Behind the Escalating Violence in Sudan

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And inside the escalating violence in Sudan, where a rebel group is dominating the population in the region of Darfur. It's Friday, October 31st. I'm Alex Ossola for The Wall Street Journal. This is the PM Edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories that move the world today.

We begin this evening in Sudan, where the civil war is taking a jarring turn in Darfur. There, an Arab-led militia is now using state-of-the-art drones and execution squads to dominate the region's black population. The conflict, which began more than two years ago, is between the Sudanese government and the Rapid Support Forces, a well-armed rebel force. Humanitarian groups say the violence has been escalating since the militia seized control of El-Fasher, the largest city in the region, where 70% of the population, largely black Sudanese, have fled their homes. These human rights groups are warning that the killings have the potential to surpass the genocide that played out in Rwanda just over 30 years ago. For more, WSJ reporter Nicholas Bariyo joins us now from Kampala, Uganda. Nicholas, what exactly is going on in Darfur?

Nicholas Bariyo (1:58)

At the moment, what's happening is that the rebel group, known as the Rapid Support Forces, has taken over the last holdout city in this region of Darfur, El-Fasher, from the regional army.

So, the entire area, which is roughly the size of Spain, is under rebel control. This is an ethnic conflict between the Arab-dominated tribes versus the indigenous Black African tribes in the same region. These are competing for a lot of things, including land, resources, and governance. And most of these Black African communities are allied with Sudan's army. So, after the takeover of this city, most of them are fleeing westward towards the border with Chad. The Chadian border, it's like the sanctuary, already hosting around half a million people. And the city is rapidly emptying.

Alex Ossola (2:55)

I mentioned drones in my intro. How are drones being used here?

Nicholas Bariyo (2:59)

They give the rebels an edge over the military. They have these drones armed with bombs. They are able to target where the military positions are, where the populated areas are, where the displaced are sheltering. So you have a very experienced army being facilitated by drones for surveillance and for picking out targets with bombs.

Alex Ossola (3:25)

That was WSJ reporter, Nicholas Bariyo.

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