength to run again.

Salma: "A few weeks ago, there were shells, machine guns, and snipers. We had to sleep under the beds. If the RSF comes here, I am not going anywhere. I will die here. I can't bear to be displaced yet again."

With nowhere to house the onslaught of people, schools, closed since the beginning of the war, have become shelters. At this girls' school, students were clamoring to continue classes but didn't want to make the temporary residents homeless. So the principal found a compromise. The girls arrive at the crack of dawn and take their lessons in the garden. They have even made space for an extra 250 displaced pupils.

Inside the school buildings, families are living in limbo. Amun has been here six months with her four toddlers. At night, up to 200 people pack these two small rooms.

Amun: "So, this is where you have been living?"

Amun: "This is a place where I live with my family."

Jane Ferguson: "Al-Nour's family are staying in the classroom next door. He says they have seen little international support."

Al-Nour: "They have forgotten us, because we didn't see them on the ground usually. We see people in Syria, we see people in Ukraine, and something like that. But the thing is that this is Africa or something like this. They let us down. Now we have two months. We didn't receive anything, especially food."

Amna Nawaz: "You haven't received any aid in two months?"

Al-Nour: "Yes, no, two months."

Amna Nawaz: "And how are you feeling about the future for your children, for Sudan?"

Al-Nour: "Yes. The future of my children right now, I see it is very dark."

The recently opened displacement camp nearby can’t even begin to host this number of people. Aid agencies on the ground say that without more funding and access to the areas hit hardest, there's little more they can do.

At schools across the country, similar scenes are unfolding. These families have just fled Tuti, a tiny island in the center of Khartoum state. Fleeing RSF territory is extremely dangerous. For Mohamed's family, facing daily shelling, shooting, and arbitrary arrest by militiamen, the risk of staying any longer was even worse.

Mohamed: "They were firing shells, which hit houses and people. The bullets were the worst because they were everywhere. There was no water, no electricity for 11 months. People sent us medicine from outside, but the militiamen confiscated them. People died because of the lack of treatment. Both my wife and I have diabetes. It was time to go, but only if we could afford the RSF's hefty exit bribes. It cost nearly $1,000 to get our small family out—life savings I was lucky to have, unlike many others. No one knows what the future holds now."

At night, the children go back to Tuti.

Mohamed: "The children are badly affected by the war. They know the difference between the sounds of bullets and shells. They're psychologically unstable and scared. All they talk about is the militias, even in their games."

Many are fleeing evils even darker than bombs and hunger. Maha, whose name we've changed to protect her, was out running errands in her hometown of Omdurman when a gunfight broke out. In seconds, her husband was dead, and the RSF had kidnapped her. For six months, she was held captive, subjected to horrifying abuse.

Maha: "There was beating, sexual assault, and death. Everything was done to us. Finally, they gave me a choice: work for the RSF or we will kill your children. That’s where the torture and training began. They trained us girls. My role was to be a spy to gather information for them. Because my children were in their hands, I had no choice but to work with them."

Eventually, she was caught. Now she spends her days in a protection center in the army zone, dreaming helplessly of her three young kids.

Maha: "Until now, I don't know if my children are alive or dead."

I tell Maha we should stop if it's too much.

Maha: "No," she insists. "People need to know what's happening. Many other people have experienced similar things. I am not the first girl, nor will I be the last. Some girls were raped in front of their parents. All Sudanese have been psychologically damaged by the RSF. We live in fear."

With the war still raging, there's little space for healing. Escape, survive, escape, survive. A nightmarish cycle plays out on repeat for Sudanese families who never know if their next stop will be their safe place or their last.

The distances displaced Sudanese families have to cover to escape the fighting are vast, and they're often taking the long way around the mountains to try to avoid the shifting front lines. Everyone we speak to tells us that when the RSF assaults a new town or village, they attack so fast and so brutally that civilians have to drop everything and run.

Even those who make it as far as Port Sudan, the military capital on the Red Sea, are little better off. Children arrive in dire condition on the outskirts of the city. Even those who look relatively healthy turn out to have malnutrition. And even for those with some cash, most food is unaffordable now. The price of meat has risen by six times in the past two months.

Khadija: “I’m currently living in a house without a door or window. Rain and wind are over our heads. We have no money. We fled and left everything behind. We only escaped with our lives. All I own is this shawl that I’m wearing. Do I look like I know the price of a can of oil now? I don’t have the budget to even ask about it, let alone buy it.”

Homeless, penniless, constantly trying to outrun the next attack, this conflict, which has devastated the lives of millions of Sudanese, shows little sign of slowing on its path of destruction.

For the PBS NewsHour, I’m Leila Molana-Allen in Port Sudan.

Fourth Report

Amna Nawaz: In the fourth report from Sudan's front lines, supported by the Pulitzer Center, special correspondent Leila Molana-Allen met some of the men fighting this war and looked into the powers funding it.

Leila Molana-Allen, Special Correspondent, Pulitzer Center: "Elated, defiant, united. These Sudanese armed forces soldiers want to show they're ready for a fight. In reality, most haven't yet been on a battlefield. They are fresh recruits, part of the government's drive to grow the army's ranks in the fight against a rebel militia, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). A shopkeeper, an engineer, and a middle school English teacher— a year ago, these men couldn't have imagined fighting. Now they gather at this repurposed soccer stadium for basic training, some still wearing sneakers and jeans, waiting for their uniforms."

Leila Molana-Allen: "This is the first time you've ever been in the army. Ahmed, you're an English teacher, and now it's your first time serving as well."

29-year-old Mohammad Awadallah came here to Gadaref two months ago after the RSF burned and pillaged his home state of Sinar.

Mohammad Awadallah: "In Sinar, I saw death. There were rapes. The RSF were killing anyone they found in front of them. The situation in the country is getting worse, and we are afraid of being displaced again to another state."

In peacetime, he runs a market stall. These volunteers aren't paid to serve; the community does what it can to support them. The meals are regular, but there is no salary.

Mohammad Awadallah: "Our relatives outside Sudan send us money to help us."

They don't underestimate the enemy they're fighting. Once a militia armed by the country's former dictator Omar al-Bashir to fight rebels in Darfur and responsible for mass slaughter of civilians there, the RSF was absorbed into the army in 2013. They fought here and abroad, building up strength and experience. Bashir used them to crack down on popular protests in 2019. After he fell from power, his other elite army units were disbanded, making the RSF all-powerful.

In 2021, RSF leader Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo united with army chief Abdel Fattah Barhan to seize power from the people in a military coup. When war erupted between them last year, the RSF quickly seized major territory, including the capital Khartoum and much of Darfur. This year, having rallied the troops, the army has managed to seize some of that territory back.

The army is now purportedly buying fresh weapons from Iran and Russia. But it's a long, hard fight, much of it street-to-street urban warfare in densely packed residential areas. The impact on civilians is devastating. Up to 150,000 people have already been killed, and over 11 million have been displaced from their homes.

The RSF has been recruiting too, but forcibly. We met several child soldiers kidnapped from their families to serve the militia when it swept through Khartoum. Bilal is just 15. We're protecting his identity for fear of reprisals. He was arbitrarily arrested by militiamen from outside his home and held by the RSF for months.

Bilal: "The RSF beat us every day, insulted us, and made us clean their military vehicles. They would force us to help them steal from houses and take boys to fight with them in battles. Finally, my chance came. They were drunk when I escaped. We were carrying flour sacks, and they were distracted. I ran to the main road and found a bus passing by. I knew the driver; he was from my neighborhood. After hiding with neighbors for two weeks, I snuck across the river by night to SAF territory. I still don't know the fate of those who helped me."

Bilal had a loving reunion with his relieved father, but these are the lucky ones. Their stories of escape are miraculous. They say many more like them are still stuck in RSF territory.

Foreign actors are staking a claim in the conflict too, sending a steady flow of foreign weapons into the country. The United Arab Emirates is accused of sending weapons to the RSF, smuggled in via Chad. The United States is one of the leading arms traders to the UAE. Dotted around the burned-out battleground are Emirati armored vehicles and Russian tanks, some from the Cold War. These battlefields are awash with foreign arms—some newly imported, some legacy weapons from the wars that have plagued this continent for decades.

Many of the guns now being used in Sudan come from Libya's civil war in 2014. We found evidence of Emirati and Russian weapon systems, Turkish and Serbian munitions, as well as U.S.-manufactured small arms.

Leila Molana-Allen: "This is an American-made M47 Dragon anti-tank missile launcher. The Sudanese armed forces say they found many of these left behind when they pushed the Rapid Support Forces back. It's a 20-year-old model, so there's no telling where it's been between then and now. The serial number, the best way of tracking how these weapons entered the country, has been carefully removed."

Critics say the UAE wants control over Sudan's Red Sea ports and rich mineral mines. The Emiratis deny supplying and funding the RSF but have engaged in talks to determine Sudan's future. Sudan's U.S. envoy, Tom Perriello, invited an Emirati delegation to failed talks in Geneva in August. The Sudanese army says it will not negotiate with a foreign power that's arming its enemies.

Arms dealing is legal in the right circumstances, but countries that trade have a responsibility to track where and how their weapons are used. And these weapons are being used to massacre civilians.

Brian Kastner, a weapons investigator for Amnesty International, stated: "Modern ammunition does terrible things to the human body; it breaks bones, it can take off legs. You have to look at priorities. You have to look at whether your priority is making the most money, in however way possible. And what are your responsibilities when it comes to human rights? What are your responsibilities when it comes to stopping crimes against civilians and stopping civilian casualties?"

It's not just foreign weapons; foreign fighters are playing a role in this war. Mercenaries from nearly a dozen countries have been spotted fighting alongside the RSF. Last month, Emirati passports were found in an area where the militia had been pushed back.

We negotiated rare access to interview some of the RSF mercenaries the Sudanese army has captured at a nondescript intelligence base just meters from the echoing gunfire of the front line. Lul, from South Sudan, says he never even made the choice to fight. He came to work in Khartoum because even in wartime, he had more chance of earning money here than back home.

Lul: "In January, I was kidnapped from my cigarette stall and told I would be freed once I helped the RSF win back Omdurman. I arrived at the front to discover I and the other young fighters were little more than cannon fodder. There weren't many soldiers, and no one could use the weapons. The few people who did fire bullets killed themselves or others in the group by accident. They were children, too young to fight. I was afraid, thinking, will I survive or not?"

It was the only battle Lul would participate in, and it didn't last long.

Lul: "On the way to the battlefront, clashes broke out, and I was shot in the leg. The driver fled. I was shot again and fell to the ground with some others. I lay on the ground for four hours. The people with me died. I managed to crawl to an abandoned house, where I was eventually found and arrested by the Sudanese army. I've been held here since March. I still don't understand anything that's happening. Will they let me go or not? No one tells me anything. Will I go home to my family or to prison?"

Zakaria is just 16. When an RSF recruiter came to his destitute village in Chad in early February, offering cash to fight, he jumped at the chance to help his family.

Zakaria: "They said they would pay us when we reached Sudan—$600. But when we arrived, they didn't give us any money. Like all the others here, I never saw a penny. By April, I'd been captured by the army. I've been locked up in Omdurman ever since."

Prisoners of war must be treated humanely under international law. On camera, the boys said they were being treated well. But while setting up the interview, they whispered to the NewsHour team that they were being starved and begged for help to get out. Every member of the group was severely emaciated.

Like Bilal, these are just young boys too—victims of a vicious conflict that spares no one. It's a cycle of corruption and abuse that threatens to drag Sudan's neighboring countries into the chaos, already unstable and dealing with the worst of the world.

He's been locked up in Omdurman ever since. Prisoners of war must be treated humanely under international law. On camera, the boys said they were being treated well. But while setting up the interview, they whispered to the NewsHour team that they were being starved and begged for help to get out. Every member of the group was severely emaciated. Like Bilal, these are just young boys too—victims of a vicious conflict that spares no one.

It's a cycle of corruption and abuse that threatens to drag Sudan's neighboring countries, already unstable and dealing with multiple crises, into the abyss of war along with it. And this is the impact of that war: a thriving regional capital in ruins.

Omdurman Market used to be the bustling center of this region. Millions of locals would come from all around to buy provisions, socialize, and get anything else they needed. Now it's abandoned. Soldiers say they're still digging through the rubble, finding bodies under these charred shopfronts. Those escaping Khartoum across the river say the devastation there is even worse.

The country's foundations lie in ruins too. The economy has collapsed. Children haven't been to school in over a year. Fear and hunger rule the land. When this war does end, Sudan's road ahead is full of pitfalls. It's just five years since popular protests toppled the country's longtime dictator, but then the army snatched power from the people.

While many here support the army in fighting the RSF, if they win, the next battle will be for democracy. The military junta claims it will hand back power when there's peace. Leaders of Sudan's civil society resistance committees are skeptical.

Civil Society Leader: "I do not believe that the army has no interest in ruling the country. All the evidence shows the army is interested in staying in power. The future of the youth is in great danger because after the revolution, many hopes were built, and what is happening now is a complete destruction of everything. Whoever leads the country in rebuilding from this devastation could take a decade."

So much has been lost: lives, homes, dreams. In the midst of such suffering, hope for the future—so vibrant just a few years ago—is turning to dust.

For the PBS NewsHour, I'm Leila Molana-Allen in Omdurman, Sudan.

UN-backed human rights investigators have accused both sides in the Sudanese civil war of war crimes and advocated for an independent and impartial force to protect civilians. As a series of reports that we've presented here on the NewsHour in recent weeks have shown, the area is devastated, with more than 10 million people displaced, millions hungry, and tens of thousands killed.

Perriello interview

(Nick Schifrin speaks with a U.S. diplomat working to address what's become the world's largest humanitarian crisis.)

The civil war erupted more than 500 days ago between the Sudanese armed forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Today's call from those U.N.-backed investigators reflects the desperation to help civilians caught in the middle, especially after U.S.-backed peace talks in Geneva failed to end the fighting. I'm joined now by Tom Perriello, U.S. special envoy for Sudan.

Tom Perriello: Thanks very much.

Nick Schifrin: Welcome back to the NewsHour. As I just mentioned, the Geneva talks did not create a pathway to peace. So what's next?

Tom Perriello: Well, first of all, we were able to have a great deal of success opening up several of the humanitarian supply routes, where over a million people are facing starvation, over 20 million are facing acute hunger. Over 8 million pounds of food have moved—3,000 tons last week—into areas that have not seen emergency food distribution for four months.

On the issues of humanitarian access, we were able to make significant progress, thanks to President Biden and Secretary Blinken giving the go-ahead to move forward with the talks. On protection of civilians, where we have seen horrific atrocities from both sides, we were able to get the first code of conduct commitment from the RSF. We have much more to be done on both humanitarian access and civilian protection. Ultimately, of course, the goal is a cessation of hostilities.

Nick Schifrin: So, how do you end this war next? Do you try the same approach that you have had already?

Tom Perriello: We're pushing really important life-saving steps to try to address this famine and civilian protection. That's why I think we're able to build this larger diplomatic coalition to try to push for peace.

Nick Schifrin: You're describing basically taking the same steps you already have, but with all due respect, they have not worked. As we've said, the Sudanese armed forces did not show up in Geneva. You've had previous talks in Jeddah. Can you focus on some of the external actors that are fueling this conflict? Can you get the UAE to stop sending weapons to the RSF? Can you get Egypt to stop supporting the Sudanese armed forces? Can you get the actors that have been trying to put their thumbs on the scale to stop doing so?

Tom Perriello: We're pushing hard to extend the arms embargo for all of Darfur. We believe that not only needs to be extended, but we need to see greater enforcement. The United States continues to raise the costs on those individuals committing atrocities on both sides, as well as some of the businesses that are aiding and abetting that effort. We're trying to build more partners who can be part of doing that.

Nick Schifrin: Do you have any leverage at all over external actors, who I mentioned before, many of whom are U.S. partners, especially when many of those capitals are hedging two months before the election?

Tom Perriello: Yeah, we have been very clear that we call on all external actors to stop fueling this war, stop sending in more arms, and start being partners in the humanitarian relief, the civilian protection, and the peace efforts. We will continue to lead on those efforts.

Nick Schifrin: You have described a lot of actions the U.S. has taken, but have you threatened sanctions on the leadership of the two sides—General Burhan, the head of the Sudanese armed forces, and General Hameti, the head of the Rapid Support Forces—as many experts have asked you to do?

Tom Perriello: We have continued to increase the sanctions on both SAF and RSF leaders. In some cases, we have made those explicitly related to issues, for example, atrocity prevention. We'll continue to have that be a central part of this strategy, as we look to raise the costs for those imposing suffering on the Sudanese people.

Nick Schifrin: You mentioned the crossing at Adre between Chad and Darfur. The agreement to get aid across that crossing only lasts for three months. How are you going to extend it?

Tom Perriello: We absolutely want to continue to show that this is a life effort—that it is something the Sudanese people want and appreciate from those leaders inside and outside the country who are helping to get food and medicine into these famine areas. We believe that if we can continue to show those results, we will be able to extend these efforts going forward. But we have a lot of people to reach that have not yet been reached since these reopenings.

As I said at the top of the segment, UN-backed human rights investigators called today for, quote, an independent and impartial force to protect civilians. Of course, "force" being the operative word there, that could include boots on the ground. Is that an idea you endorse?

Tom Perriello: I think there's an understanding that, as you said before, we can't just keep doing the same things and expecting a different result. The scale of this crisis, first and foremost, is being imposed on the people of Sudan, but also increasingly on the region. I think the recommendations coming out of the U.N. report are extremely important and timely as we head into the U.N. General Assembly and should absolutely be considered to build support for a wide range of approaches to civilian protection and other things that can help end the war.

Let me read you a statement by the Deputy Chairman of the Sudanese Sovereign Council, Malik Agar, to my colleague Leila Molana-Allen during her recent trip to Sudan.

Malik Agar: "The U.S. administration has never come here. We have an envoy who's never set foot in Sudan. If you're serious about solving a problem somewhere, why don't you come and meet the president in this country? Why don't you meet us in our country? But this is not happening."

Tom Perriello: Well, I've traveled to Sudan before and I traveled to Adre earlier. I tried to come to Port Sudan but was blocked by the government in the early parts of my tenure here. More recently, we put a trip together that our diplomatic security team said would require me to just be at the airport. We communicated that, and they rejected that offer. We completely respected them rejecting that offer.

But every week, I'm meeting with Sudanese people from all 18 states—hundreds and hundreds of Sudanese that I meet with virtually each week, as well as thousands from the refugee and diaspora community. So we will continue to meet every day, every week, with the Sudanese people, and hopefully that will involve a trip to Port Sudan sometime soon.

Nick Schifrin: Tom Perriello, thank you very much.

Tom Perriello: Thank you, Nick.