The CNN investigation titled “Sudan’s Canals” has triggered immediate and far-reaching repercussions, particularly as it emerged at a highly sensitive moment in December 2025, amid mounting international pressure to end Sudan’s war. Its key impacts can be summarized as follows:
- Undermining the SAF’s moral narrative
The most consequential effect of the report is that it shattered the moral narrative long relied upon by General al-Burhan’s army (SAF) in its diplomatic engagement with the international community.
Before the investigation, the SAF consistently portrayed itself as the “legitimate national institution” fighting a “rogue militia,” the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which it accused of committing atrocities.
After the report, the investigation placed the SAF on equal footing with the RSF in terms of responsibility for systematic ethnic cleansing. The documentation of bodies dumped into irrigation canals severely weakened the army’s claims of being a protector of civilians, undermining its credibility and bargaining position in any future negotiations.
- Official responses: silence and denial
SAF: According to the investigation and early reactions, the SAF offered no official response and did not answer investigators’ inquiries prior to publication. Such silence is widely interpreted as an inability to counter the visual evidence presented, particularly satellite imagery.
Sudan Shield Forces (SAF-aligned): The allied militia swiftly denied the allegations, insisting that it does not target civilians on ethnic grounds. However, the response appeared aimed at damage control rather than presenting substantive counter-evidence.
- International momentum toward sanctions and accountability
The report reinforced policy shifts already underway in Washington and Europe in the days preceding its publication in mid-December 2025.
United States: The investigation provides what lawmakers describe as “legal ammunition” for members of Congress, including figures such as Chris Smith and the House Foreign Affairs Committee, who have been pushing for sanctions on senior SAF leaders, including General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, not solely the RSF. Politically, the report makes it increasingly difficult for Washington to ignore violations attributed to the SAF.
United Nations and Human Rights Council: The evidence presented, particularly mass graves discovered in irrigation canals, constitutes strong forensic material that UN fact-finding mechanisms could use to support accusations of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
- Domestic impact: fear among the “Kanabi” communities
Inside Sudan, the report confirmed long-standing fears among “Kanabi” communities—agricultural laborers of West Sudanese origin in Al-Jazira state.
The investigation demonstrated that the violence they face is not the result of isolated incidents or wartime chaos, but rather a coordinated and systematic policy directed from higher levels. This revelation is likely to trigger new waves of displacement, as communities fear reprisals or further ethnic cleansing, deepening social and ethnic fractures in central Sudan, a region previously seen as relatively insulated from tribal conflict.
- Critical timing: December 2025
The report’s release at the end of the year coincides with major international policy reviews on Sudan. The presence of compelling visual evidence, including satellite images of bodies, makes it difficult for international actors to suppress or sideline the findings. This may force external powers to adopt tougher measures against both sides of the conflict, rather than continuing to favor one party over the other.
In summary, the investigation stripped the SAF of its remaining moral cover in the eyes of the international community, reframing the conflict from conventional military confrontation to organized ethnic cleansing. This shift has the potential to fundamentally alter the trajectory of international pressure on Sudan in the weeks ahead.
