In May 2025, the Sudanese people were facing two very different but equally stark challenges.

Civilians increasingly became targets in the battle between the military and the RSF paramilitary forces, which are fighting for control. In one particularly gruesome incident in the city of Omdurman, the massacre of 31 people was carried out by RSF fighters.

Ravaged by civil war for more than two years, pockets of famine are spreading across Sudan, 25 million people need aid, and more than 12 million have fled their homes. While President Donald Trump’s cuts to U.S. foreign aid are the most significant in American history, testimonies and estimates show the aid cuts have likely killed hundreds of thousands.

Motasim Salih patrols a destroyed section of Omdurman, Sudan where bodies remain in the street from recent fighting on May 24, 2025. In a battle between Sudanese Armed Forces and Rapid Support Forces, 31 people were massacred here the month before. Ravaged by civil war for more than two years, pockets of famine are spreading across Sudan, 25 million people need aid, and more than 12 million have fled their homes. While President Donald Trump’s cuts to U.S. foreign aid are the most significant in American history, testimonies and estimates show the cuts have likely killed hundreds of thousands.

People pass through a destroyed section of Omdurman, Sudan where bodies remain in the street from recent fighting on May 24, 2025. In a battle between Sudanese Armed Forces and Rapid Support Forces, 31 people were massacred here the month before. Ravaged by civil war for more than two years, pockets of famine are spreading across Sudan, 25 million people need aid, and more than 12 million have fled their homes. While President Donald Trump’s cuts to U.S. foreign aid are the most significant in American history, testimonies and estimates show the cuts have likely killed hundreds of thousands.

A fighter passes by a destroyed section of Omdurman, Sudan on May 24, 2025. Since Sudan’s civil war erupted in April 2023, more than 150,000 people have been killed in the conflict, though some estimates that include related deaths due to disease and famine suggest more than 400,000 have died.

Fatma Swak Fadul sits for a portrait with a shirt from her son Omer, who starved to death, at home in Mayo Mandala on the outskirts of Omdurman, Sudan on May 25, 2025. Her daughter Nada also starved to death at a year and a half. Amid mounting famine and cholera, 25 million Sudanese in urgent need faced a sudden elimination of crucial American foreign assistance, including food supplies for children, which had an immediate and deadly impact.

From right, Maaz Waleed, Mazin Waleed, and Eltagi Khaled hang out at a market in a destroyed section of Omdurman, Sudan on May 24, 2025. While the boys played and watched people unload food, Maaz and Mazin's father cooked beans in a small pot over an open fire on the ground in an alley to feed his entire family. Food is available in Sudan, but often too expensive for people to purchase.

A dog runs through a community called Mayo Mandala, where aid cuts have affected a feeding center and a soup kitchen, on the outskirts of Omdurman, Sudan on May 25, 2025. Ravaged by civil war for more than two years, pockets of famine are spreading across Sudan, 25 million people need aid, and more than 12 million have fled their homes. While President Donald Trump’s cuts to U.S. foreign aid are the most significant in American history, testimonies and estimates show the cuts have likely killed hundreds of thousands.

Liana Ashot Chuol, 7, looks up for help as she holds her sister Reem, who she cares for alone, at Almanar feeding center in Mayo Mandala on the outskirts of Omdurman, Sudan on May 25, 2025. Their mother went to South Sudan looking for work and their eldest sister left to search for her, which meant Liana and Reem needed to fend for themselves. They are emergency level malnourished and had not eaten anything a day prior to coming to the center. The center measures levels of malnutrition in children and provides families a high calorie fortified peanut paste paid for by the American government.

Families gather to receive aid at Almanar feeding center in Mayo Mandala on the outskirts of Omdurman, Sudan on May 25, 2025. The center measures levels of malnutrition in children and provides families a high calorie fortified peanut paste paid for by the American government. While children in Sudan starved to death, USAID cuts meant that halted shipments of the paste sat going to waste in a warehouse in the United States.

A man, doubled over in discomfort, is treated for cholera at a mobile medical clinic held in Omdurman, Sudan on May 24, 2025. Cholera, which is spread through contaminated food and water, is treatable with rehydration and antibiotics, but severe cases can lead to death within hours if left untreated. Access to treatment, especially with dwindling foreign aid, can be difficult to find in Sudan.Ravaged by civil war for more than two years, pockets of famine are spreading across Sudan, 25 million people need aid, and more than 12 million have fled their homes. While President Donald Trump’s cuts to U.S. foreign aid are the most significant in American history, testimonies and estimates show the cuts have likely killed hundreds of thousands.

People sell produce in Khartoum, Sudan on May 25, 2025. While food is available for sale, it is too expensive for many families to afford to eat and much of it is unsafe with the spread of cholera and other food-borne illness. With disappearing foreign aid and bodies rotting in the streets, families must figure out how to feed their children and hope the food is not tainted with cholera. While the war continues on, so too must daily life.