Sudan enters a fourth year of war as officials lament an 'abandoned crisis'

Sudan on Wednesday entered a fourth year of war that’s been called an “abandoned crisis,” as a new Middle East conflict throws into shadow the fighting that has forced 13 million people to flee their homes.

PORT SUDAN, Sudan — Famine. Massacres. And now badly needed food and other supplies are under strain. Sudan on Wednesday entered a fourth year of a war that’s been called an “abandoned crisis,” as a new Middle East conflict throws into shadow the fighting that has forced 13 million people to flee their homes.

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The North African country is described as the world’s largest humanitarian challenge, notably in terms of displacement and hunger. There is no end in sight to the fighting between the military and the paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, which witnesses and aid groups say has laid waste to parts of the vast Darfur region.

Growing evidence shows regional powers such as the United Arab Emirates backing rival combatants behind the scenes. Attempts by the United States and regional powers, now distracted by the Iran war, have failed to establish a ceasefire.