At the edge of war: the Central African Republic’s uneasy border with Sudan

The land flattens on the approach to Birao, a cut-off town ringed by savannah in the far north of the Central African Republic, where roads dissolve into dust and motorcycles vastly outnumber cars. Less than two hours’ drive from the Sudanese border, this is the edge of a fractured country still piecing itself back together, while absorbing the shockwaves of a neighboring conflict.