The Sudan Crisis

[Green Patriot]

Over the last week, people have been using the likes of Twitter and Instagram to shine a light on the political crisis currently taking place in Sudan. Despite an internet blackout across the North African country, many are using hashtags like #IAmTheSudanRevolution and #SudanUprising as a vehicle to post updates on the situation, signal support for protestors and raise awareness in the face of silence from the global community.

The nation has seen brutal violence at the hands of paramilitary group, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), including reports of dead protestors thrown in the Nile to mask the number of casualties, reports of rape and sexual violence, and the flogging of demonstrators. The ongoing siege was sparked by a morning attack on pro-democracy protesters who formed a peaceful sit-in outside military headquarters in Khartoum on Monday 3 June.
The RSF – also known as Janjaweed – is led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (commonly referred to as "Hemedti"), who is the deputy head of the Transitional Military Council (TMC) – the governing body that has been in charge of Sudan since dictator Omar al-Bashir was ousted by the military in April after months of rallies. Despite demonstrators’ calls for an immediate move to civilian rule, the military have maintained that Sudan will have a transitional government led by the TMC, leading to protests around Sudan – such as the fateful sit-in that saw state forces open fire on unarmed protestors last week.

Since Monday’s attack, there have been at least 100 deaths across the country, a figure that includes an estimated 40 bodies retrieved from the Nile according to the Sudan Doctors’ committee, the medical branch of the Sudanese Professionals Associations (SPA) who have been leading protests against military rule.


Alongside the mounting body count, the TMC has issued an internet shutdown across the country, making it near impossible for Sudanese people to communicate what is happening on the ground with the rest of the online world. The SPA have urged social media users to use hashtags like #IAmTheSudanRevolution where possible to “draw international attention to the crimes committed in Sudan, including internet blackout to isolate the Sudanese people and bury the truth”.

Despite such dire and visceral circumstances, international outrage has come very slowly – if at all. Condemnations of the attack have come from US and UK diplomats, with the UN Security Council debating possible sanctions, a resolution that fell flat when brought to the fore.

https://www.independent.co.uk/voice...ing-protests-rsf-omar-al-bashir-a8951951.html


Some terrible stuff going on in Sudan.Heartfelt prayers with the innocent victims.

 

[Cricket Warrior]

At least 32 civilians have been killed and dozens injured in artillery attacks by the Sudanese army, one of the highest tolls from a single day of fighting since war broke out in April, the activist group Emergency Lawyers said.

The shelling on Tuesday took place in the Ombada neighbourhood in western Omdurman, the statement released on Wednesday said, a neighbourhood that has seen several deadly attacks.

Rights activists and residents said that the regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) that are fighting for control of the country have fired missiles into populated areas, incurring hundreds of civilian casualties in the capital Khartoum and other cities.


AlJazeera

 

[WicketLord]

Washington, DC – The United States has imposed sanctions on top commanders in Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF), accusing the group of committing “extensive” rights violations during its months-long conflict with the Sudanese military.

The measures on Wednesday targeted Abdelrahim Dagalo, the RSF’s deputy commander and brother of the group’s chief Mohamed Hamdan “Hemedti” Dagalo, as well as Abdul Rahman Juma, the paramilitary organisation’s top general in West Darfur.

The US Treasury froze Abdelrahim Dagalo’s assets in the country while the State Department imposed visa restrictions on Juma.

The two are the most senior RSF leaders to face direct US sanctions since the fighting in Sudan broke out earlier this year.

“The United States continues to call on all external actors to avoid fueling the conflict,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement outlining the moves.

“We will not hesitate to use the tools at our disposal to hinder the ability of the RSF and Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) to further prolong this war, and we will also use such tools to deter any actor from undermining the Sudanese people’s aspiration for peace and civilian, democratic rule.”

The RSF and the Sudanese military have been locked in a fight for control of Sudan since mid-April.

The violence has killed thousands and displaced more than four million people, prompting warnings from the United Nations that the country faces a “humanitarian emergency of epic proportions”.

Efforts to end the conflict, including mediation by the US and Saudi Arabia, have only produced short-lived ceasefires.

Meanwhile, civilians continue to be caught in the crossfire. The crisis also has spurred ethnically targeted attacks against African, non-Arab communities in the western region of Darfur, which rights groups have blamed on the RSF and its allies.

“Since the beginning of conflict between the RSF and Sudanese Armed Forces on April 15, 2023, both sides have failed to implement a ceasefire, and the RSF and allied militias have been credibly accused of extensive human rights abuses in Darfur and elsewhere,” the US Treasury said on Wednesday.

US imposes sanctions on leaders in Sudan’s RSF over ‘extensive’ abuses

Washington accuses paramilitary group’s deputy commander and top general in West Darfur of human rights violations.

www.aljazeera.com

 

[Cricket Warrior]

At least 40 killed in air strike on Khartoum market, volunteers say

RSF accuses the Sudanese army of carrying out the attack, the Sudanese army denies responsibility and blames the RSF

Air and artillery strikes in residential areas have intensified as the war between the Sudanese army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) nears the five-month mark with neither side declaring victory nor showing any concrete signs of pursuing mediation.

Drones carried out a series of heavy air strikes on Sunday morning on southern Khartoum, a large district of the city occupied mainly by the RSF, an eyewitness who saw the strike told Reuters, asking not to be identified for security reasons.


Tribune

 

[Cricket Warrior]

It's astonishing to see that the people of Sudan are harming their own kin while attempting to conquer their own land from their own people.

 

[WicketLord]

In war between the Sudan army group, more than 10,000 civilians have died, and over 20,000 have been injured. Also more than 4 million people have fled the violence across Sudan.
But there doesn't seem to be a serious effort to stop this war from international community or even OIC and I am surprised about this

 

[WicketLord]

Flames gripped the Sudanese capital on Sunday and paramilitary forces attacked the army headquarters for the second day in a row, witnesses reported, as fighting raged into its sixth month.

“Clashes are now happening around the army headquarters with various types of weapons,” witnesses told AFP on Sunday from Khartoum, while others reported fighting in the city of El-Obeid, 350 kilometres south.

Battles between the regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) intensified on Saturday, resulting in several key buildings in central Khartoum being set alight.

In social media posts verified by AFP, users shared footage of flames devouring landmarks of the Khartoum skyline, including the Greater Nile Petroleum Oil Company Tower — a conical building with glass facades that had become an emblem of the city.

 

[WicketLord]

Flames gripped the Sudanese capital on Sunday and paramilitary forces attacked the army headquarters for the second day in a row, witnesses reported, as fighting raged into its sixth month.

“Clashes are now happening around the army headquarters with various types of weapons,” witnesses told AFP on Sunday from Khartoum, while others reported fighting in the city of El-Obeid, 350 kilometres south.

Battles between the regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) intensified on Saturday, resulting in several key buildings in central Khartoum being set alight.

In social media posts verified by AFP, users shared footage of flames devouring landmarks of the Khartoum skyline, including the Greater Nile Petroleum Oil Company Tower — a conical building with glass facades that had become an emblem of the city.

DAWN

 

[WicketLord]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1703318560632614939

 

[Cricket Warrior]

UN raises alarm over child deaths in Sudan as health crisis deepens.

More than 1,200 children have died of suspected measles and malnutrition in Sudan refugee camps, while many thousands more, including newborns, are at risk of death before year-end, United Nations (U.N.) agencies said on Tuesday.

More than five months into a conflict between Sudan's army and paramilitary group, Rapid Support Forces, the country's healthcare sector is on its knees due to direct attacks from the warring parties as well as shortages of staff and medicines, they said.

Dr. Allen Maina, chief of public health at the U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR), told a U.N. briefing in Geneva that since May more than 1,200 children from Ethiopia and South Sudan under the age of five had died in nine camps in White Nile state, home to one of Sudan's larger refugee populations.

"Unfortunately we fear numbers will continue rising because of strained resources," he added, adding that partners were struggling to vaccinate refugees, stoking the risk of epidemics.


Reuters

 

[Cricket Warrior]

UN aid chief says six months of war in Sudan has killed 9,000 people

Six months of war between Sudan’s military and a powerful paramilitary group has killed up to 9,000 people and created “one of the worst humanitarian nightmares in recent history,” the United Nations humanitarian chief said Sunday.

Sudan has been engulfed in chaos since mid-April, when simmering tensions between military chief Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan and the commander of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, exploded into open warfare.

“For six months, civilians ... have known no respite from bloodshed and terror,” U.N. Undersecretary-General Martin Griffiths said in a statement marking the six-month anniversary of the war. “Horrific reports of rape and sexual violence continue to emerge.”

According to the U.N. migration agency, more than 4.5 million people were displaced inside Sudan, while over 1.2 million others sought refuge in neighboring countries. The fighting also left 25 million people — more than half of the country’s population — in need of humanitarian aid, Griffiths said.

UN aid chief says six months of war in Sudan has killed 9,000 people

The United Nations humanitarian chief says Sudan's war between the military and a powerful paramilitary group has killed up to 9,000 people and created “one of the worst humanitarian nightmares in recent history."

apnews.com

 

[Danyal A]

Thousands of refugees in danger as Sudan fighting spreads from Khartoum

Fighting intensifies in South Kordofan state and also threatens Gezira state, to where hundreds of thousands of people have fled

Fighting between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has spread south of Khartoum towards Gezira state, endangering the lives of thousands of people who have fled there from the capital.

The conflict is also intensifying in South Kordofan state, where a large rebel force, the SPLMN, that mobilised in June, has been relentlessly attacking army barracks, and in Darfur, where Arab militias backed by or affiliated to the RSF have been accused of conducting a brutal campaign of ethnic violence.

Across Sudan, school closures have affected about 20 million children. The RSF is understood to be actively recruiting older children from the southern outskirts of Khartoum, while the army has been recruiting young men and women from tribes in areas it controls in the north.

Fighting between the army and the RSF erupted on 15 April over tensions linked to a planned transition to civilian rule. Months after mediators suspended negotiations, there appears to be no clear winner and no end in sight to a war that has displaced more than 5.75 million people, killed thousands and destroyed major cities.

The RSF is now attempting to move southwards towards Gezira state, a key agricultural area and population centre. Hundreds of thousands of people, as well as some government and humanitarian functions displaced from Khartoum, have moved there. Last week, the RSF took control of Ailafoun, a large town on one of the routes to Madani.

Meanwhile, aid workers are struggling to access badly affected parts of Khartoum and Darfur, and cases of measles, malaria, dengue fever and cholera have been reported nationwide.

“Everybody is losing weight, and people are struggling mentally as well,” said 29-year-old Khalid Salih from Omdurman, a city on the west bank of the Nile River, opposite Khartoum. “There are limited food items in the markets, which are closing early due to fears they’ll be bombed by the army. People are also scared of being arrested and interrogated by the RSF. It’s bleak.”

Salih said that like many other men he had remained in Omdurman to guard his family home, while women and children in his family had fled to safer parts of the country.

Aisha Abdulrahman, a 62-year-old living in the al-Haj Yousif district in the east of Khartoum, said she was still reeling from army airstrikes on her neighbourhood in late September. “I was shocked by what I saw,” she said. “They killed children who were playing football. Their bodies were cut into pieces.”

Abdulrahman, who managed to send three of her 11 children to Sudan’s western neighbour Chad, said the strikes had cut power, internet and telephone access to her neighbourhood for 10 consecutive days. She thought both the army and the RSF wanted people to leave the capital: “It feels like they want to displace us without saying it.”

The RSF now controls most of Khartoum and the army has almost no presence on the streets, with its only tactics to target RSF positions from the air and use heavy artillery from afar, which often result in heavy civilian casualties.
On Wednesday, the BBC reported it had seen new evidence of brutal ethnic violence in Darfur, based on an analysis of satellite and social media data by the Centre for Information Resilience, a research body partly funded by the British government. The BBC said the analysis showed that at least 68 villages in Darfur had been set on fire by armed militias since the civil war began.

Army officials and their supporters have vowed to crush the RSF, despite battlefield setbacks, and have expressed no interest in reaching a ceasefire deal. Meanwhile, other countries are continuing to supply arms: Egypt and Turkey are sending drones to the army, and the UAE is supplying kit to the RSF through Chad.

Regional and international efforts to stop the war have gone quiet, and people in Khartoum say they fear the Isarel-Hamas war will further distract international attention from their plight.

Al-Tahir Hajar, a former rebel leader who sits on the sovereign council led by the army chief Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, said the main blocks to stopping the war were Islamist supporters of Sudan’s former dictator Omar al-Bashir and people he described as “racists” in the army.

“The problem is in the leadership of the army,” Hajar said. “The decision to stop the war is not in Gen Burhan’s hands, but in the hands of the Islamists and the racists who want to come to rule this country again. Neither group has understood the lesson that Sudan will not be ruled by political foolishness again.”

Cameron Hudson, an analyst and consultant on African peace, security and governance issues, who served as the chief of staff to successive US presidential special envoys for Sudan, said “Sudan fatigue” had set in within the international news media and among some diplomats.

“There is a sense that Sudan is in a perennial state of coups and violence,” Hudson said. “However, the problem is that Sudan has never been threatened the way it is today. Its very existence is in question.”

 

[Cricket Warrior]

‘Horrible suffering’ in Sudan only growing as more displaced: UN official

United Nations: As fierce fighting in Darfur once again pushes thousands of Sudanese to flee their homes, more must be done to alleviate the suffering of the millions already displaced, a UN official tells AFP.

“Six months and six million people forced to move, that’s an average of one million per month, it’s horrible suffering,” said Mamadou Dian Balde, the top regional official for the UN’s refugee agency (UNHCR).

The war between troops loyal to Sudanese army chief Abdel Fattah Al-Burhane and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of General Mohamed Hamdane Daglo has left more than 9,000 dead since April, according to a UN report.

Of the nearly six million who have fled, 1.2 million have left the country, “very proud people who find themselves begging” and whose lives have been “totally disrupted,” the UN official said.

He warned that while the world’s attention has been shifted to the war in Gaza, the number of people fleeing their homes in Sudan had started to rise again, as RSF forces advance toward Nyala, the country’s second city in the heart of Darfur.

Another UN official in the region, Dominique Hyde, said on social media Thursday she had witnessed “dramatic scenes at the border with Sudan.

“10,000 people seeking safety have arrived in the last three days,” she said.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken meanwhile said he was “deeply troubled” at information about an “imminent large-scale attack” by Sudan’s paramilitary forces in El-Facher, the capital of North Darfur.

More and more people from Darfur are being pushed south, first to Chad in recent weeks and now to South Sudan.

Mamadou Dian Balde said the priority was for a cessation of hostilities, noting that ongoing negotiations in Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah need to “succeed in stopping the fighting.”

Talks between the warring parties resumed at the end of October. Previous attempts at mediation only resulted in brief truces, which were systematically violated.

In the meantime, “we must alleviate the suffering (of refugees) by providing resources to these people whose numbers are only increasing,” he said.

The UN’s humanitarian response plan in August called for around $1 billion in funding, anticipating a number of 1.8 million refugees by the end of 2023.

That plan has only received 38 percent of the funding required, while “the needs are growing,” said the UN official, noting that most refugees were going to the poorest parts of South Sudan and southern Chad, where local communities cannot absorb them.
That means the UN will need to build new camps.

“It’s the last thing we want to do,” said the UN official, but “we need to create new camps, because the populations are at the border” and in “extremely miserable conditions.”

He also called for helping the local communities.

“We want development. We have to invest in these places because if we only give support to refugees, it will create tensions and tensions can translate into violence.”

 

[Cricket Warrior]

More than 20 people were killed Sunday after shells hit a market in a suburb of the Sudanese capital Khartoum, a committee of pro-democracy lawyers said in a statement.

It was the latest bloodshed in the fighting since April between the forces of army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

A statement from the committee for pro-democracy lawyers said the shells hit the market in Omdurman during an intense exchange of fire between the two sides.

“More than 20 civilians have been killed and others have been wounded,” said the statement, which was sent to AFP. The committee keeps track of rights violations during the conflict and its civilian victims.

On Saturday, a medical source said shells that hit houses in Khartoum had killed 15 civilians.

Omdurman has repeatedly been the site of fierce battles between the two sides.

More than 20 killed in Sudan after shell hits market: NGO

WAD MADANI: More than 20 people were killed Sunday after shells hit a market in a suburb of the Sudanese capital...

www.brecorder.com

 

[sweep_shot]

Wasn't expecting this crisis to last this long.

Prayers are with Sudanese people.

 

[Champ_Pal]

Wasn't expecting this crisis to last this long.

Prayers are with Sudanese people.

It’s a way of life there. Africans are warriors and fighting is their nature.

 

[hassan918]

An unimaginable humanitarian crisis is unfolding in Sudan​

GENEVA – The war that erupted without warning turned previously peaceful Sudanese homes into cemeteries. Now, fighting is growing in scope and brutality, affecting the people of Sudan, and the world is scandalously silent, though violations of international humanitarian law persist with impunity. It is shameful that the atrocities committed 20 years ago in Darfur can be happening again today with such little attention. As a result, almost six million people have been forced from their homes; more than a million have fled to neighbouring and often fragile countries – and some of them have already moved on.

Away from the eyes of the world and the news headlines, the conflict in Sudan continues to rage. Across the country, an unimaginable humanitarian crisis is unfolding, as more and more people are displaced by the relentless fighting.

Within Sudan, 4.5 million people have been internally displaced since April, when the war began, while 1.2 million have fled to neighbouring countries like Chad, Egypt, South Sudan, Ethiopia and the Central African Republic (CAR). The overwhelming majority of the refugees (in some cases, as in the CAR, nearly 90 per cent) are women and children.

Recent fighting in the Darfur region has caused even more displacement with thousands of people struggling to find shelter and many sleeping under trees by the roadside. We are very concerned about them not having access to food, shelter, clean drinking water or other basic essentials.

Last week I visited Sudan’s White Nile State, where over 433,000 internally displaced persons are estimated to be living. In addition, before the conflict, White Nile State was hosting nearly 300,000 mostly South Sudanese refugees in 10 refugee camps.

The surge in the numbers of displaced people has overwhelmed essential services in the camps. Like in the rest of Sudan, schools have been shut for the last 7 months as displaced people find temporary shelter inside the classrooms. The education and the future prospects of millions of children in Sudan are at risk. And the health situation is disastrous. More than 1,200 children under 5 have died in White Nile State between mid-May and mid-September alone, due to a measles outbreak combined with high levels of malnutrition. At least four children are still dying every week in White Nile State, as essential medicines, personnel, and supplies are lacking.

The exodus of Sudanese refugees to neighbouring countries, meanwhile, is increasing dramatically. In Chad, new arrivals are coming at a rate of some 700 per day. Last week I was in Renk in South Sudan, near the border with Sudan. In recent days, Renk has seen a sharp increase in refugee arrivals. In the week I was there, over 20,000 people crossed the border from Sudan. Some of them were South Sudanese returning to their country but most, about 70 per cent of them, were Sudanese citizens.

A transit centre in Renk built for 3,000 people now has about 20,000 – most of whom are Sudanese refugees. There are people everywhere you walk, and the situation is getting worse and worse. The water and sanitation situation is just ripe for an outbreak of cholera. I’ve been in this work for 30 years and this is probably one of the worst situations I’ve seen.

The numbers are just staggering. Officially, over 362,000 people have crossed into South Sudan since the start of the conflict in Sudan. Relief agencies like UNHCR and others are doing their best to help but we are overwhelmed. Our staff are working night and day, but our capacity is not sufficient to keep pace with the needs. We urgently need funding for the response.

There have been shocking accounts of widespread rape and sexual violence. The UN calls for an immediate end to all gender-based violence, including sexual violence as a tactic of war to terrorize people. There must be accountability for these crimes, as well as medical and psychosocial support for survivors. The parties must put in place mechanisms to prevent recurrence of such violence.

The Regional Refugee Response Plan for the humanitarian needs in all the neighbouring countries that are receiving Sudanese refugees is currently only 39 per cent funded. We are appealing for $1 billion for 64 partners in five countries. A separate appeal for the humanitarian needs inside Sudan is only a third funded. That appeal aims to reach 18.1 million people and requires $2.6 billion.

Both these appeals are vital. Unless we provide urgent humanitarian assistance to the civilian population inside Sudan, they will continue to move to neighbouring countries like South Sudan and Chad, that are struggling to respond to the deepening humanitarian crisis. And if we cannot help those countries to meet the most basic needs of refugees, they will try to find a way to safety and a better future for themselves and their families, even if that means risking their lives by putting themselves in the hands of smugglers and undertaking long and dangerous onward journeys.

I welcome the resumption of the Jeddah talks – and hope they will help at least reach a ceasefire soon.

An unimaginable humanitarian crisis is unfolding in Sudan | UNHCR

GENEVA – The war that erupted without warning turned previously peaceful Sudanese homes into cemeteries. Now, fighting is growing in scope and brutality, affecting the people of Sudan, and the world is scandalously silent, though violations of international humanitarian law persist with...

www.unhcr.org

 

[Cricket Warrior]

Attack in area claimed by Sudan, South Sudan, leaves 32 dead

A spate of attacks in a disputed region claimed by both Sudan and South Sudan has left 32 people dead including a UN peacekeeper, local officials said.

A government representative for Abyei, a contested oil-rich territory straddling the border of both countries, condemned the attacks that occurred early Sunday in two counties by armed militias and soldiers wearing uniforms of South Sudan’s national army.

“In these attacks, 32 people were killed including women and children burned into their huts, and more than twenty (20) people wounded,” said Bulis Koch Aguar Ajith, information minister for Abyei, and South Sudan’s spokesman for the region, in a statement issued late Sunday.

“Also killed is one UNISFA solider and one injured” the statement said, referring to the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei, without providing details.

He said the latest “barbaric attacks on civilians” were a continuation of deadly violence that broke out last week in the region.

South Sudan called for an urgent investigation into the attacks.

Located between Sudan and South Sudan, Abyei has been a flashpoint since the South gained independence in 2011.

A regional UN envoy expressed concern earlier this month that fighting between the forces of two generals vying for power in Sudan was drawing closer to the country’s border with South Sudan and Abyei.

Hanna Tetteh, the UN special envoy for the Horn of Africa, said Abyei’s proximity to the fighting between Sudan’s rival forces threatened to destabilise the already fragile region and its sometimes volatile local dynamics.

She also said the Sudan crisis had “effectively put on hold” talks between leaders from both countries over Abyei’s long-disputed status.

The Security Council this month voted unanimously to extend the 12-year-old UN peacekeeping mission in Abyei which currently comprises some 4,000 military and police personnel.

Attack in area claimed by Sudan, South Sudan, leaves 32 dead

JUBA: A spate of attacks in a disputed region claimed by both Sudan and South Sudan has left 32 people dead...

www.brecorder.com

 

[hassan918]

Kidnapping and sexual slavery of underage girls in Greater Khartoum​

November 29, 2023 (KHARTOUM) – Disturbing reports have emerged of the kidnapping and sexual slavery of underage girls in Greater Khartoum, highlighting the harrowing experiences faced by vulnerable civilians in the war-torn region.

On November 24, two underage girls, identified as D (15) and O (13), were forcibly abducted by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) from their makeshift residence in the Safa neighbourhood of Al-Klakla in Khartoum State.

The victims’ mother, already struggling to survive in Khartoum since the onset of the war, witnessed the horrifying incident. The family has been without the father, who ventured to work in the gold mining sector in another state two years ago, leaving them in a perilous situation.

Eyewitnesses recount that RSF soldiers stormed the house, seizing the girls under the pretext that they were ‘needed.’ The distraught mother, crying and screaming, was powerless as the armed forces threatened and terrorized those present. Despite concerted efforts by a network of family and friends, D and O remain missing days after the abduction.

Emerging patterns suggest that these kidnappings are part of a recurring trend. Sources from Khartoum emergency rooms reveal that young girls, predominantly underage, are being taken to an RSF soldiers’ camp in Wad Al-Aqali, where they are forced into sexual slavery for the RSF soldiers in the area.

This incident adds to a series of atrocities and war crimes committed in Sudan, primarily by the RSF. Reports from as early as July indicate a systematic pattern of kidnapping female civilians in Khartoum and Darfur for purposes of sexual slavery, ransom, or sale in markets. Eyewitnesses have reported sightings of women and girls bound and held in cars in Darfur or en route to Darfur.

In a statement extended to Sudan Tribune, the Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa (SIHA) Network has condemned the incidents and called for urgent intervention.

SIHA urgently calls upon the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and other humanitarian organizations on the ground to mediate and facilitate the safe return of the kidnapped girls to their mother.

The women’s regional network emphasizes the importance of amplifying the voices of those on the frontline, ensuring they are not silenced by violence and intimidation.

Against the backdrop of at least 717 reported cases of enforced disappearances, since the conflict began in April 2023, with 51 confirmed cases involving women (47 adults and 4 minors), SIHA underscores the urgent need for action to address this crisis and protect vulnerable populations in Greater Khartoum.

Kidnapping and sexual slavery of underage girls in Greater Khartoum - Sudan Tribune

November 29, 2023 (KHARTOUM) – Disturbing reports have emerged of the kidnapping and sexual slavery of underage girls in Greater Khartoum, highlighting the harrowing experiences faced by vulnerable civilians in the war-torn region. On November 24, two underage girls, identified as D (15) and O...

sudantribune.com

 

[hassan918]

Sudanese warring parties dig in as Jeddah talks falter again​

DUBAI, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Saudi and U.S.-brokered talks aimed at halting fighting between Sudan's warring parties have faltered again, and the country's army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces have pressed on with military campaigns that have caused a major humanitarian crisis.

The lack of progress at the talks in Jeddah dashed hopes for resolution of a conflict that has displaced more than 6.5 million inside and outside Sudan, decimated the economy, and triggered ethnically driven massacres in Darfur.

Sudan's army has escalated its rhetoric and residents say it has intensified air strikes in the capital Khartoum, while its rival, the paramilitary RSF, has secured advances in the Darfur and Kordofan regions.

"They are firing artillery aggressively, and it often lands in civilian homes," said Ahmed Abdallah, a 51-year-old in Omdurman, a city that adjoins Khartoum where the rivals are battling over army bases.

The RSF and army worked together to oust former ruler Omar al-Bashir in 2019 and stage a coup in 2021, but conflict erupted between them in April over a plan for a new transition.

Talks in Jeddah were first suspended in June and resumed in October. They were adjourned this week with no new agreement, Sudanese sources at the talks said, after commitments to calm rhetoric, capture Bashir cronies, and facilitate humanitarian assistance went unfulfilled.

Representatives for the two sides, who were not meeting face to face, remained at odds over the RSF's occupation of much of Khartoum, the sources said.

The army has demanded that the RSF withdraw to specific bases, and rejected an RSF counter-proposal that it leave civilian homes and set up checkpoints around the city, they said.

A U.S. State Department spokesman said mediators remained ready for additional talks but "the parties need to demonstrate that they can implement their commitments".

On Monday, the U.S. sanctioned three Bashir-era intelligence officials over their alleged roles in fuelling the conflict on both sides.

On Saturday, army head General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan said in a speech to soldiers that the war "would not end until every inch of this country soiled by the rebellion is free".

The RSF has re-opened markets and hospitals and deployed police in Darfur, consolidating recent gains. It has also continued its expansion into the Kordofan region, which lies between Khartoum and Darfur,

Source: Reuters

 

[hassan918]

There are millions of people suffering in Sudan and the superpowers must make some contribution towards bringing peace and happiness in that part of the World too like they are doing in places like Ukraine.

 

[Cricket Warrior]

Sudan’s generals agree to meet in efforts to end their devastating war, a regional bloc says

udan’s warring generals agreed to hold a face-to-face meeting as part of efforts to establish a cease-fire and initiate political talks to end the country’s devastating war, an African regional bloc said Sunday.

Sudan slipped into chaos after soaring tensions between military chief Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan and Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, commander of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, exploded into open fighting in mid-April in the capital, Khartoum, and elsewhere across the country.

The country has been in turmoil for several years, ever since a popular uprising forced the removal of longtime dictator Omar al-Bashir in 2019. The short-lived transition to democracy was derailed when the two generals joined forces to lead a military coup in Oct. 2021. After they fell out, war followed 18 months later.

The conflict has wrecked the country and killed up to 9,000 people by October, according to the United Nations. However, activists and doctors’ groups say the real toll is far higher.

In a meeting of the leaders of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development, a grouping of East African countries, both Sudanese generals agreed to “an unconditional cease-fire and resolution of the conflict through political dialogue,” and to hold a “a one-to-one meeting,” the bloc said in a statement Sunday.

Burhan, who chairs Sudan’s ruling Sovereign Council, attended the meeting Saturday in Djibouti, which holds the rotating IGAD presidency.

Meanwhile, Dagalo, whose whereabouts are unknown, spoke by phone with IGAD leaders.

The statement gave no further details, including when and where the two generals would meet.

Sudan’s generals agree to meet in efforts to end their devastating war, a regional bloc says

An African regional bloc says Sudan’s warring generals have agreed to hold a face-to-face meeting as part of efforts to establish a cease-fire and initiate political talks to end the country’s devastating war.

apnews.com

 

[Cricket Warrior]

RSF forces raid Al-Jazhira’s town, looting market and government facilities

A Rapid Support Forces (RSF) unit on Thursday raided the town of Abu Quta, northwest of Al-Jazira State, adjacent to Khartoum State, and plundered the main market and government buildings.

According to a resident of Abu Quta, the RSF arrived from the Jabal Aulia area, situated about 40 kilometres south of Khartoum. He revealed that the RSF’s primary objective was to obtain food supplies and fuel.

“The RSF members looted stores to acquire sugar, flour, tea, meat, and vegetables, taking advantage of the town’s weekly market day,” he told Sudan Tribune.

The resident also reported that the police station was vandalized, the Agricultural Bank branch was looted, and several civilian vehicles were stolen by the RSF before fleeing the area when military aircraft flew overhead, refraining from attacking any military targets.

As the RSF entered Abu Quta in the morning, firing heavy bullets, panic ensued, though fortunately, there were no civilian casualties.

RSF forces raid Al-Jazhira's town, looting market and government facilities - Sudan Tribune

December 14, 2023 (WAD MADANI) – A Rapid Support Forces (RSF) unit on Thursday raided the town of Abu Quta, northwest of Al-Jazira State, adjacent to Khartoum State, and plundered the main market and government buildings. According to a resident of Abu Quta, the RSF arrived from the Jabal Aulia...

sudantribune.com

 

[Cricket Warrior]

Violent clashes erupt in central Sudan as RSF attack Al-Jazirah State

The Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a Sudanese paramilitary group, initiated a significant offensive on the outskirts of Wad Madani, the capital of Al-Jazirah State, on Friday morning.

The attack triggered intense confrontations with the Sudanese army, which deployed substantial firepower to thwart the RSF advance.

The conflict unfolded a mere 15 kilometres from Wad Madani, a pivotal city in central Sudan with a population exceeding 1.5 million. Witnesses reported explosions and observed dense smoke billowing from the area.

The RSF, reportedly comprising hundreds of armoured vehicles and armed personnel, infiltrated Al-Jazirah State from Eastern Nile in Khartoum State, targeting areas east of Wad Madani, including Al-Alila, Al-Sharafa, and Abu Haraz.

The military responded promptly, sealing the Hantoub Bridge leading to Wad Madani and stationing troops on both sides. Residents of the Al-Dabbaga neighbourhood, closest to the bridge, were evacuated with urgency and advised to seek safety.

Fighter jets and reconnaissance planes circled the city, with the unmistakable sound of anti-aircraft fire resonating through the air. The clashes induced panic among Wad Madani’s residents, prompting many to abandon their homes.

Eyewitnesses described the ferocity of the fighting, recounting military aircraft heavily targeting RSF gatherings near Kiran and Um Shanq. Explosions rocked the Al-Alila oil depot, the primary fuel storage in Al-Jazirah State.

Traders in Wad Madani’s primary market closed their shops as clashes intensified, while owners of substantial businesses relocated their goods to safer areas. The city, hosting displaced civilians from Khartoum since the April 15 conflict between the army and RSF, now faced additional displacement due to the latest clashes.


The attack on Wad Madani coincides with the army’s recent efforts to disrupt RSF supplies in Khartoum, Khartoum Bahri, and the Eastern Nile.

On Thursday, RSF forces in Jabal Aulia raided Abu Quta, northwest of Al-Jazira State, looting the main market and government buildings before withdrawing.

https://sudantribune.com/article280384/

 

[Cricket Warrior]

Sudan orders three Chad diplomats to leave in 'reciprocal' action: report

Sudan has ordered three diplomats from Chad to leave the country within 72 hours, saying the individuals were "persona non grata", the Sudanese state news agency reported on Sunday.

The move by Sudan follows Chad declaring four Sudanese diplomats at the Sudanese embassy in N'Djamena as unwelcome a day earlier, the agency added.

The term persona non grata is used when a foreign diplomat is asked by a host state to be recalled to their home country.

Chad said its decision was due to what it called "grave statements" by Sudanese officials accusing it of interfering in the conflict in Sudan.

Sudan orders three Chad diplomats to leave in 'reciprocal' action: report

CAIRO: Sudan has ordered three diplomats from Chad to leave the country within 72 hours, saying the individuals were...

www.brecorder.com

 

[hassan918]

‘Remove him’: Sudan army chief al-Burhan faces calls to go after RSF gains​

The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has captured Sudan’s second-largest city, just a day after the army and its supporters prematurely celebrated repelling an attack.

As army soldiers retreated from Wad Madani – once a hub for hundreds of thousands of displaced people – they left civilians behind. The army has released a rare statement acknowledging that its troops withdrew too quickly and promising an investigation, yet their supporters are calling for accountability.

“On Sunday we actually celebrated with the rest of Wad Madani,” said Noon Arbab*, a young woman now searching for a way out of the city with her family. “Now I think it was all a big lie.”

“I think we should throw the army’s entire leadership away,” she added.

Countless civilians like Arbab are calling for army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan to step down in the hope that a new leader can thwart the RSF’s advances.

Al-Burhan’s subordinates are also furious with the way he is fighting the war, according to sources close to security forces. But experts warn that a change of guard could lead to a power struggle – or vacuum – fracturing the Sudanese army.

“Despite the position that al-Burhan finds himself in, I think if he leaves – however that happens – it will leave an indelible mark on the Sudanese army,” said Kholood Khair, an expert on Sudan and founding director of the think tank Confluence Advisory.

Losing legitimacy

Since the RSF captured Wad Madani, many of the army’s supporters have taken to social media to call on generals to replace al-Burhan. The sentiment is widely shared among civilians who are terrified that the RSF could attack their towns and cities next.

The RSF tends to loot homes, markets and banks in every city it conquers, as well as subject women to sexual violence.

“All of the citizens want the removal of al-Burhan. He is the reason for all of the cities and provinces falling to the RSF,” said Yousif Ibrahim*. “I still don’t understand why the army just left Wad Madani. Wad Madani is where so many displaced people from Khartoum sought refuge.”

Hamid Khalafallah, a Sudanese analyst and PhD candidate at the University of Manchester, where he researches democratic transitions in Africa, said most of the army’s traditional supporters feel betrayed.

He added that his father had fled Wad Madani on Sunday, but soldiers told him to return after claiming that they defeated the RSF. The next day, his father fled again when the RSF stormed the city.

“Military troops in [nearby towns] were advising people to go back … what the military has done has led to a feeling of betrayal,” Khalafallah told Al Jazeera. “People [in this region] won’t support the RSF, but they feel lost. They don’t know who to turn to now.”

Coup d’etat?

One week before Wad Madani fell to the RSF, a former army officer told Al Jazeera that most generals view al-Burhan as a weak leader. But he stressed that nobody was going to topple him to preserve a strong chain of command for the duration of the war.

“As soon as the war ends, Burhan is gone,” the former officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal, told Al Jazeera.

Al-Burhan may be more vulnerable after the fall of Wad Madani, according to two Sudanese journalists who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the topic.

“There has been some movement in the army, but nobody knows what exactly is going on,” one journalist, who has close contacts in security services, told Al Jazeera.

Another Sudanese journalist said army generals have not removed him because they cannot agree on who should replace him.

“They need someone with experience, charisma, and [who is] not tainted. Getting those three in one is hard,” the journalist told Al Jazeera.

Desperate attempt?

Over the course of the war, al-Burhan has tried to brand himself as Sudan’s de facto head of state, with some success. As a result, experts say that any attempt to remove him could hurt the army’s political leverage over the RSF, which most Arab and Western states still widely view as an irregular militia.

“Even if [generals] managed to avoid a split in the army, any leadership change risks rocking the army’s foreign relations at a very delicate time or looking like an act of desperation,” said Alan Boswell, an expert on the Horn of Africa for International Crisis Group, a non-profit dedicated to ending and preventing conflict worldwide.

Khair, from Confluence Advisory, adds that al-Burhan remains the perfect scapegoat for an army on the cusp of losing complete control of Sudan.

“Al-Burhan has a lot of the public ire … and frankly there is a lot more public ire to come if things keep going the way they are going for the [military].”

Khair also said that generals loyal to former President Omar al-Bashir, and who are members of the Islamic movement in Sudan, may topple al-Burhan if the RSF conquers cities such as Atbara and Shendi.

Both River Nile cities are home to military and political elites who have ruled Sudan since it acquired independence in 1956.

“Al-Burhan is the perfect fall guy … but now is not the time to get rid of him,” Khair told Al Jazeera. “Army officers may wait until the RSF takes a place like Shendi and sacrifice him then.”

“My sense is that his days are numbered.”

* Some names have been changed to protect individuals from reprisal.

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA

 

[hassan918]

Sudan in 'total panic' as paramilitaries move South​

"The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have looted everything: cars, lorries and tractors," laments a resident of a village in the state of al-Jazira, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals from the paramilitaries as they push southwards in war-torn Sudan.

The villagers of al-Jazira hold their breath every time they hear the roar of a car or motorbike engine, so fearful are they of the dreaded RSF paramilitaries.

"On Saturday, seven individuals armed with machine guns and wearing FSR uniforms knocked on my door", Abdine told AFP, declining to reveal his surname for security reasons.

They asked him about the car parked in his garage before "taking it away with their weapons pointed at us", said a distressed resident of Hasaheisa, a town 50 kilometres north of the capital of Al-Jazeera, Wad Madani.

The bloody war that has pitted the Sudanese army against the RSF paramilitaries in Khartoum for the past eight months has forced half a million people to seek refuge further south, in this agricultural state that was until recently spared the violence.

Recently, however, the paramilitaries, who control most of the capital, have been advancing along the motorway linking the capital to Wad Madani, taking village after village and terrorising its inhabitants.

On 15 December, they attacked Wad Madani, forcing more than 300,000 people to flee again, within the state of Al-Jazira but also towards the neighbouring states of Sennar and Gedaref, according to the UN.

Since then, the paramilitaries have continued their relentless descent southwards.

On Saturday, they were spotted "15 kilometres north of Sennar", 140 kilometres south of Wad Madani, witnesses told AFP.

- Looted markets and indiscriminate fire -

"Army planes bombed Rapid Support Forces gatherings to the north of the town, causing panic among residents", other witnesses reported.Since the surprise start of the conflict on 15 April, the army led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhane has mainly played its air trump card: it is the only army with fighter jets.General Mohamed Hamdan Daglo's FSR, on the other hand, favours mobile troops perched on pick-ups.

Everywhere they go, women and girls are afraid of being subjected to "sexual violence, a recurring threat" in Sudan, according to the NGO Save the Children.

On the Hasaheisa market, the doors of the stalls were open and the goods that the looters were not interested in were spread out on the ground, an AFP journalist observed.

"Have the RSF come to fight us, the citizens, or have they come to fight the army?" 42-year-old Omar Hussein asked AFP, as shops and vehicles belonging to his family were looted or destroyed.

At another market, Tamboul, halfway between Khartoum and Wad Madani, paramilitaries charged into the market firing indiscriminately, witnesses reported.

- Every room searched" - According to the UN, 12,000 people have died as a result of the conflict, a figure that is surely greatly underestimated given the extent to which whole swathes of the country have been cut off from the rest of the world.

It has also displaced 7.1 million people, including 1.5 million in neighbouring countries, said Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for the UN Secretary-General, on Thursday, describing it as "the world's largest displacement crisis".

On Friday, the United Nations Security Council expressed "concern" at the intensification of violence in Sudan, while "strongly condemning" attacks against civilians and the extension of the conflict "to areas hosting large populations of displaced persons".

Since the start of the war, the two rival camps have accused each other of attacking civilians.

So, says Rabab, who has also hidden her surname, when the paramilitaries "fired bullets in front of the house before entering, we all panicked".

"They only left after searching every room," she told AFP.

Al-Tayeb, a resident of a village near Hasaheisa, was surprised when the paramilitaries asked him "a strange question: they wanted to know how I had obtained the money to build my house, which I inherited from my father which was built 35 years ago".

An answer that, in any case, will matter little to the fighters. On Saturday, eight people were shot dead by the RSF in the village of Artadhwa because they opposed looting, witnesses told AFP.

Sudan in 'total panic' as paramilitaries move South | Africanews

"The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have looted everything: cars, lorries and tractors," laments a resident of a village in the state of al-Jazira, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals from the paramilitaries as they push southwards in war-torn Sudan.

www.africanews.com

 

[hassan918]

There are millions of people who are suffering in Sudan and the world super powers should make their contribution in putting and end to this crisis.

 

[hassan918]

Sudanese paramilitary leader Hemedti meets civilian leaders on tour​

DUBAI/CAIRO, Jan 1 (Reuters) - The leader of Sudanese paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo met on Monday with civilian pro-democracy politicians in Addis Ababa, the latest stop in a foreign tour as his troops take the upper-hand in a devastating nine-month war.

The meeting comes as General Dagalo, known as Hemedti, has appeared to present himself as a possible leader of a country now home to the world's largest displacement crisis, with little aid reaching millions in need amid threats of famine.

He has also been received by leaders in Uganda, Ethiopia, and Djibouti, which army head and Sudan's head of state Abdel Fattah al-Burhan described as "acts of hostility."

The threat of further expansion of the RSF, which has taken hold of the center and most of the west of the country, has prompted calls for civilians to take up arms, with observers warning of all-out civil war.

The local pro-democracy, anti-military resistance committee has accused the RSF of killing hundreds of civilians, kidnapping, and looting in Wad Madani, capital of Gezira State, which it took over late last month.

Hundreds of thousands had sought refuge there from the capital Khartoum to the north. Civilians in the farming villages of the state reported similar activity, including RSF soldiers raiding homes demanding cars and women.

That pattern, repeated throughout the war, prompted the U.S. last month to say that the RSF has committed war crimes and crimes against humanity, as well as ethnic cleansing in West Darfur state.

In a speech before the meeting on Monday, Hemedti apologised for the violations in Gezira and said that RSF leadership was rounding up "rogue actors."

"We ask the regional and international community to look optimistically at our struggle... towards Sudan's new future after achieving peace," echoing calls for equality and democracy long-espoused by the civilian politicians he met with on Monday.

Many in the group, including former Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, had been ousted from power in 2021, when the army and RSF led a coup ending Sudan's democratic transition after the 2019 downfall of Omar al-Bashir.

In a speech late on Sunday, Burhan said that those who made allowances for the RSF were complicit in its crimes.

Referencing previous talks in Jeddah, Burhan said that the way towards ending the war would be the exit of the RSF from Sudanese cities and Gezira state and the return of looted property.

The two leaders have accepted invitations by regional body IGAD to meet, but the details of a meeting have not been announced.

The army has also been accused of war crimes by the U.S. Sudan Human Rights Monitor said in a report on Monday that it had killed 118 people in airstrikes on the western city of Nyala in late December.

Source: Reuters

 

[Cricket Warrior]

Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, the commander of Sudanese paramilitary forces that are fighting the national army, met South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in Pretoria on Thursday as part of a tour of African capitals.

Daglo has also met regional leaders in Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia and Djibouti since late December, his first visits abroad since the start of the conflict in mid-April.

“I briefed President Ramaphosa on the root causes of the war and the factors contributing to its persistence,” Dagalo posted on X, formerly Twitter.

“I emphasised our unwavering commitment to cease hostilities despite the challenges arising from the reluctance of the opposing force and their intentional efforts to prolong this conflict,” he said.

The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), an organization of eight East African countries, has been trying to bring Dagalo to the table with Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, head of the Sudanese army.

The two men have never met since the start of the war that has plunged Sudan into a humanitarian crisis, with 12,000 dead, according to a conservative estimate by the ACLED analysis group, and more than seven million people displaced, according to the United Nations.

“President Ramaphosa expressed South Africa’s support for the imminent face to face dialogue between General Dagalo and General Burhan and reiterated the need for an immediate cease-fire, and the dialogue toward permanent cessation of hostilities,” the South African president’s office said in a statement, using an alternative spelling for the paramilitary leader.

The US State Department said African leaders meeting with either side “should send a very clear message that there’s no acceptable military solution to the conflict in Sudan.”

“We want to see both parties return to the negotiating table, we want to see a cease-fire that is actually adhered to, and we want to see both parties to this conflict stop their brutal attacks on civilians and actually take actions that are in the interests of the people of Sudan,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said.

Dagalo has shown an openness to ending the fighting during his visits abroad, expressing on Thursday “our full readiness to stop the war.”

But earlier mediations have led to short-term truces that weren’t respected.

In recent weeks, fighting has extended to Al-Jazira state in the east, which had been spared up to now and had become a refuge for half a million people.

Meanwhile, Sudan’s national government Thursday recalled its ambassador from Kenya to protest Kenyan President William Ruto meeting Dagalo during the Sudanese paramilitary leader’s tour of East African capitals.

https://www.arabnews.com/node/2436431/world

 

[hassan918]

‘They’re targeting us’: Sudan’s army cracks down on democracy activists​

When the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces captured Sudan’s second-largest city, Wad Madani, tens of thousands of people fled and sought safety in regions still under the army’s control.

Mohamad Osman* was among them, but military intelligence arrested him as he was trying to flee on December 27.

He was taken to a secret detention centre – commonly referred to as a “ghost house” in Sudan – where the army quickly found out that he was a member of the Kalakla resistance committee, one of many neighbourhood groups that spearheaded the pro-democracy movement before the war.

For five days, Osman was electrocuted and forced to look at seven corpses rotting on the cold concrete floor. He was going to be number eight.

Luckily, a friend in the military bailed him out.

Osman is one of dozens of Sudanese activists who have been arrested and tortured in ghost houses by military intelligence in recent weeks, even as the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) threatens to defeat the army and capture all of Sudan.

“The first thing they asked him was if he was a member of the resistance committees,” said Fatma Noon*, a spokesperson for the Kalakla resistance committee. “We know they’re targeting us.”

Many of those being detained are members of the resistance committees, which played an instrumental role in organising mass protests to bring down Sudan’s autocratic former President Omar al-Bashir in April 2019.

Four years later, the RSF and army – former bedfellows and relics of al-Bashir’s regime – ignited a devastating civil war by turning on each other. The former has been accused of grave crimes including ethnically motivated killings and sexual violence against women and girls.

The army, which is suspected of harbouring Bashir-era loyalists tied to Sudan’s Islamist movement, is also accused of failing to protect civilians and settling scores against pro-democracy activists, according to several resistance committee members.

“What is happening is the political revenge by cadres of the former regime who are in the security forces,” said Hassan al-Tayb*, a resistance committee member in Port Sudan, the army’s stronghold and Sudan’s de facto administrative capital since the war.

‘Sleeper cells’
The army frequently accuses resistance committee members of being RSF sleeper cells, but activists believe this is a pretext to punish them for their role in bringing down al-Bashir.

“There are some people in the army that say volunteers and activists cooperate with the RSF. But this is not correct,” said Yousif Omer*, a resistance committee member in the city.

“I believe these are political arrests. Many of the activists being taken were active during the revolution [that brought down al-Bashir]. Now, they are facing baseless accusations,” Omer told Al Jazeera.

Al Jazeera sent messages to army spokesman Nabil Abdallah asking him for comment about the arrests of activists, but received no response by the time of publication.

Meanwhile, Sudanese activists accuse the army of devoting more efforts to crack down on them than to fight the RSF. Many pointed to the army’s rapid withdrawal from Wad Madani in mid-December, which allowed the paramilitary to capture the city.

Wad Madani was a safe haven for hundreds of thousands of people displaced from the capital Khartoum and surrounding cities earlier in the war, many of whom just had to flee again when the RSF attacked.

Some activists went to nearby Sennar state, where they were arrested by military intelligence.

“Many friends were detained … there isn’t just one case but quite a few. We just hope they will be released soon,” Omer told Al Jazeera.

Threat to legitimacy?
Since the war erupted in April 2023, resistance committees have mobilised to evacuate civilians from neighbourhoods caught in the crossfire, power hospitals and distribute food and medicine to those in need. But activists are now pausing their initiatives for fear of arrest.

“Right now, I stopped all my work,” Omer said. “To be honest, we’re scared of military intelligence. We just don’t feel like we can move freely to do our work.”

Other activists said the army has imposed heavy security measures and set up checkpoints that restrict the movement of civilians and hampered the delivery of aid.

In River Nile state, the governor even issued an order to disband resistance committees and reform them according to strict guidelines set by the governor, who also barred members of old committees from joining the new ones.

Hamid Khalafallah, a Sudanese expert and an active member of the resistance committees before he fled the country in May, told Al Jazeera that the army is restricting and impeding international aid.

“There is a bit of a shift by international aid agencies, who now wish to work with local groups because they have seen that [working through the army] has resulted in very little aid reaching people,” Khalafallah told Al Jazeera from Manchester, United Kingdom.

He added that because the army feels that resistance committees threaten its legitimacy and tries to disrupt them, vulnerable communities will face more hardship if local relief is stamped out or scaled back.

“I imagine the military is not very happy about possibly losing an opportunity to exploit or divert aid,” he added.

Crushing civil space
Resistance committees have also drawn ire for calling for an end to the war, for the RSF to dissolve and for the army to surrender to a civilian government, according to al-Tayb from Port Sudan.

“The [army] is against any activist that does not support the war or the return of the former regime,” al-Tayb told Al Jazeera.

He added that many activists have urged civilians not to pick up arms and fight with the army, effectively challenging calls from top army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.

On January 6, al-Burhan reiterated that the army will supply weapons to all civilians who want one. Photos also surfaced across social media of what appeared to be troops teaching children how to use rifles and machine guns.

Sources in Sudan have previously told Al Jazeera that the army is recruiting and training children as young as 15.

“We will not hesitate to train and arm everyone capable of carrying weapons, and every citizen has the right to defend himself, his home, his money and his honour against the mercenaries,” al-Burhan told a crowd of supporters in Red Sea State.

Days earlier, Al Jazeera learned, several army convoys drove into Gedaref state in east Sudan to hand out hundreds of weapons to civilians. Resistance committee members were arrested that same week. Khalafallah believes there is a link between the two campaigns.

“There is a big pushback from resistance committees against arming civilians. They have been saying it is a bad move [from the army],” he told Al Jazeera.

“I think the military and Islamists would certainly be keen to silence such voices.”

‘They’re targeting us’: Sudan’s army cracks down on democracy activists

In the midst of war, Sudan’s army is retaliating against activists for their role in bringing down the former regime.

www.aljazeera.com

 

[hassan918]

Sudan suspends membership in IGAD regional bloc​

The government of war-ravaged Sudan says it has suspended its membership in the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), the east African regional bloc that has tried to broker talks between the country’s warring parties.

Saturday’s announcement was made by the foreign ministry, which is loyal to Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the army chief and Sudan’s de facto leader.

The Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group have been fighting for nine months in a war that has killed thousands of people and displaced more than seven million.

The government had announced this week that it was freezing its relations with IGAD ahead of a meeting of the bloc in Uganda on Thursday, after it invited RSF head Mohamed Hamdan “Hemedti” Dagalo. It accused the bloc of “violating Sudan’s sovereignty” and setting a “dangerous precedent”.

IGAD, in parallel with the United States and Saudi Arabia, had repeatedly attempted to mediate between the two sides, to no avail.

Months of war
The war erupted in mid-April over an internationally backed plan to merge the RSF into the army and launch a transition towards elections.

The army and the RSF had shared power after longtime ruler Omar al-Bashir was toppled during a popular uprising in 2019. Before they came to blows, they jointly staged a coup in 2021 that upended efforts to steer Sudan towards democracy.

Throughout the conflict, both sides have been accused of war crimes, including the indiscriminate shelling of residential areas, torture and arbitrary detention of civilians.

The RSF has also been accused of ethnically motivated mass killings – especially in Darfur – as well as rampant looting and the use of rape as a weapon of war.

More than 13,000 people have been killed in the conflict, according to a conservative estimate by the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project.

An estimated 7.5 million civilians have fled the fighting, either abroad or to other parts of the country, according to United Nations figures.

Source: Al Jazeera

 

[hassan918]

Six firms involved in Sudan war sanctioned by EU council​

The European Council has adopted sanctions against six entities involved in the war in Sudan. The horn of Africa nation's regular army (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have been fighting since last April.

The Council said in a statement Monday that the six entities were responsible for "supporting activities undermining the stability and political transition of Sudan".

Among those listed are two companies involved in the manufacture of weapons and vehicles for the SAF (Defense Industries System and SMT Engineering).

The bloodshed in Sudan has continued to escalate despite international attempts to forge a lasting ceasefire. The war has uprooted more than 7.5 million people from their homes and created a humanitarian crisis.

In November, the European Union condemned an escalation of violence in Sudan's Darfur region, warning of the danger of another genocide after conflict there between 2003-08 killed some 300,000 people and displaced more than two million.

Six firms involved in Sudan war sanctioned by EU council | Africanews

The Council said in a statement Monday that the six entities were responsible for "supporting activities undermining the stability and political transition of Sudan".

www.africanews.com

 

[Cricket Warrior]

Pakistani peacekeeper martyred in South Sudan ambush

A Pakistani peacekeeper was martyred when a convoy was ambushed in Abyei — a disputed area between Sudan and South Sudan — while escorting two local patients to a hospital, the military said in a statement on Monday.

According to Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), Pakistani peacekeepers responded effectively to the attack and forced the militants to retreat.

However, it added that during the exchange of fire, resident of Badin Sepoy Muhammad Tariq embraced martyrdom while four individuals including two officers were injured.

Pakistani peacekeeper martyred in South Sudan ambush | The Express Tribune

ISPR says four individuals including two officers were injured during attack in Abyei

tribune.com.pk

 

[hassan918]

ICC accuses Sudan and rebels of Darfur war crimes​

Sudan’s army and its rival paramilitary force are committing war crimes in Darfur, the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) chief prosecutor has said.

Karim Khan launched a war crimes investigation into the renewed conflict in July. On Monday, he reported to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) that he had “grounds to believe” crimes established under the Rome Statute are being committed in the restive western region.

The situation in Darfur is “dire by any metric”, he told the UNSC.

The Rome Statute established the ICC in 2002 to investigate the world’s worst atrocities, including war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and crimes of aggression.

“We are collecting a very significant body of material, information and evidence that is relevant to those particular crimes,” Khan said.

ICC accuses Sudan and rebels of Darfur war crimes

Karim Khan moving ahead with investigation into atrocities committed in latest flare-up in 20-year conflict.

www.aljazeera.com

 

[FearlessRoar]

Sudan has been plunged into an internet blackout with many blaming the paramilitary group fighting the army in the country's 10-month civil war.

The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has denied responsibility.

NetBlocks, a watchdog that monitors internet freedom, said on X, there had been a "new collapse of internet connectivity" in Sudan.

It comes as a Sudanese hacktivist group targeted Uganda for welcoming the RSF leader, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.

NetBlocks said it had found a disruption to the services of internet providers Uganda Telecom and MTN, although a BBC reporter in the capital Kampala said he did not notice any problems.

In Sudan, some people have reported being unable to access the internet since Friday but the situation has since got even worse.

According to the Sudan Tribune news site, an RSF official accused the army of issuing direct orders to sever communication in parts of Darfur, Kordofan, Khartoum, and Al-Jazirah states, which are largely under the control of the paramilitary group.

However, state-aligned media have blamed the RSF.

NetBlocks said on Wednesday that the one of the major mobile operators in Sudan, Zain, was "largely offline".

In a statement posted on Facebook, Zain said that it was "working under very difficult, harsh, and dangerous circumstances".

It added that the "current network outage is due to circumstances beyond its will".

Two other providers, South African-owned MTN Sudan and state-owned Sudani, were operating at zero on Friday, according to NetBlocks.

The network outage adds another layer of hardship to a nation at war.

In response to the ongoing conflict, the United Nations has appealed for $4.1bn (£3.25bn) to address the urgent humanitarian needs of those in Sudan and people who have been forced to flee their homes.

At least nine million people have been displaced, while some 25 million - half the entire population - need assistance, the UN says.

Source: BBC

Sudan hit by internet blackout as civil war continues

The internet outage comes on top of a 10-month civil war which has forced nine million from their homes.

www.bbc.com

 

[hassan918]

Unicef says 700,000 children in Sudan at risk of worst form of malnutrition​

GENEVA: Unicef said on Friday that 700,000 children in Sudan were likely to suffer from the worst form of malnutrition this year, with tens of thousands who could die.

A 10-month war in Sudan between its armed forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has devastated the country’s infrastructure, prompted warnings of famine and displaced millions of people inside and outside the country.

“The consequences of the past 300 days means that more than 700,000 children are likely to suffer from the deadliest form of malnutrition this year,” James Elder, spokesperson for Unicef, told a press conference in Geneva.

“Unicef won’t be able to treat more than 300,000 of those without improved access and without additional support. In that case, tens of thousands would likely die.”Elder defined the most dangerous form of malnutrition as severe acute malnutrition, which makes a child 10 more likely to die from diseases such as cholera and malaria. He said 3.5 million children were projected to suffer acute malnutrition.

Unicef provides “ready-to-use therapeutic food”, or RUTF, a life-saving food item that treats severe wasting in children under five years old, to Sudan.Unicef is appealing for $840 million to help just over 7.5 million children in Sudan this year, but Elder deplored the lack of funds collected in previous appeals.

“Despite the magnitude of needs, last year the funding Unicef sought for nearly three-quarters of children in Sudan was not forthcoming,” Elder said. The United Nations on Wednesday urged countries not to forget the civilians caught up in the war in Sudan, appealing for $4.1 billion to meet their humanitarian needs and support those who have fled to neighbouring countries.

Unicef says 700,000 children in Sudan at risk of worst form of malnutrition

GENEVA: Unicef said on Friday that 700,000 children in Sudan were likely to suffer from the worst form of malnutrition this year, with tens of thousands who could die.A 10-month war in Sudan between...

www.thenews.com.pk

 

[hassan918]

These are alarming numbers. Developed countries from all over the world should make their contribution to tackle this situation in Sudan.

 

[hassan918]

UN Calls for $4.1 Billion To Stave off Mass Famine in Sudan​

The United Nations has appealed for $4.1 billion in funds to assist civilians in war-torn Sudan and in neighboring countries hosting Sudanese refugees, amid warnings that a devastating famine is looming in which hundreds of thousands of people could starve to death by next year.

The UN estimates that 18 million people, double the number from this time last year, are currently facing emergency levels of hunger in Sudan. More than half the country’s 25 million people are reliant on humanitarian assistance.

The children’s aid agency UNICEF said that 700,000 children in Sudan are likely to suffer from severe acute malnutrition this year, with 3.5 million children projected to suffer from severe malnutrition.

A UNICEF spokesman said that without improved assistance, tens of thousands of children are likely to die this year.

Water-borne diseases such as cholera, which causes diarrhea and leads to further malnutrition, have also been taking a toll, especially among children. A cholera outbreak affected thousands of people and caused at least 224 deaths in one region of Sudan in December, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Since last April, a bitter civil war has been raging in Sudan between the Sudanese Armed Forces, under Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, under Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagaolo, generally known as Hemedti. Millions of people have been displaced inside Sudan and about 1.5 million people have fled to neighboring countries.

UN Calls for $4.1 Billion To Stave off Mass Famine in Sudan - The Media Line

The United Nations has appealed for $4.1 billion […]

themedialine.org

 

[hassan918]

Sudanese refugees face gruelling wait in overcrowded South Sudan camps​

RENK, South Sudan: A new truck arrives in the South Sudanese town of Renk, packed with dozens of elderly men, women and children, their exhausted faces betraying the strain of their traumatic journey out of war-ravaged Sudan.

They are among more than half a million people who have crossed the border into South Sudan, which is struggling to accommodate the new arrivals.

Renk is just 10 kilometers (six miles) from Sudan, where fighting broke out in April last year between army chief Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan and his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, commander of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

Since then, Renk’s two UN-run transit centers have been overwhelmed by an uninterrupted influx of frightened people, fleeing for their lives.

The journey is rife with danger, said Fatima Mohammed, a 33-year-old teacher who escaped with her husband and five children from El-Obeid city in central Sudan.

“The bullets were entering our house. We were trapped between crossfire in our own street. So we understood that we needed to leave for the good of our kids,” she said, describing the situation in Sudan as “unsustainable.”

It took them five days to make their escape, with Sudanese soldiers and RSF fighters “making (it) difficult for us to leave the country.”

“They took all our phones at one checkpoint, a lot of our money (at) another one. We saw abuses happening at those checkpoints,” she said.

Since the start of the conflict, nearly eight million people, half of them children, have fled Sudan.

Around 560,000 of them have taken refuge in South Sudan, according to the United Nations, which estimates that around 1,500 new arrivals turn up in the country every day.

Many spend months waiting in the transit camps, hopeful that someday soon they will be able to return home.

Iman David fled fighting in Sudan’s capital Khartoum with her then three-month-old daughter, leaving her husband behind.

“It was supposed to be a short stay, but I am still stuck here in Renk after seven months,” the 20-year-old said.

“My hope is to go back to Khartoum and reunite with my husband but I don’t know his fate.”

The war has claimed the lives of thousands of civilians, according to UN figures.

Around 25 million people, more than half of Sudan’s population, need humanitarian assistance, while around 3.8 million children under the age of five are suffering from malnutrition, the UN says.

While many in Renk long to return home, others hope to travel onwards to the town of Malakal in Upper Nile state, which is also hosting a huge number of refugees.

At Renk port, hundreds of people lined up under the oppressive glare of the midday sun, waiting hours to hop aboard the metal boats which make the trip at least twice a week.

As she waited, Lina Juna, a 27-year-old mother of four, said her final destination was the South Sudanese capital Juba.

“I have nothing to do in Juba, no family members or friends, no business or work to take care of because I have spent all my life in Sudan,” she said.

“But I still expect Juba to be much better than Khartoum,” she added, recalling days spent struggling to find food as heavy fighting rocked the city.

Several hours later, she managed to board a boat, one of two carrying some 300 people each.

“Today is a good day for us,” said Deng Samson, who works for the International Organization for Migration.

“Some weeks we have seen ourselves completely overwhelmed,” he said, adding that the approaching monsoon made him nervous.

“We are truly afraid of what will happen when the rainy season comes, with waters rising from the river and disrupting the normal functioning of the port.”

With up to 10 trucks and buses turning up in Renk every day, the UN is trying to mobilize the international community, launching an appeal for $4.1 billion this month to respond to the most urgent humanitarian needs.

Sudanese refugees face gruelling wait in overcrowded South Sudan camps

RENK, South Sudan: A new truck arrives in the South Sudanese town of Renk, packed with dozens of elderly men, women and children, their exhausted faces betraying the strain of their traumatic journey out of war-ravaged Sudan.They are among more than half a million people who have crossed the...

www.arabnews.pk

 

[hassan918]

US names new special envoy to Sudan in push to end war​

WASHINGTON, Feb 26 (Reuters) - The United States will appoint a new special envoy for Sudan on Monday, as Washington seeks to bring an end to a war that has wrecked parts of the country and killed tens of thousands.

Former diplomat and U.S. member of Congress Tom Perriello will assume the special envoy role, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement provided to Reuters ahead of the announcement, as the U.S. seeks to bring increased focus to the conflict after the failure of talks so far.

In a statement, Perriello said he will build on efforts of partners across Africa and the Middle East to bring an end to the war, a humanitarian crisis and atrocities.

"This appointment reflects the urgency and importance President Biden and Secretary Blinken have placed on ending this war, putting a stop to rampant atrocities against civilians, and preventing an already horrific humanitarian situation from becoming a catastrophic famine," Perriello said.

The U.S. Ambassador to Sudan John Godfrey has left his role, Blinken said in the statement.

Daniel Rubinstein will serve as interim charge d'affaires as director of the Office of Sudan Affairs, Blinken said. He will be based in Ethiopia.

War broke out in Sudan last April over disputes about the powers of the army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) under an internationally-backed plan for a political transition towards civilian rule and elections.

The army and the RSF had shared power with civilians after the fall of former leader Omar al-Bashir in a popular uprising in 2019, before staging a coup two years later.

The fighting has wrecked parts of Sudan including the capital Khartoum, killed more than 13,000 people according to U.N. estimates, drawn warnings of famine, and created an internal displacement crisis.

The Rapid Support Forces are accused by the U.S. of participating in an ethnic cleansing campaign in West Darfur, along with war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The army, which has carried out a widespread airstrike campaign, is also accused of war crimes by the U.S.

Perriello previously served as special envoy for the Great Lakes region of Africa and the Democratic Republic of Congo, and as a U.S. representative from Virginia.

Rubinstein recently led the U.S. delegation at talks on Sudan in the Saudi city of Jeddah. Neither side maintained commitments made in the talks.

The U.S. military evacuated American government personnel from Khartoum in April last year and suspended operations at its embassy there after fighting between Sudan's rival commanders broke out.

Source: Reuters

 

[hassan918]

Sudan demands full reinstatement to the AU, conditions acceptance of mediation​

Sudan’s Defense forces commander Abdel Fattah al-Burhan has conditioned acceptance of AU mediation on membership reinstatement.

Citing a statement from theruling Sovereignty Council local media reported that, al-Burhan expressed “Sudan’s confidence in the African Union's potential solutions, but only if the state regains its full membership and the organization treats it as such.”

Gen Burhan met members of the AU High-Level Panel on the Resolution of the Conflict in Sudan on Sunday.

The three-member panel was established by the AU Commission in January to facilitate dialogue, restore constitutional order and work collaboratively with all the Sudanese stakeholdersmeaning all civilian forces, military belligerents and regional as well as global actors including IGAD, the UN, the League of Arab States.

The panel aims to ensure an all-inclusive process towards the swift restoration of peace and stability in Sudan.

The nation was suspendend from all instances of the continental body after an October 2021 takeover which saw general al-Burhan and RSF commander Genreral Hamdane Daglo, remove the civilian government and detain its leaders.

The move was widely condemned as a coup.

It led to the intensification of near weekly protests.

Sudan demands full reinstatement to the AU, conditions acceptance of mediation | Africanews

Citing a statement from theruling Sovereignty Council local media reported that, al-Burhan expressed “Sudan’s confidence in the African Union's potential solutions, but only if the state regains its full membership and the organization treats it as such.”

www.africanews.com

 

[hassan918]

Ramadan around the corner in Sudan amid ‘the world’s largest hunger crisis’​

25 million people affected by the war in Sudan don’t know where their next meal is coming from, according to the World Food Programme. The UN had demanded a ceasefire during Ramadan.

Sudan at risk of ‘world’s largest hunger crisis’ during Ramadan

25 million people affected by the war in Sudan don’t know where their next meal is coming from, according to the WFP.

www.aljazeera.com

 

[hassan918]

Sudan army regains control of national TV and radio headquarters from RSF​

Sudan’s army has taken control of the country’s national radio and television headquarters from the rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the army said in a statement.

The military posted videos online showing its soldiers inside the headquarters on Tuesday in Omdurman, a city across the Nile from Khartoum that forms part of Sudan’s wider capital, where the army has claimed recent gains after a string of military losses.

There was no immediate comment from the RSF.

The conflict broke out in mid-April 2023 amid tensions over a plan for transition to civilian rule.

In 2021, the warring factions staged a coup that derailed a previous transition following the 2019 overthrow of longtime leader Omar al-Bashir.

Al Jazeera’s Hiba Morgan, reporting from Khartoum, said the military’s takeover of the media headquarters follows weeks of gains against the RSF.

“After overnight battles between the RSF and the Sudanese army, and after gains from the army here in the city of Omdurman, the army was able to retake control of the station,” said Morgan.

“It shows that the army over the past few weeks has been making steady gains from the RSF, regaining territory and recapturing grounds back from the RSF in the city of Omdurman and in some other parts of the capital as well.”

The war in Sudan has devastated the capital, sparked waves of ethnically driven killings in the western region of Darfur and created the world’s biggest displacement crisis.

The United Nations has called for a ceasefire over the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, but the army has rejected a pause in hostilities with the RSF unless the paramilitary group vacates civilian facilities in the capital of Khartoum and elsewhere.

“So fighting continues here in the capital Khartoum,” Morgan said. “We were able to see, in the past few hours, several plumes of smoke rising in various parts of the capital – and we were able to hear artillery shelling.”

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES

 

[Cricket Warrior]

Sudan’s army chief vows to push on after advance in embattled capital

The head of Sudan’s army has told troops it will press to take more ground after its most significant advance in an 11-month-old war against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, as a charity warned of a rising risk of hunger-linked deaths.

Army forces, which witnesses say have been boosted by recent deployment of drones, took control on Tuesday of the radio and TV headquarters in Omdurman, across the River Nile from Khartoum and part of the wider capital. The RSF, a rival military faction that has had the upper hand in the conflict, had held the area since the first days of the war in April last year.

Though broadcasting from the radio and TV building had stopped, the advance extended the army’s reach across the old center of Omdurman — strategically important because it hosts military bases and has been a transit point for RSF resupplies.

Witnesses said they had seen destroyed RSF vehicles and the bodies of RSF fighters near the broadcast complex on Wednesday.

“Our message to the Rapid Support rebels is that the armed forces and regular military services will go after you everywhere until victory is achieved,” army chief Gen. Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan told troops at the Engineer Corps base in Omdurman late on Tuesday.

The army would continue to fight the RSF in other parts of the capital, and in the western region of Darfur and El Gezira state south of Khartoum — areas where the RSF made swift advances late last year — “until complete victory is achieved,” Al-Burhan said, according to a statement issued on Wednesday.

The army also released a video showing Al-Burhan stopping in a convoy of Land Cruisers with heavily armed guards to break his Ramadan fast with residents on a roadside in Omdurman.

The army has signaled it will not consider international appeals for a ceasefire during Ramadan unless the RSF agrees to a major military withdrawal.

The war, which broke out over the terms of a plan for a political transition from military rule toward free elections, has caused more than 8 million people to flee their homes, creating the world’s biggest displacement crisis.

The number of Sudanese estimated to be facing crisis levels of hunger — one stage before famine — has more than tripled in a year to nearly 5 million.

Some in Omdurman have struggled to access food, though the army’s recent gains eased the situation in at least one area.

On Wednesday, the international charity Save the Children said that about 220,000 severely malnourished children and over 7,000 new mothers in Sudan could die in the coming months from hunger unless more funding for humanitarian relief is provided.

Relief efforts have been badly hampered by denial of access and looting of aid supplies.

Fighting has also brought down the supply chain within Sudan for foods used to treat severely malnourished children, according to Save the Children.

https://www.arabnews.com/node/2476286/middle-east

 

[hassan918]

Sudan war causes stoppages on South Sudan oil pipeline, officials say​

The main pipeline carrying oil from South Sudan through Sudan for export has been suffering stoppages since last month due to problems linked to the war between Sudan’s army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), according to three Sudanese officials, Reuters reports.

A 16 March letter from Sudan’s Minister of Petroleum, seen by Reuters, declared force majeure on deliveries of oil through the pipeline to a terminal near Port Sudan on the Red Sea coast.

The letter said gelling had restricted flows on 10 February, and that after this was cleared a major rupture occurred at another point in the pipeline.

The letter said both incidents occurred in areas affected by fighting, and that communications had been hampered by network outages that spread across Sudan in recent weeks.

The quantity of oil affected and resulting loss of revenue from the stoppage were not immediately clear.

South Sudan had been sending about 150,000 barrels per day of crude through Sudan for export, under a formula established when South Sudan gained independence from Khartoum in 2011, taking most oil production with it.

The exports are an important source of revenue for South Sudan, and Sudan takes a cut of the oil as a transit fee.

The official Sudanese sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity and are aligned with the army, blamed the RSF for the stoppage, saying it took place in RSF-controlled territory.

An RSF media official denied that the force was responsible and said that it respected the agreement for oil exports between Sudan and South Sudan.

The letter from Sudan’s Petroleum Minister said resolution of the gelling issues required pumping and heating stations to be fully functional and for adequate supplies of diesel, issues that were “challenged by the current war conditions in Sudan”.

The Ministry of Petroleum in Juba, the capital of South Sudan, did not respond to requests for comment.

The Petrodar pipeline, set up by a consortium including China’s CNPC and Sinopec, as well as Malaysia’s Petronas, runs more than 1,500 km (932 miles) from the Melut Basin in South Sudan’s Upper Nile state to Port Sudan on Sudan’s Red Sea coast.

Another pipeline carries oil from South Sudan’s Unity State to Port Sudan.

Sudan war causes stoppages on South Sudan oil pipeline, officials say

The main pipeline carrying oil from South Sudan through Sudan for export has been suffering stoppages since last month due to problems linked to the war between Sudan's army and...

www.middleeastmonitor.com

 

[Cricket Warrior]

South Sudan seeks UAE help to end Sudan war, citing economic strain

South Sudan and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have renewed their commitment to ending the war in neighbouring Sudan. The conflict continues to disrupt the economies and stability of both Sudans.

South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir Mayardit sent a special envoy to deliver a message to UAE President Mohamed Ben Zayedn highlighting the importance of their strategic relationship and urging cooperation to restore peace in Sudan “through dialogue.”

Anwar Gargash, diplomatic adviser to the UAE president, received the message on Tuesday, March 26, from Benjamin Bol Mel, special envoy for the Republic of South Sudan president.

According to the UAE official news agency, their meeting focused on discussing aspects of bilateral relations and ways to develop and advance cooperation at all levels.

The specific content of the letter remains undisclosed. However, sources within the South Sudanese presidency revealed Kiir may have requested UAE assistance in engaging the leadership of Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

This engagement would reportedly focus on two key areas: protecting oil companies operating in RSF-controlled areas and repairing and maintaining oil facilities damaged by the conflict.

Oil revenue is crucial for South Sudan, accounting for over 90% of its government budget and 70% of its GDP. Disruptions in oil production due to the war have further strained the already struggling economy.

The UAE has close ties to the RSF leadership, which has drawn criticism from Sudan’s military. Some accuse the UAE of “fanning the flames of violence.” RSF leader General Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, also known as Hemetti, reportedly maintains personal and financial ties to the UAE.

https://sudantribune.com/article283796/

 

[hassan918]

Sudan slips into famine as warring sides starve civilians​

One year after the start of the war in Sudan, children are dying of hunger and sick people are not buying medicine so that they can afford food as the population slips towards famine.

In mid-April last year, a rivalry between army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the head of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Mohamad Hamdan “Hemedti” Dagalo broke into open conflict.

Since then, the fighting and significant destruction, paired with much lower agricultural production, have sent food prices soaring and made it extremely hard to find enough to eat.

“Civilians are dying in silence,” said Mukhtar Atif, a spokesperson for the “emergency response rooms” (ERRs), a volunteer network helping civilians across the country.

Atif’s network provides a single meal a day to about 45,000 people out of about 70 community kitchens in Khartoum North, one of the three cities of the national capital region.

The ERRs are a lifeline for thousands across Sudan, but their access is limited at times and they rely on donations, most of which come via mobile banking apps, impossible to use since a near-total communication outage began in February.

Without it, hundreds of kitchens were forced to close, and the queues got even longer at the few still functioning, people standing for hours for little more than a pot of fuul, a traditional dish of stewed fava beans.

While battles mostly centred in Khartoum in the beginning, they spread outwards as each of the parties consolidated power in the areas it controlled. The fighting has severely restricted the regular movement of food and aid convoys, and the hunger crisis in Sudan has deepened.

Nearly 25 million people – half Sudan’s population – need aid, the UN has estimated.

The conflict has forced more than eight million people to flee their homes, according to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project.

A UN source, who asked that their name be withheld due to the subject’s sensitivity, said both warring sides are posing obstacles, trying to prevent food from getting to areas controlled by their rival.

The army has imposed bureaucratic hurdles: An aid convoy in Port Sudan, under the control of the army, needs five different stamps before being able to move to reach civilians in need – a process that can take from days to weeks, the source said. In January, more than 70 trucks were left waiting for clearance for more than two weeks.

Al Jazeera reached out to an army representative to ask whether it prevented aid from reaching areas under RSF’s control. By the time of publication, the army had not replied.

Where the paramilitaries hold sway, the RSF’s command and control structures make it challenging to facilitate access on the ground, due to a lack of communication between those on the ground and higher-up officials within the RSF.

More than 70 aid trucks have been stuck in North Kordofan state since October, the source said, in an area the army controls but surrounded by RSF. The convoy cannot leave unless their safe passage is guaranteed through some form of taxation, be it money, goods or fuel.

RSF spokesperson, Abdel Rahman al-Jaali, did not respond to written questions about whether his forces are profiteering from aid convoys as alleged.

Sudan slips into famine as warring sides starve civilians

Without online remittances, soaring prices and cereal production cut, Sudan is in the middle of a humanitarian disaster.

www.aljazeera.com

 

[hassan918]

UN body delivers food aid to Darfur amid warnings of impending Sudan famine​

CAIRO: The World Food Programme said on Friday it had negotiated the delivery of the first two convoys of food aid into Sudan’s Darfur region in months, amid warnings of impending famine caused by a one-year war and lack of access to food aid.

The war between Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces has sparked widespread hunger in the country, after destroying infrastructure and markets and displacing more than 8 million people.

Catastrophic hunger, the term used on the household level for famine conditions, is expected in Khartoum and West Darfur, which have seen the fiercest attacks, according to the Famine Early Warning Systems Network, as well as in many other areas of Darfur that house millions of displaced people.

One convoy with 1,300 tonnes of supplies arrived via the Adre border crossing with Chad into West and Central Darfur, two areas already seeing emergency levels of hunger after being overrun by the Rapid Support Forces.

The Sudanese army in February blocked deliveries through Adre. WFP, a UN organization, said it was not sure whether it would be able to negotiate use of the route again.

In early March, the army said it would allow deliveries by air as well as through the Tina border crossing into North Darfur, the only one of Darfur’s five states that has not fallen under RSF control.

The second convoy used that route, WFP said, and together the convoys contained food for 250,000 people. More than 18 million people facing acute hunger need assistance, the WFP says.

“I fear that we will see unprecedented levels of starvation and malnutrition sweep across Sudan this lean season,” said WFP Sudan country director, Eddie Rowe, said, referring to the upcoming planting months.

The previous cereal harvest is half of previous levels according to the Food and Agriculture Organization, while prices of some goods have doubled.

UN body delivers food aid to Darfur amid warnings of impending Sudan famine

CAIRO: The World Food Programme said on Friday it had negotiated the delivery of the first two convoys of food aid into Sudan’s Darfur region in months, amid warnings of impending famine caused by a one-year war and lack of access to food aid. The war between Sudan’s army and the paramilitary...

www.arabnews.pk

 

[hassan918]

Millions in need of humanitarian assistance in war-ravaged Sudan: UN​

The UN has warned that 25 million people in Sudan are in need of humanitarian aid, with 8.6 million displaced.

"Today, Sudan is one of the world's worst humanitarian tragedies. Half of Sudan's population, 25 million people, need humanitarian assistance," said Justin Brady, OCHA head in Sudan on Friday.

Stating that "more people have fled conflict in the past year in Sudan than anywhere else in the world," Brady said at least "8.6 million people forced to flee their homes, including 4 million children."

Adding that "almost 2 million have fled to neighbouring countries," Brady said that around 5 million people are on the brink of famine, particularly in hard-to-reach areas such as Khartoum and Darfur.

He said that around 18 million people are grappling with acute food insecurity, marking a 10 million increase from the previous year.

Brady highlighted the significant impact of war on children, as he stressed that "an estimated 730,000 children are suffering from severe acute malnutrition without urgent assistance."

He warned that "more than 200,000 children could die from life-threatening hunger in the coming weeks and months."

https://www.trtworld.com/africa/millions-in-need-of-humanitarian-assistance-in-war-ravaged-sudan-un-17753373

 

[Cricket Warrior]

A year of violence, of displacement, of violations in Sudan’s war

A year since it started, the war in Sudan has spiralled into one of the world’s largest and most complex displacement crises. Since April 15, 2023, more than 8.6 million people have fled their homes, with 1.8 million people, mostly women and children, crossing to neighbouring countries.

Civilians suffer indiscriminate attacks – including widespread sexual violence. Communities are shattered, with families broken and separated or desperate to provide for those still in their care.

Youth have had their lives turned upside down, completely uncertain about the future. Sudan’s urban middle class is now nearly destroyed: architects, doctors, teachers, nurses, engineers, and students have lost everything.

Over the past 12 months, Ala Kheir, a Sudanese photographer, has worked with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to document the conflict and some of the lives it uprooted.

Witnessing devastation across the country, he was reminded of the atrocities seen during the 2003-2020 war in Darfur, where he was born.

“Through my photos, I hope that people at least engage with what’s going on,” he says.

“Those people who I photographed, I think if I can transfer their feelings across, I would at least have done something so that people elsewhere start to think about helping the Sudanese who are stranded in camps, schools, farms.

“Maybe, in the middle of all of this chaos and carnage, the parties to the conflict inside Sudan and abroad can start to think about solutions and interventions to help end this devastating war.”

Thousands are still crossing the borders. In South Sudan, more than 1,800 people arrive daily, increasing pressure on already stretched resources. Chad is experiencing the largest influx of refugees in its history.

Other countries hosting Sudanese refugees include the Central African Republic, Egypt, Ethiopia and Uganda. Host countries have been extremely generous in ensuring refugees can access public services, including documentation, education, healthcare and housing.

A year of violence, of displacement, of violations in Sudan’s war

One year on, the war in Sudan has spiralled into one of the largest and most complex displacement crises in the world.

www.aljazeera.com

 

[Cricket Warrior]

Algeria may give surplus MiG-29M fighter jets to Sudan for free

A significant shift in the African defense landscape suggests a possible move by Algeria’s Defense Ministry to supply excess MiG-29 fighter jets, sourced from Russia, to the Sudanese Air Force. Remarkably, these jets already form the main combat aircraft of their force.

This news, although yet to be officially confirmed, follows five tumultuous years in the Eastern African nation. This period began with a coup in April 2019, in which President Omar Al Bashir, a highly respected military leader, was ousted by a coalition backed by Western powers.

The subsequent years led to a division of Sudan’s military forces and a significant increase in external influences, particularly from Europe. This eventually sparked an internal conflict between the national armed forces and the reformed Janjaweed militia, now operating as the Rapid Intervention Forces, bolstered by strong patronage and financial support from the UAE.

Driven by an increase in support from Tehran towards the Sudanese Armed Forces, Algeria continues to offer its backing. This strategic shift nudges Khartoum closer to Algiers, owing to their mutual partnership with Iran and shared interest in military technology, including drones. This development is unfolding even as the United Arab Emirates remains a critical financial backer for anti-Algerian entities within West Africa.

Recently, Algeria has surged to prominence as a significant player on the African continent, independent of the influence of Western powers. They have provided substantial aid to the Niger government in staving off a potential French invasion, while also rallying behind Mali’s campaign to expel French forces from their nation.

Algeria’s Defence Ministry marked its official entry into the Air Force league with an inaugural order of 31 MiG-29 fighters in 1999; the delivery ensued the following year under a tripartite contract with Russia and Belarus. Initially, this class of fighters was expected to assume a markedly larger role within the Algerian Air Force. However, this vision shifted when the procurement of the more advanced MiG-29SMT fighters was halted in 2006, leading to these aircraft returning to Russia.

The Algerian Air Force has shown a strong preference for the heavyweight fighter Su-30MKA. This aircraft, although more expensive, showcases greater capabilities. Drawing comparisons, the Su-30MKA, currently the primary fighter jet of the Algerian Air Force with approximately 72 units in commission, outshines the smaller MiG-29. Similar in dimensions to the American F-18C/D, it vastly outclasses the F-16, the mainstay of NATO’s aerial forces.

Algeria may give surplus MiG-29M fighter jets to Sudan for free

A significant shift in the African defense landscape suggests a possible move by Algeria's Defense Ministry to supply excess MiG-29s to the Sudanese Air Force.

bulgarianmilitary.com

 

[Cricket Warrior]

US senators call on Biden to sanction Sudan’s RSF over human rights abuses

United States senators have written an open letter to US President Joe Biden, calling on him to recognise Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and its leader, General Mohamed Hamdan ‘Hemedti’ Dagalo, as violators of human rights.

The letter, dated Friday, follows the one-year anniversary of the war in Sudan between the RSF and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), two rival military factions fighting for control of the country after a coup in 2021.

The lawmakers cite the US’s Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act as a basis for sanctions, adding that the RSF and Hemedti’s activities include “gross violations of internationally recognized human rights committed against human rights defenders and persons seeking to expose illegal activity by government officials”.

The lawmakers have given Biden 120 days to act on the request.

The letter lists human rights abuses in Sudan, such as accounts of rape, extrajudicial killings, and targeting of journalists, including when Al Jazeera’s Ahmed Fadl and Rashid Gibril were detained and beaten up in Khartoum.

Additionally, it makes reference to a December 2023 statement from US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that the RSF had committed “war crimes, crimes against humanity, and ethnic cleansing” since the outbreak of the war last April.

The lawmakers also called on Biden to investigate the activities of the RSF to determine further sanctions that may be warranted.

US senators call on Biden to sanction Sudan’s RSF over human rights abuses

Lawmakers say Hemedti’s and the RSF’s activities and abuses make them deserving of sanctions from the United States.

www.aljazeera.com

 

[hassan918]

Sudan war could lead to more ethnic killings in volatile Darfur region​

Sudan’s civil war between its army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) could very well trigger a conflict in North Darfur that has impacts beyond Sudan’s borders, according to residents, aid workers and experts.

Clashes between the Sudanese army and the rival RSF are pulling in tribal actors, raising fears of a spiral into mass killings along ethnic lines, said the director of an international nongovernmental organisation (INGO), who requested anonymity to protect their team in North Darfur.

For the past week, the RSF and aligned nomadic (referred to as “Arab”) militias have clashed with the Sudanese army and allied sedentary (referred to as “non-Arab”) tribal armed movements in North Darfur.

Last week, tensions soared after the Joint Force of Armed Struggle Movements – a coalition of “non-Arab” armed groups – dropped their neutrality on April 12 to support the army against the RSF.

A day later, the RSF side burned down several “non-Arab” villages in the east of North Darfur, following disputes between nomads and farming tribes over stolen cattle, according to residents.

Civilians fled the villages to al-Shagra town and Zamzam camp, which hosts hundreds of thousands of people displaced from across Darfur, and where there have been no RSF attacks to date, residents say.

“We could see an all-out war between all the tribes and that is really the doomsday scenario. At this point, it’s not unrealistic,” the head of the INGO said.

Afnan*, a psychologist in North Darfur’s capital el-Fasher, added that despite the RSF burning down villages, it seems the group is currently more focused on fighting the armed movements directly.

“The [RSF] are saying that the armed movements are the same as the army,” she told Al Jazeera.

Source: Reuters

 

[Cricket Warrior]

Sudanese army says it thwarted RSF drone activity near Meroe

he Sudanese army asserted on Thursday that its ground-based air defences successfully repelled a drone reconnaissance mission conducted by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) near Meroe City in Sudan’s Northern State.

A statement issued by the 19th Infantry Division, stationed in Meroe, detailed that three small reconnaissance drones flying at high altitudes were detected on Wednesday. The drones travelled west to east near the Oum Bakul area, roughly 70 kilometres south of Meroe.

“Ground-based anti-aircraft weapons engaged the drones, disrupting their mission and forcing them to retreat,” the statement added.

This month, the RSF has conducted multiple drone strikes against military positions across Sudan, including Gadaref State in the east and Atbara and Shindi in the northern River Nile State.

The Sudanese army’s statement reassured Meroe residents that the drones posed no threat once detected and intercepted. It emphasized the use of radars and jamming devices to track and monitor unmanned aerial vehicles.

The statement concluded by urging civilians to report any sightings of unidentified objects in the sky to the nearest military post or police station.

https://sudantribune.com/article284870/

 

[Cricket Warrior]

good to see that Sudan Army is taking back the control of all major areas, hopefully things will start getting better for the poor peaople of Sudan.

 

[hassan918]

Fear and prayers in Sudan city under siege​

The threat of invasion darkens the daily struggle for life in El Fasher, the main city in Sudan’s western Darfur region and the last major urban centre still under the army’s control.

“We all live in absolute fear and constant worry of what awaits us in the coming days,” says Osman Mohammed, a 31-year-old English teacher.

Mohammed Ali Adam Mohamed, a 36-year-old grocery shop owner with five children, has no doubt what a full-scale battle would mean.

“If clashes occur between the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the army inside the city, we civilians will be the victims,” he tells the BBC.

Sudan’s brutal civil war began just over a year ago, after the country’s two leading military men who had staged a coup together – one the head of the armed forces, the other the head of the RSF – fell out over the future of the country.

Until now El Fasher has been spared the worst of the violence and ethnic killings that have taken place across Darfur, the stronghold of the RSF.

But since the middle of last month, the paramilitary force has been besieging El Fasher, a humanitarian hub which hosts hundreds of thousands of displaced people, including those who have fled other areas seized by the group.

So far, bombardments and skirmishes have killed 43 people, according to the UN.

As people wait to see whether the RSF does launch a full-scale attack on the city, their focus is on a battle for survival.

Osman is engaged and should be preparing for a new life with his fiancée, but he is consumed instead with meeting his basic needs.

“Life is super difficult because of a lack of security, lack of cash flow and money in general,” he tells the BBC. “Everything is very expensive: food, water, transport, education and the list goes on.”

“The middle class has disappeared,” says Mohammed, “80% of citizens are now poor.”

He had to close his grocery shop early in the conflict when it was hit by stray bullets, and open a smaller one. But goods are in short supply and business has been crippled by price fluctuations and monopolies.

“Prices rise significantly whenever roads are closed,” he says.

Sudan war: Threat of invasion in El Fasher leaves people in fear

People in the last major holdout of the army in the west of Sudan nervously await an assault.

www.bbc.com