The Mosque Massacre in Darfur: Why the World Is Looking Away

Sudanese refugees cross into Chad as fighting continues (Wikimedia Commons)

At least 70 people were killed in western Sudan’s Darfur region after the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) attacked a mosque via drone strikes during prayer on September 19. This massacre marks another deliberate attack on a place of worship by the UAE-funded militia, following its assaults on three churches in June. 

The Sudan Doctors Network, a professional association for Sudanese doctors, posted about the attack on X, calling it a “heinous crime” against unarmed civilians that showed the militia’s “blatant disregard for humanitarian and religious values and international law.” 

Since war broke out between the RSF and the Sudanese Armed Forces in April 2023, the RSF has carried out a terror campaign across Sudan, including burning villages, raiding hospitals, and targeting aid workers. 

The genocide stems from a power struggle between General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, leader of the SAF, and Mohamed “Hemedti” Hamdan Dagalo, who commands the RSF. The two men jointly overthrew longtime dictator Omar al-Bashir in 2019 but later turned on each other over control of the country’s military and resources. What began as political tension in the capital, Khartoum, has evolved into a nationwide war with external backers that has devastated every region of Sudan.

UN officials have consistently urged immediate action on the Sudanese crisis, with Amy Pope, director general of the UN’s International Organization for Migration, calling it a “living nightmare.” Yet, despite being identified by the International Rescue Committee as the worst humanitarian crisis in recorded history, Sudan remains largely absent from global headlines.

The deliberate targeting of journalists and lack of journalistic protections are primary reasons the Sudanese narrative is missing from the media. While significant media attention and some international protective structures aid journalists in Gaza and Ukraine, Sudanese journalists are largely unshielded. With state institutions destroyed and communications frequently cut off, Sudanese reporters face severe threats from both warring parties, often risking their lives to document the genocide. Frequent communication blackouts have allowed the warring parties to continue committing abuses with little external scrutiny. The lack of international media attention not only obscures the scale of Sudan’s suffering but also perpetuates it, enabling continued violence without accountability.

The UN Refugee Agency reports that over 12.7 million individuals have been displaced, with most fleeing to similarly dire conditions in neighboring countries like Egypt and Ethiopia. Inside Sudan, the collapse of education and health care systems has left millions of children without schooling and hospitals without staff or electricity. The World Food Programme has already confirmed a famine (Integrated Food Security Phase Classification of stage 5) in much of Sudan due to blocked aid routes and disease spread from the destruction of healthcare infrastructure.

As the war approaches its second year, Sudan’s civilians remain trapped between drone strikes, displacement, and silence, caught in what UN officials call a “forgotten catastrophe.” Analysts brought together by the Brookings African Security Initiative warn that without international attention or coordinated intervention, the Sudan genocide risks igniting a wider regional crisis across the Horn of Africa.