On Sunday, the city of Kadugli in South Kordofan witnessed a protest led by a group of women near the local branch of the Central Bank of Sudan. The demonstrators called on the state governor to release humanitarian aid held in the warehouses of the 14th Infantry Division and to open stores containing essential goods.
The women urged the government to urgently address the city’s deteriorating economic conditions, holding signs that read “Kadugli Is Dying” and “No to Economic War.” The authorities responded with force, dispatching police to disperse the protest, resulting in the arrest of 15 women.
Prior to the escalation of the crisis, the state government had received humanitarian assistance, including shipments delivered by the World Food Programme over the past two years, stored at the 14th Infantry Division, according to local sources speaking to Atar.
Residents argue that this move has deprived them of their basic rights to food and medicine in an already dire situation.
On the morning of Monday, July 21, chaos erupted in the city’s main market after a member of the Kafi Tayyar’s forces, aligned with the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), fired shots into the air and called on people to storm shops and take what they needed, threatening anyone who resisted. The disorder was brief before a military unit was dispatched to restore order.
But the events did not end there
Eyewitnesses reported that Tayyar forces, riding in two vehicles mounted with DShK machine guns, conducted a search operation targeting market warehouses, firing heavily into the air to terrify shopkeepers and bystanders. Crowds broke into shops and storage units. Their campaign clashed with another armed group recently integrated into the SAF, known as “Al-Matowa”, sparking an intense gunfight that left more than ten civilians killed or wounded, alongside the looting of shops, grain stores, and the total destruction of the market.
Aid belongs to the people, not the army.
Girl detained during protests in Kadugli
Omar Kjjo, a witness to the market looting, told Atar that the operation happened without the knowledge of the 14th Division. A military police unit that arrived quickly withdrew upon realising the attackers were affiliated with Tayyar.
This came after Tayyar held a meeting at his residence where he urged merchants to open their warehouses, accusing them of rebellion by hoarding goods.
Two days after the women’s protest, Kadugli residents staged a mass demonstration demanding the release of the detained women. The response was even more brutal: six people were killed, including a child named Musab Abdel Halim Lado who was shot, and at least ten others were injured. Several protesters, women, children, and students among them, were arrested, including a girl who said, “Aid belongs to the people, not the army.”
Governor Mohamed Ibrahim Abdel Karim claimed the violence stemmed from conspiracies orchestrated by “sleeper cells” and rogue elements opposed to the state’s stability.
Women and children on the frontlines
There are no sanitary pads, no prenatal vitamins, nothing women need during pregnancy. This puts them at serious risk.
Medical source at Kadugli Hospital
Since the war began on April 15, 2023, Kadugli has remained under the SAF control but has been under dual siege by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement–North (SPLM-N), led by Abdelaziz al-Hilu.
This siege has effectively cut the city off from the rest of the country, worsening conditions in terms of living standards, healthcare, and security. The humanitarian crisis has deepened amid acute shortages of food and medicine, and the collapse of basic services has exacerbated the suffering, especially for women, children, and the sick.
The RSF’s blockade of the highway at Dibeibat, between El Obeid and Dilling, has contributed to the isolation. Ongoing clashes between the army and SPLM-N/al-Hilu at the Karqal camp, between Dilling and Kadugli, have also halted the alternate transport route between Al-Fula and Al-Kharsana.
In addition to government inaction, some traders have worsened the crisis by hoarding goods and hiking prices, exploiting the shortage for greater profit. Only Dibeibat’s Um Adara market and the Naa’m market remained viable supply routes for food, medicine, and fuel. However, after RSF forces seized Dibeibat, the national highway was cut off, tightening Kadugli’s isolation under the looming threat of famine and disease.
A medical source at Kadugli Hospital, speaking anonymously to Atar, said women have borne the brunt of the war and hunger.
“There are no sanitary pads, no prenatal vitamins, nothing women need during pregnancy. This puts them at serious risk,” he said.
The same source noted that residents survive mostly on sorghum and green beans.
“Vegetables and fruits have vanished. This scarcity has caused a spike in low birth weights, many newborns are under 2.5 kilograms, and an increase in child mortality due to malnutrition,” he added.
A hospital employee spoke of the psychological and social burden now falling on women whose husbands have either joined the SAF, the RSF, or the SPLM-N/al-Hilu.
“Women are left responsible for everything: income, food, and care,” she said.
One of the women who led the protest, speaking anonymously to Atar, said the goal was to demand their basic right to food and medicine, not to incite unrest as the government claimed.
We have had enough of this war, it’s robbed us of everything. But we can’t stay silent while our children die of hunger and illness.
Anonymous woman protest leader
“We have had enough of this war; it’s robbed us of everything. But we can’t stay silent while our children die of hunger and illness.”
Atar has confirmed that the detained women have since been released, though information on other detainees remains unclear.
Sorghum lines and soaring prices
In 2025, sorghum is no longer just a staple—it’s a symbol of crisis and daily humiliation.
Field report from Kadugli
In Kadugli, sorghum is no longer just a staple, it’s a symbol of crisis and daily humiliation. As the price of one malwa (approximately 3kg) exceeded 30,000 Sudanese pounds in the market, many residents avoided buying it and instead queued for hours to obtain subsidised sorghum sold by security forces. The subsidised price rose from 15,000 to 20,000 pounds by July 18.
People spend more than five hours under the scorching sun waiting, exhausted faces, weakened bodies. Women cradle infants, elderly men lean on canes, and anxious youth scan the lines.
On July 17, a 16-year-old student named Emtithal Osama attempted to document the scene with her phone but was violently arrested in front of the gathered crowd by three security officers.
“S.A.”, an activist from Kadugli’s Emergency Room, told Atar that security restrictions have hindered aid efforts and access to medicine. Authorities continue to carry out widespread arrests, especially targeting youth and activists, accusing them of collaborating with the RSF or SPLM-N. Surveillance is tight.
Due to the siege and halted supply routes from Dilling, El Obeid, and Naa’m market, residents now depend on smuggled goods from nomadic traders affiliated with the Hamar tribe in North and West Kordofan, an estimated 60 tuk-tuks per month.
While the SAF reportedly reopened the national road connecting Kadugli and Dilling on June 28, Dilling itself remains in crisis, cut off from Al-Obeid where RSF forces are entrenched. The situation worsened after authorities ordered 30 local organisations and three international groups, including the Norwegian Refugee Council, to halt their humanitarian operations, leaving a gaping void in basic service delivery.
Traders, meanwhile, exploit residents desperate for cash. A 30 per cent fee is charged for money withdrawals, and customers are forced to purchase goods at one-quarter of their transfer value.
| Item | Price (SDG) |
|---|---|
| 1 kg lentils | 30,000 |
| One onion | 5,000 |
| 1 kg sugar | 25,000 (cash only) |
| 1 malwa sorghum | 30,000 (subsidised at 20,000) |
| 1 malwa sesame | 20,000 |
| 1 malwa fava beans | 20,000 |
| 1 pound cooking oil | 15,000 |
