Darfur was loosely and sometimes imprecisely divided between Black and Arab communities, many of whom had deeper ties with the Sahelian peoples of Chad and Niger. These ill-fitting parts have formed a kind of booby trap, plunging Sudan into cycles of violent strife. The region seceded by referendum in 2011, becoming the Republic of South Sudan, generally considered the most recent widely recognized nation on Earth. Ultimately Sudan’s president, al-Bashir, would be charged with war crimes by the International Criminal Court for his role in the slaughter. Now, the two generals who overthrew al-Bashir have turned their guns on each other, with the Sudanese people caught between them.

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Persons: Sudan’s, Bashir, Alex de Waal, Mohamed Hamdan, Abdel Fattah al, Burhan, al Organizations: Democratic, Rebels, International, Court, Rapid Support Forces Locations: Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Darfur, Black, Chad and Niger, Nile Rivers, Khartoum —, Khartoum, Republic of South Sudan, Chad