Easy News: Civil war in the Sudan

1. 

   Since mid-April 2023, there has been a war in the Sudan.

2. 

   Many people have died or had to run from their homes.

3. 

   Sudan is a country in the north east of Africa. It is one of the poorest countries in the world. In 2021, the army took over the government there.

4. 

   The war is being fought by 2 parts of the Sudan army.

5. 

   One side is the Sudanese Armed Forces sometimes called the SAF. Their general is Abdel Fattah al-Burhan who has ruled the country since 2021.

6. 

   The other side is the Rapid Support Forces, who are sometimes called the RSF. Their general is Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, who is also known as Hemedti. He now controls many gold mines in Sudan.

7. 

   General Dagalo was worried that General al-Burham wanted to take away the RSF, so that Dagalo wouldn't be a General any longer. But it is hard to tell how the fighting started.

8. 

   The 2 sides sometimes stop fighting to give time for civilians to run away. This is called a ceasefire. But it is not easy to travel around Sudan so many civilians will not be able to escape from the fighting.

9. 

   Some of the civilians hold British passports. Nobody knows exactly how many, but there are thousands of people. The British government has been trying to help them.

10. 

    The government has flown airplanes to Sudan to try and save as many British citizens as possible. They have saved more than 2,000 people this way. But there are still many people with British passports left in Sudan.

11. 

    Currently the British government is telling people in Sudan they should stay indoors, because moving during fighting is extremely dangerous.

12. 

    The British government has no plans to help Sudanese people who do not have British passports. They have been told to ask the United Nations for help instead.

13. 

    Nobody is sure how long the fighting will last. People are worried that it will continue, or that other countries will become involved in the fighting.

14. 

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