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Tag: Sudan

  • Fighting in Sudan becoming worse; students being trapped, and hospitals and diplomats are being bombarded

    Fighting in Sudan becoming worse; students being trapped, and hospitals and diplomats are being bombarded

    Students at the University of Khartoum in Sudan‘s capital have been confined inside campus buildings for more than three days as gunfire and artillery fire have been raining down around them.

    The country has been gripped by fierce fighting between the army and a paramilitary group since it broke out on Saturday. The university area is a particularly hotspot because of its proximity to the General Command of the Armed Forces, where warplanes are circling overhead and nearby buildings are on fire.

    Al-Muzaffar Farouk, 23, one of 89 students, faculty members, and staff taking refuge inside the university library, said, “It is frightening that our country will turn into a battlefield overnight.”

    Food and water are running low, but leaving is not an option – one student has already been killed by gunfire outside. Khalid Abdulmun’em had been trying to run to the library from a nearby building when he was struck, said Farouk.

    The students retrieved his body and brought it inside “despite the bullets that were falling on us,” he added.

    The university confirmed Abdulmun’em’s death in a Facebook post, saying he had been shot in the campus’ surroundings. In a separate post on Monday, the university urged humanitarian organizations to help evacuate dozens of people stranded on campus.

    Khartoum has been wracked by violence and chaos in a bloody tussle for power between Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, Sudan’s military leader, and Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, also known as Hemedti, head of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

    The two leaders have traded blame for instigating the fighting and breaking temporary ceasefires. Meanwhile, civilians are paying the price, with at least 180 people killed and 1,800 others injured, according to UN officials on Monday.

    “I can see outside smoke rising from buildings. And I can hear from my residence blasts, heavy gunfire from outside. The streets are totally empty,” said Red Cross staffer Germain Mwehu from Khartoum.

    “In the building where I stay, I saw families with children, children crying when there are airstrikes, children horrified,” Mwehu said, adding that people had little to no access to food or medicine given the fierce fighting outside.

    Children are among those killed; a 6-year-old child died on Monday after the RSF shelled a hospital in Khartoum and damaged a maternity ward. Medics were forced to evacuate, leaving patients behind – some just newborns in incubators.

    At least half a dozen hospitals have been struck by both warring sides, according to Sudan’s Doctors Trade Union.

    Even diplomats and humanitarian workers have been targeted.

    US Secretary of State Antony Blinken confirmed there was an attack on a US diplomatic convoy on Monday.

    “Yesterday, we had an American diplomatic convoy that was fired on. All of our people are safe, but this the action was reckless, it was irresponsible and, of course, unsafe,” Blinken said in a press conference on Tuesday.

    The European Union ambassador to Sudan was also assaulted in his residency on Monday, though he is now doing fine, according to a spokesperson for the EU’s top diplomat.

    And three workers from the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) were killed in the western region of Darfur, prompting the WFP to temporarily halt all services in the country.

    In statements early Tuesday morning, the two rival factions pointed fingers at each other.

    The RSF accused the army of conducting airstrikes on residential neighborhoods and of attacking the EU ambassador’s headquarters in Khartoum; meanwhile, the army accused the RSF of targeting the ambassador’s residency, and of targeting the WFP’s headquarters in Darfur.

    The UN and various foreign leaders have called for peace, with Blinken speaking separately with Burhan and Dagalo on Tuesday.

    Blinken “expressed his grave concern about the death and injury of so many Sudanese civilians,” and argued a ceasefire was necessary to deliver aid, reunify separated families, and ensure the safety of diplomatic and humanitarian staff, according to a readout from the US State Department.

    In his own statement, Dagalo said the RSF “will have another call” to continue dialogue. Burhan’s office also confirmed he had spoken with Blinken about the critical situation in Sudan.

    The foreign ministers of G7 nations, comprised of some of the world’s largest economies, urged the factions to “end hostilities immediately” in their joint statement from Japan on Tuesday.

    Volker Perthes, the UN Secretary General’s Special Representative for Sudan, said on Monday the organization has been trying to convince the two rival parties to “hold the fire” for a period of time, and asked them to protect embassies, UN offices, humanitarian and medical facilities.

    Both sides had agreed to a three-hour ceasefire on Sunday, and again on Monday, with fighting resuming afterward, Perthes said.

    But both Burhan and Dagalo have since accused the other of breaking that ceasefire.

    When CNN spoke to Burhan on Monday afternoon, the sound of gunshots rang out in the background despite the supposed ceasefire – and Burhan claimed Dagalo had violated it for the second day.

    A spokesperson for the RSF rebutted the accusation, claiming that they had been trying to abide by the ceasefire, but “they keep firing which leaves no choice” but for the RSF to “defend itself by firing back.”

  • More death recorded in Sudan amid fighting

    More death recorded in Sudan amid fighting

    On the second day of clashes that left dozens dead, fierce fighting has persisted in the capital of Sudan despite a brief ceasefire to address humanitarian concerns, including the evacuation of wounded.

    At least five civilians were killed and 78 wounded Sunday, bringing the two-day toll to 61 dead and more than1000 wounded, said the Sudan Doctors’ Syndicate.

    According to Abdalla Hamdok, Former Sudanese Prime Minister:

    “Peace remains the only feasible choice for the people of Sudan to avoid plunging the country into a civil war. Therefore, I call for an immediate cease-fire and to reach an agreement, which leads to a permanent cessation (of hostilities).”

    The clashes are part of a power struggle between Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, the commander of the armed forces, and Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, the head of the Rapid Support Forces group. 

    The two generals are former allies who jointly orchestrated an October 2021 military coup that derailed Sudan’s short-lived transition to democracy.

    The international community, which watched helplessly as the coup d’état took place in October 2021 and has not managed to convince the generals to sign a plan to end the crisis, is multiplying its calls for a ceasefire. The Arab League is meeting urgently at 09:00 GMT in Cairo, at the call of Egypt and Saudi Arabia, two influential players in Sudan.

    The divisions between General Abdel Fattah al-Burhane, head of the army, and General Mohamed Hamdane Daglo, known as “Hemedti”, head of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) – thousands of ex-militiamen of the Darfur war who have become official auxiliaries of the regular troops – degenerated into violence on Saturday morning in the streets of this country of 45 million inhabitants, among the poorest in the world, torn by war for decades.

    The violence continued Sunday morning. The deserted streets of Khartoum were filled with the smell of gunpowder after explosions and gunfire rang out throughout the night. The military had warned in the evening on Facebook: “the air force will conduct operations to finish with the rebel militias of the Rapid Support, civilians must stay home.

    In the morning, heavy gun battles opposed military and paramilitary in the northern suburbs of the capital, as well as in the south of Khartoum, witnesses reported. Throughout the capital, men in fatigues, weapons in hand, were walking through streets empty of civilians, while columns of smoke have been rising since Saturday from the city center where the main institutions of power are located.

    Artillery fire

    Witnesses also reported artillery fire in Kassala, in the country’s coastal east.

    According to pro-democracy doctors, 56 civilians were killed, more than half of them in Khartoum and its suburbs, while “dozens” of military and paramilitary personnel died, although no precise figures are available. In addition, about 600 people were killed.

    The conflict had been brewing for weeks, preventing any political solution in a country that has been trying since 2019 to organize its first free elections after 30 years of Islamo-military dictatorship.

    Impossible as it is to know which force is holding what. The RSF announced that it had taken the airport in a few hours on Saturday, but the army denied this. The RSF also claimed to be holding the presidential palace. The army denied this and said it was holding the headquarters of its general staff, one of the main power complexes in Khartoum.

  • Sudan: Blinken calls for immediate end to hostilities

    Sudan: Blinken calls for immediate end to hostilities

    On Monday April 17, 2023 fierce fighting between the army and a potent opposition force known as the Rapid Support Force (RSF) entered its third day in Sudan’s beleaguered capital.

    Both organizations seek to take over the nation. Numerous people have died as a result of the rivalry between the two generals, and countless more are now in fear.

    Engineer Ahmed recounts: “I was asleep. Suddenly I heard a lot of big sounds like bullets, rockets. I don’t know what is it.” […] “I can’t leave the house. It’s very dangerous outside.”

    Since the infighting between General al Burhan who heads the army and General Hamdane Daglo who leads the RSF, broke Saturday (Apr. 15), airstrikes and shelling intensified in parts of Khartoum and the adjoining city of Omdurman.

    The RSF grew out of the Janjaweed militia, formerly active in the Darfur region of the country and was later labelled a regular force.

    Allies turned enemies now accuse each other of starting the fighting, and both claim the upper hand by declaring control of key sites, including the airport and the presidential palace — none of which could be independently verified.

    “You’ve got two highly armed forces who want to seize power. They’ve both paid lip service to the idea that they would respond to the Sudanese revolution by transferring power to civilians. But that has always proved elusive,” the former UK ambassador to Sudan William Patey, analyses.

    “‘I suspect the we’re going to see more fighting until either both sides.”

    The Arab League and the African Union on Sunday (Apr.16) held emergency meetings asking for the end of hostilities and a return to a political solution.

    Speaking from Japan, the U.S Secretary of State called for a ceasefire.

    “…….. We’ve also been in close touch with partners in the Arab world, in Africa, in international organizations,” Anthony Blinked said. 

    “There is a shared deep concern about the fighting, the violence that’s going on in Sudan. The threat that that poses to civilians, that it poses to the Sudanese nation and potentially poses even to the region. There’s also a very strongly shared view about the need for generals Burhan and Hemedti to ensure the protection of civilians and non-combatants, as well as people from third countries […]”.

    Despite a humanitarian pause announced on Sunday afternoon, heavy gunfire was heard in central Khartoum and dense black smoke could be seen.

    The World Health Organization warned that “several” of the capital’s nine hospitals receiving injured civilians “have run out of blood, transfusion equipment, intravenous fluids and other vital supplies”.

    Doctors and humanitarian workers are sounding the alarm: under normal circumstances in Sudan, households are only supplied with electricity for a few hours a day. In some areas of Khartoum, it has been completely cut off since Saturday (Apr. 15), as has running water.

  • Two opposing generals struggle for power in Sudan

    Two opposing generals struggle for power in Sudan

    Hopes for a peaceful switch to civilian government have been dashed by fierce fighting throughout Sudan.

    Two opposing generals’ forces are fighting for power, and as is so frequently the case, civilians have been hit hardest, with dozens of deaths and hundreds of injuries.

    What you should know is as follows.

    Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) commander, and Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo are the two men at the center of the fighting.

    They had previously been allies. The two collaborated to remove Omar al-Bashir as president of Sudan in 2019 and were instrumental in the military takeover of that country in 2021.

    However, tensions arose during negotiations to integrate the RSF into the country’s military as part of plans to restore civilian rule.

    The key question: who would be subordinate to who under the new hierarchy.

    These hostilities, sources told CNN, are the culmination of what both parties view as an existential fight for dominance.

    It is difficult to overstate how seismic Bashir’s overthrow was. He had led the country for nearly three decades when popular protests that began over soaring bread prices toppled him from power.

    During his rule, South Sudan split from the north while the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Bashir alleged war crimes in Darfur, a separatist Western region.

    After Bashir’s ouster, Sudan was ruled by an uneasy alliance between the military and civilian groups.

    That all ended in 2021, when the power-sharing government was dissolved by armed forces.

    The Rapid Support Forces are the preeminent paramilitary group in Sudan, whose leader, Dagalo, has enjoyed a rapid rise to power.

    During Sudan’s Darfur conflict in the early 2000s, he was the leader of Sudan’s notorious Janjaweed forces, implicated in human rights violations and atrocities.

    An international outcry saw Bashir formalize the group into paramilitary forces known as the Border Intelligence Units.

    In 2007, its troops became part of the country’s intelligence services and, in 2013, Bashir created the RSF, a paramilitary group overseen by him and led by Dagalo.

    Dagalo turned against Bashir in 2019, but not before his forces opened fire on an anti-Bashir, pro-democracy sit-in in Khartoum, killing at least 118 people.

    He was later appointed deputy of the transitional Sovereign Council that ruled Sudan in partnership with civilian leadership.

    Burhan is essentially Sudan’s leader. At the time of Bashir’s toppling, Burhan was the army’s inspector general.

    His career has run an almost parallel course to Dagalo’s.

    He also rose to prominence in the 2000’s for his role in the dark days of the Darfur conflict, where the two men are believed to have first came into contact.

    Al-Burhan and Hemedti both cemented their rise to power by currying favor with the Gulf powerhouses.

    They commanded separate battalions of Sudanese forces, who were sent to serve with the Saudi-led coalition forces in Yemen.

    Now they find themselves locked in a power struggle.

    Where the fighting will end is unclear. Both sides claim control over key sites and fighting has been reported across the country in places far from the capital Khartoum.

    While various official and non-official estimates place the Sudanese armed forces at around 210-220,000, the RSF are believed to number approximately 70,000 but are better trained and better equipped.

    International powers have expressed alarm. Apart from concerns over civilians there are likely other motivations at play – Sudan is resource-rich and strategically located.

    CNN has previously reported on how Russia has colluded with Sudan’s military leaders to smuggle gold out of Sudan.

    Dagalo’s forces were a key recipient of Russian training and weaponry, and Sudan’s military leader Burhan is also believed by CNN’s Sudanese sources to have been backed by Russia, before international pressure forced him to publicly disavow the presence of the Russian mercenary group Wagner, in Sudan.

    Sudan’s neighbors Egypt and South Sudan have offered to mediate, but in the meantime all that is certain is more misery for the Sudanese people.

  • Unrest in Sudan grows as conflict enters Day 3

    Unrest in Sudan grows as conflict enters Day 3

    More violence is being reported in Sudan’s capital, Khartoum as the conflict enters day three.

    According to reports, about 100 people have died as a result of the chaos happening in the country.

    Meanwhile, Regional leaders say they hope to travel to Sudan today to help end the violence.

    Also, there are calls for the resumption of talks aimed at restoring a civilian government.

    The army and a rival paramilitary force Rapid Support Forces (RSF) began fighting on Saturday morning.

    Among those dead are workers of World Food Programme (WFP), which has temporarily halted its work in the country in reaction to the news.

    Source: The Independent Ghana

  • Fighting between competing military factions in Sudan begins its second day

    Fighting between competing military factions in Sudan begins its second day

    As months of hostilities between a paramilitary group and the country’s army burst into violence, fierce fighting spread across Sudan and into its second day.

    Heavy weapons were used in clashes near the army headquarters and presidential palace in the capital Khartoum. There have also been rumours of battles taking place hundreds of kilometres distant in the western Darfur region and the eastern city of Port Sudan.

    According to the Central Committee of Sudan Doctors, the skirmishes have resulted in at least 56 fatalities and close to 600 injuries.

    “Since yesterday we have not been able to leave the hospital for our homes because the clashes are taking place near the hospital and armed men from the army are roaming inside the hospital with their weapons,” a female doctor in Khartoum told CNN.

    “We are in a real state of terror with the sound of explosions and bullets, we escaped death many times,” she added.

    Sudan’s paramilitary chief Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo claimed to have seized most of Khartoum’s official sites after clashes erupted between his armed group and the country’s military on Saturday.

    On Sunday, Dagalo’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) released a video declaring it had gained control of the Meroe airport in the north of the country. Dagalo told CNN the RSF is in control of the presidential palace, Khartoum airport and the General Command headquarters.

    The country’s military leader, Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, disputed Dagalo’s claims on Saturday and said the military has maintained control over government sites.

    CNN has been unable to independently verify either side’s claims.

    As fighting continues in Khartoum and other parts of Sudan, the World Health Organization is urging all parties to the conflict to respect the neutrality of health care and ensure unrestricted access to health facilities for those injured by the hostilities.

    More than 83 people have been killed and at least 1,126 injured since April 13 “across Khartoum, South Kordofan, North Darfur, Northern State and other regions,” the organization said, noting the “heaviest concentration of fighting” is now in Khartoum City.

    “There are also reports of shortages of specialized medical personnel, including anesthesiologists,” the WHO said in a statement Sunday. “Water and power cuts are affecting the functionality of health facilities, and shortages of fuel for hospital generators are also being reported.”

    In an interview with Al Jazeera, Dagalo – also known as Hemedti – described Burhan as a “criminal,” accusing him of instigating the fighting.

    “It was not us who did this,” Dagalo told CNN’s Larry Madowo. “We were defending ourselves. We’re sorry and we tell the Sudanese people that this crisis will end, and Sudan will be even better than before. And this will be a lesson to learn in the future.”

    Dagalo accused the Sudanese army of breaking a United Nations-brokered temporary humanitarian ceasefire Sunday evening.

    “We’re under attack from all directions,” Dagalo said. “We stopped fighting and the other side did not, which put us in a predicament, and we had to keep fighting to defend ourselves,” he claimed.

    Dagalo also speculated that Burhan has lost control of his military, saying “they don’t seem to be listening to him.”

    Dagalo’s rise to power began when he was a leader of Sudan’s notorious Janjaweed forces, implicated in human rights violations in the Darfur conflict of the early 2000s. His group killed at least 118 people in pro-democracy protests in June 2019 after troops opened fire at a peaceful sit-in.

    He and Burhan were pivotal in the 2019 overthrow of President Omar al-Bashir but have since become locked in a power struggle, with tensions over the RSF’s integration into the army.

    There have been widespread calls for calm. Sudan’s former Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok on Sunday warned of civil war and called for immediate negotiations.

    “This war has to stop today … peace is the only option to avoid slipping into a civil war,” he said at a news conference in Abu Dhabi.

    The US and UN also called for an end to the fighting.

    African leaders were holding emergency meetings on Sunday in response to the situation. Sudan’s neighbors Egypt and South Sudan have offered to mediate.

    The UN’s political mission in Sudan has said the country’s two warring factions have agreed to a “proposal” although it is not yet clear what that entails.

    The military has been in charge of Sudan since a coup in 2021, with Burhan and Dagalo at the helm. The 2021 coup ended a power-sharing arrangement, following the 2019 ouster of al-Bashir.

    A CNN investigation also uncovered another link between the two men: their involvement in Russia’s exploitation of Sudan’s gold resources to fund its Ukraine war, with Dagalo’s forces also being key recipients of Russian training and weaponry.

    But recent talks have led to cracks in the alliance between the two military leaders. The negotiations have sought to integrate the Rapid Support Forces into the country’s military, as part of the effort to transition to civilian rule.

    Sources in Sudan’s civilian movement and Sudanese military sources told CNN the main points of contention included the timeline for the merger of the forces, the status given to RSF officers in the future hierarchy, and whether RSF forces should be under the command of the army chief, rather than Sudan’s commander-in-chief, who is currently Burhan.

    The hostilities, sources told CNN, are the culmination of what both parties view as an existential fight for dominance, one with Burhan, they said, seeking support from Sudan’s former Islamist rulers, resurrecting the specter of days many Sudanese fought to leave behind.

    Dagalo told CNN he had no intention to rule Sudan.

    “There should be a civilian government. This has always been my stance,” he said.

  • Sudan’s third day of fierce fighting nears death toll of 100

    Sudan’s third day of fierce fighting nears death toll of 100

    As fierce battle entered its third day and the death toll approached 100, hundreds more were injured, residents of Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, awoke on Monday to the sounds of artillery and warplane bombardment.

    The country’s military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, commonly known as Hemedti, clashed for the first time on Saturday. Hemedti told CNN on Sunday that the army had violated a UN-brokered interim humanitarian ceasefire.

    Eyewitnesses in Khartoum told CNN on Monday they heard mortars and artillery in the early hours of the morning, with the fighting intensifying after dawn prayers in the direction of Khartoum International Airport and Sudanese Army garrison sites.

    Verified video footage shows military jets and helicopters hitting the airport;other clips show the charred remains of the army’s General Command building nearby after it was engulfed in fire on Sunday.

    Residents in neighborhoodseast of the airport told CNN they sawwarplanesbombing sites east of the command. “We saw explosions and smoke rising from Obaid Khatim Street, and immediately after that, anti-aircraft artillery fired massively towards the planes,” one eyewitness said.

    In the Kafouri area, north of Khartoum, clashes and street fights broke out at dawn Monday, prompting residents to begin evacuating women and children from the area, Sudanese journalist Fathi Al-Ardi wrote on Facebook. In the Kalakla area, south of the capital, residents reported the walls of their houses shaking from explosions.

    Reports also emerged of battles hundreds of miles away in the eastern city of Port Sudan and the western Darfur region over the weekend.

    As of Monday, at least 97 people have been killed, according to the Preliminary Committee of Sudanese Doctors trade union. Earlier on Sunday, the World Health Organization estimated more than 1,126 were injured.

    The WHO has warned that doctors and nurses are struggling to reach people in need of urgent care, and are lacking essential supplies.

    “Supplies distributed by WHO to health facilities prior to this recent escalation of conflict are now exhausted, and many of the nine hospitals in Khartoum receiving injured civilians are reporting shortages of blood, transfusion equipment, intravenous fluids, medical supplies, and other life-saving commodities,” the organization said on Sunday.

    Water and power cuts are affecting the functionality of health facilities, and shortages of fuel for hospital generators are also being reported,” the WHO added.

    In the CNN interview, Dagalo blamed the military for starting the conflict and claimed RSF “had to keep fighting to defend ourselves.”

    He speculated that the army chief and his rival, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, had lost control of the military. When asked if his endgame was to rule Sudan, Dagalo said he had “no such intentions,” and that there should be a civilian government.

    Amid the fighting, civilians have been warned to stay indoors. One local resident tweeted that they were “trapped inside our own homes with little to no protection at all.”

    “All we can hear is continuous blast after blast. What exactly is happening and where we don’t know, but it feels like it’s directly over our heads,” they wrote.

    Access to information is also limited, with the government-owned national TV channel now off the air. Television employees told CNN that it is in the hands of the RSF.

    The conflict has put other countries and organizations on high alert, with the United Nations’ World Food Program temporarily halting all operations in Sudan after three employees were killed in clashes on Saturday.

    UN and other humanitarian facilities in Darfur have been looted, while a WFP-managed aircraft was seriously damaged by gunfire in Khartoum, impeding the WFP’s ability to transport aid and workers within the country, the international aid agency said.

    Qatar Airways announced Sunday it was temporarily suspending flights to and from Khartoum due to the closure of its airport and airspace.

    On Sunday, Dagalo told CNN the RSF was in control of the airport, as well as several other government buildings in the capital.

    Meanwhile, Mexico is working to evacuate its citizens from Sudan, with the country’s foreign minister saying Sunday it is looking to “expedite” their exit.

    The United States embassy in Sudan said Sunday there were no plans for a government-coordinated evacuation yet for Americans in the country, citing the closure of the Khartoum airport. It advised US citizens to stay indoors and shelter in place, adding that it would make an announcement “if evacuation of private US citizens becomes necessary.”

    The fresh clashes have prompted widespread calls for peace and negotiations. The head of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki, is scheduled to arrive in Khartoum on Monday, in an attempt to stop the fighting.

    US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly also for an immediate ceasefire.

    “People in Sudan want the military back in the barracks, they want democracy, they want a civilian-led government. Sudan needs to return to that path,” Blinken said, speaking on the sidelines of the G7 foreign minister talks in Japan on Monday.

    The UN’s political mission in Sudan has said the country’s two warring factions have agreed to a “proposal” although it is not yet clear what that entails.

    At the heart of the clashes is a power struggle between the two military leaders, Dagalo and Burhan.

    The pair had worked together to topple ousted Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir in 2019, and played a pivotal role in the military coup in 2021, which ended a power-sharing agreement between the military and civilian groups.

    The military has been in charge of Sudan since then, with Burhan and Dagalo at the helm.

    But recent talks led to cracks in the alliance between the two men. The negotiations have sought to integrate the RSF into the country’s military, as part of the effort to transition to civilian rule.

    Sources in Sudan’s civilian movement and Sudanese military sources told CNN the main points of contention included the timeline for the merger of the forces, the status given to RSF officers in the future hierarchy, and whether RSF forces should be under the command of the army chief, rather than Sudan’s commander-in-chief, who is currently Burhan.

  • Chad closes its border with Sudan

    Chad closes its border with Sudan

    To quell the damage of Sudan’s power struggle from reaching other territories, the central African country of Chad has closed its 872-mile (1,403 km) eastern border with Sudan “until further notice”.

    “Chad appeals to the regional and international community as well as to all friendly countries to prioritise a return to peace,” the government said in a statement.

    This comes after Moussa Faki Mahamat, chairman of the African Union Commission, has released a statement on the unfolding situation in Sudan.

    The statement says the leader of the bloc is urging “political and military parties to find a fair political solution to the crisis that arose after the 25 October 2021 coup and its disastrous consequences”.

    Mahamat is referring to the day the Sudanese military, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, took control of the government in Sudan.

    Mr Mahamat’s statement appeals to the army and the RSF to: “immediately stop the destruction of the country, the terrorisation of its population, and the bloodshed during the last 10 days of Ramadan.”

  • Land in Sudan’s Port shakes amid fighting

    Land in Sudan’s Port shakes amid fighting

    There has been violence throughout Sudan, not only in the capital. There have also been clashes between the Sudanese army and the RSF paramilitary group in other towns and cities.

    Fighting in the north-eastern city of Port Sudan, however, appears to have ended.

    Othman Abu Bakr, an engineer and resident of the city, has told the BBC that “life was normal in the city” on Saturday until around 22:00 (20:00 GMT), when he heard clashes had erupted in some areas.

    He and his family gathered in one room as fighting broke out at around 02:00.

    “At around 06:30, I woke up to the sound of fighter jets hovering above my neighbourhood.

    “Seeing the planes in the sky, the RSF started targeting them with anti-aircraft missiles. The land was shaking… literally.

    “Again my whole family gathered in one room. We were really scared. But at around 8.30 this morning we could no longer hear [sounds] of fighting and it seemed the army had managed to gain control of the RSF’s two bases in the city. It seemed they eventually surrendered. There were no reports of casualties.

    Quote Message: I went down to the street at around 9am this morning and saw army soldiers celebrating in the streets, firing into the air. The fighting seems to have ended.” from Othman Abu Bakr Port Sudan resident

    I went down to the street at around 9am this morning and saw army soldiers celebrating in the streets, firing into the air. The fighting seems to have ended.”Othman Abu BakrPort Sudan resident

  • Doctors in Sudan appeal for aid and international intervention

    Doctors in Sudan appeal for aid and international intervention

    Sudanese medical professionals are once again pleading for medical assistance and outside help to put an end to the conflict in their nation.

    In a post on Facebook, the Sudanese Medical Association appealed for “aid and medical supplies to all hospitals and health facilities in Khartoum and the areas of clashes in the various states”.

    It also called on the international community, human rights and diplomatic organisations to put pressure on both sides of the conflict to stop the fighting and provide safe passages for civilians.

    It added the safe passage of ambulances and medical personnel should be allowed, and the necessary security for health facilities and hospitals provided.

  • Doctors in Sudan renew aid, international intervention appeal

    Doctors in Sudan renew aid, international intervention appeal

    Doctors in Sudan are once again pleading for medical assistance and outside help to put an end to the violence.

    In a post on Facebook, the Sudanese Medical Association appealed for “aid and medical supplies to all hospitals and health facilities in Khartoum and the areas of clashes in the various states”.

    Also, it urged the international community, human rights organizations, and diplomatic bodies to exert pressure on all parties to the conflict to put an end to hostilities and ensure the safety of civilians.

    It further stated that hospitals and healthcare institutions should have the required security in place in order to ensure the safe transit of ambulances and medical workers.

  • Find out the story behind the military rivalry happening in Sudan

    Find out the story behind the military rivalry happening in Sudan

    An aggressive power struggle inside the military leadership of the country is the root cause of the fighting that has broken out in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, and other parts of the nation.

    Members of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and regular soldiers are fighting in critical strategic locations throughout the capital.

    What’s the background to the fighting?

    Since a coup in October 2021, Sudan has been run by a council of generals and there are two military men at the centre of the dispute.

    Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who is the head of the armed forces and in effect the country’s president.

    And his deputy and leader of the RSF, Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, better known as Hemedti.

    They have disagreed on the direction the country is going in and the proposed move towards civilian rule.

    One of the main sticking points is over the plans to include the 100,000-strong RSF into the army and who would then lead the new force.

    Why did it all kick off on Saturday?

    The violence follows days of tension as members of the RSF were redeployed around the country in a move that the army saw as a threat.

    There had been some hope that talks could resolve the situation but these never happened.

    It is not clear who fired the first shot on Saturday morning but there are fears that this will worsen an already unstable situation.

    Diplomats have urged the two sides to cease fire.

    Who are the Rapid Support Forces?

    The RSF was formed in 2013 and has its origins in the notorious Janjaweed militia that brutally fought off rebels in Darfur.

    Since then, Gen Dagalo has built a powerful force that has intervened in conflicts in Yemen and Libya and controls some of Sudan’s gold mines.

    Deputy head of Sudan's sovereign council General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo
    Image caption,Rivalry between Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (pictured) and Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan is at the heart of the problem

    It has also been accused of human rights abuses, including the massacre of more than 120 protesters in June 2019.

    Such a strong force outside the army has been seen as a source of instability in the country.

    Why is the military in charge?

    This fighting is the latest episode in bouts of tension that followed the ousting of long-serving President Omar al-Bashir in 2019.

    There were huge street protests calling for an end to his near-three decade rule and the army mounted a coup to get rid of him.

    But the civilians continued to demand a role in the plan to move towards democratic rule.

    A joint military-civilian government was then established but that was overthrown in another coup in October 2021.

    And since then the rivalry between Gen Burhan and Gen Dagalo has intensified.

    A framework deal to put power back in the hands of civilians was agreed last December but talks to finalise the details have failed.

    What could happen now?

    If the fighting continues then it could further fragment the country and worsen political turbulence.

    Diplomats, who have played a crucial role in trying to urge a return to civilian rule, will be desperate to find a way to get the two generals to talk.

    In the meantime, it will be the ordinary Sudanese who will have to live through yet another period of uncertainty.

    Source: BBC

  • President Ruto calls for calm in Sudan

    President Ruto calls for calm in Sudan

    Kenyan President, William Ruto has called for calm in Sudan as the army and  Rapid Support Forces (RSF) engage in fisticuff.

    Per reports, there has been a lot of shooting in the capital and other cities of Sudan

    In response, President Ruto who is concerned about the happenings have urged the parties to “address any differences through peaceful means.”

    According to him, the security of the people and the stability in Sudan cannot be jeopardized.

    The recent incident comes after several days of tense relations between the army and the RSF, which stoked concerns of a potential conflict.

    The divisions between the two parties became apparent on Thursday when the military alleged that the most recent RSF actions were unplanned and unlawful.

    Source: The Independent Ghana

  • Unrest in Sudan over power struggle

    Unrest in Sudan over power struggle

    The Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group in Sudan, declared on Saturday that they had taken over the presidential palace and the international airport in the nation’s capital, Khartoum.

    They also took control of the airports in the northern city of Maru and the southern city of Ubaid.

    The army was then urged to support the people’s cause, according to Reuters. However, the army asserts that the paramilitary units’ assertions are untrue, as reported by AFP.

    “I urge senior military leaders to stop the fighting,” US Ambassador John Godfrey tweeted. The Russians are also asking for a cease-fire.

    In the capital of Sudan and other cities, according to witnesses, there has been heavy shooting since the morning. The current development follows several days of tension between the army and the RSF, which raised fears of a confrontation. The differences between the two sides surfaced on Thursday, when the military said the recent RSF moves were uncoordinated and illegal.

    A Reuters reporter said he saw cannons and armored vehicles deployed in the streets of the capital and heard the sound of heavy weapons fire near both the RSF headquarters and the army. The army claims that the RSF tried to attack its troops in several positions. The RSF, on the other hand, claims that its units were attacked by the army.

    A prolonged confrontation between the RSF and the Sudanese army could mean a prolongation of the conflict in a country already struggling with economic collapse and tribal violence. Sudan is trying to return to civilian rule after power struggles and military coups.

    The RSF is headed by former militia leader General Muhammad Hamdan Dagalo. He spearheaded the planned transition to democracy, alarming his colleagues in the military administration. The RSF, along with the military, overthrew long-ruling autocrat Omar Bashir in 2019, and the RSF leader has been the deputy leader of the ruling Sovereign Council, the country’s highest body, since 2019. It is composed of representatives of the army and leaders of civil society, headed by Burhán.

  • Gunfire explosions heard in Sudan’s capital

    Gunfire explosions heard in Sudan’s capital

    After days of conflict between a known paramilitary group and the national army, gunfire and explosions have been heard in the capital city of Sudan, Khartoum.

    The dispute centres around a proposed transition to civilian rule.

    Reuters is reporting that gunfire has been heard close to the headquarters of the army in the centre of the city.

    The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) says it has taken control of the airport and presidential palace.

    These claims have not been confirmed.

    Earlier the RSF had said that one of its camps in the south of Khartoum had been attacked.

    For its part, the army has said that RSF fighters have been trying to seize the military headquarters.

    “Fighters from the Rapid Support Forces attacked several army camps in Khartoum and elsewhere around Sudan,” the AFP news agency quotes army spokesman Brig Gen Nabil Abdallah as saying.

    “Clashes are ongoing and the army is carrying out its duty to safeguard the country.”

    The Reuters news agency is also citing witnesses as saying that there was gunfire in the northern city of Merowe.

    Alarabyia TV is broadcasting pictures of smoke rising from a military camp there, Reuters reports.

    Generals have been running the country, through what is called the Sovereign Council, since a coup in October 2021.

    The RSF is under the command of the council’s vice-president Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo. The army, meanwhile, is led by Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who is the head of the Sovereign Council.

    A proposed move to a civilian-led government has foundered on the timetable to integrate the RSF into the national army.

    The RSF wanted to delay it for 10 years, but the army said it should happen in two years.

    On Thursday, the RSF deployed forces near the military base in Merowe as tensions increased this week.

    Gen Burhan said he was willing to talk to his second in command to resolve the dispute over who would lead a unified army in a proposed civilian government.

    Western powers and regional leaders had urged the two sides to de-escalate tensions and to go back to talks aimed at restoring civilian rule.

    There had been signs on Friday that the situation would be resolved.

    In a tweet, US Ambassador John Godfrey said: “I urgently call on senior military leaders to stop the fighting.”

    Describing the situation in the city, he said he “woke up to the deeply disturbing sounds of gunfire and fighting. I am currently sheltering in place with the Embassy team, as Sudanese throughout Khartoum and elsewhere are doing.”

    Russia’s embassy is also concerned by the “escalation of violence” and has urged a ceasefire, Reuters reports.

    The 2021 coup ended a period of more than two years when military and civilian leaders were sharing power. That deal came after Sudan’s long-term authoritarian President Omar al-Bashir was overthrown.

    There have been regular pro-democracy protests in Khartoum ever since the coup.

  • Death threat against enjoy to Sudan worrying – UN

    Death threat against enjoy to Sudan worrying – UN

    The video of a guy publicly calling for the death of the United Nation’s envoy in Sudan, Volker Perthes, has alarmed the organization, according to a statement.

    The man has accused Mr. Perthes of meddling in the nation’s politics.

    An elderly Sudanese man is heard on the tape, which has been making the rounds on social media, viciously attacking the UN representative before pleading for a fatwa to have him put to death.

    The incident happened during a meeting held by Islamist parties linked to the ousted former leader, Omar Al Bashir.

    In a statement, the organisers said the man’s comments did not represent their views.

    The Sudanese government has been requested by the UN to look into the event.

    Sudan is currently experiencing a political crisis as a result of leaders missing their deadline to form a civilian-led government this week. Current reform negotiations have been derailed by conflicts between military factions.

    Last year, thousands of Islamist protesters called for the German diplomat to leave Sudan, accusing him and the UN of meddling in the country’s politics.

    Sudan has faced near weekly demonstrations since the army led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan seized power from a civilian government in October 2021.

    Talks for the military to hand over power to a civilian led government have stalled due to differences within military factions.

  • Sudan leaders postpone peace deal to restore civilian rule

    Sudan leaders postpone peace deal to restore civilian rule

    The signing of the final deal to restore a civilian administration has been delayed once more by Sudanese officials as tensions between military factions grow.

    Negotiations centered on a draft agreement that was scheduled to be signed on Thursday proceeded throughout the night.

    Since the army toppled a civilian administration in October 2021 that had deposed longtime leader Omar al Bashir in 2019, Sudan has been experiencing political unrest.

    Over the past year and a half, there have been violent street protests that have resulted in hundreds of deaths and numerous injuries.

    The military decided on a timeline for transferring authority to civilians in December of last year.

    But the negotiations have stalled due to disagreements over the unification of the national army and the dreaded paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, led by the deputy head of Sudan’s ruling council Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.

    The spokesman for the talks however said they were still determined to reach a consensus with the military.

    The factions hope that a final peace deal will unlock millions of dollars frozen by the European Union and the US and help the country’s struggling economy.

  • Groups in Sudan postpone agreement on civilian control after coup

    Groups in Sudan postpone agreement on civilian control after coup

    An official has reported that due to ongoing disputes between military factions, Sudanese authorities have postponed the signature of an agreement intended to restart a short-lived democratic transition that was scheduled for Saturday.

    Spokesman for the negotiation process Khalid Omar Yousif said on Twitter on Saturday that military and civilian parties have unanimously agreed to “redouble efforts to overcome the remaining obstacle within a few days and pave the way for the signing of the final political agreement on April 6”.

    The signing of the accord was delayed due to a lack of “consensus on some outstanding issues”, Yousif said earlier in the day.

    A coup in October 2021 led by army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan had derailed the process that began following the 2019 removal of General Omar al-Bashir.

    Representatives have been negotiating an agreement for weeks, the final part in a two-phase political process launched in December to set out the terms for reviving the transition to civilian-led rule and democratic elections.

    Reform of the security forces is a key point of contention in the talks, which envisage an exit of generals from politics once a civilian government is installed.

    The December deal, decried by critics as “vague”, was agreed by Burhan with multiple factions after near-weekly protests since the 2021 coup.

    The proposed reforms include the integration into the regular army of the powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), led by Burhan’s deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.

    Created in 2013, the RSF emerged from the Popular Defence Forces, sometimes called “Janjaweed”, that al-Bashir unleashed a decade earlier in the western region of Darfur against non-Arab rebels. The militia has since been accused by rights groups of having committed war crimes.

    While experts have pointed to worrying rivalries between Burhan and Daglo, the two men appeared side by side last week, speaking in the capital Khartoum to plead for successful integration.

    But talks have stalled since, according to observers, with persistent disputes over a timetable for the RSF’s integration.

    Al Jazeera’s Hiba Morgan, reporting from Khartoum said “the army wants the group to be integrated into it by the end of the two-year transitional period.

    “They also want an assessment of the officers and the ranks of the officers of the RSF saying that needs to be reassessed because they have not joined the military academy and they have been promoted in standards that were not compatible with the standards of the army.

    “When it comes to the issue of integrating the RSF, which has been repeatedly saying that it is part of the military, that comes down to the military and the RSF amongst themselves. A technical committee is working to try to reach an agreement in the next five days so that a final deal is signed by April 6,” Morgan said.

  • Traditional Ramadan drink “helo-murr” returns back to the menu in Sudan

    Traditional Ramadan drink “helo-murr” returns back to the menu in Sudan

    Ramadan is never complete in the absence of Sudanese beverage “helo-murr” translating into bittersweet made with dried corn and spices.

    Women laboriously make the beverage that will be placed on practically every table in the nation in the suburbs of the nation’s capital, Khartoum.

    “It’s a tradition we inherited from our grandmothers and mothers. The “helo-murr” is a must-have drink. Without it, our table feels empty. So, we must have it in any possible way. Those who can’t make it buy it ready-made, because its preparation is complicated. We call our friends, our neighbours, our sisters, the day one of us wants to prepare it, she calls her friends and sisters and they all make themselves available for the whole day to help her. They all get together, like us today, and each one leaves with her share. Even those who don’t know how to make it, they help with the preparation or the iftar [fast breaking meal at dusk during Ramadan, ed]”, said Sudanese homemaker, Wissal Abdel Ghany.

    The corn is harvested and left to dry in the sun before being ground and mixed with spices such as fenugreek, cumin or even hibiscus — Sudan’s other essential Ramadan beverage.

    This mixture is then soaked in sugar and water for several days.

    The resulting crepe-like layer is then peeled away and stored, ready to be soaked in the final step to create the beloved drink.

    “I don’t think the original recipe included all these ingredients. Surely, a lot of ingredients were added over the years until it reached the actual recipe and maybe the next generations will add other ingredients to it. But the “helo-murr” will always be the same, with its taste, its smell. All it takes is a whiff of the scent coming out of a home to know that Ramadan is here. Ramadan brings a special atmosphere, especially with the “helo-murr”, concluded the Sudanese homemaker.

    Served as cold as possible, the drink is one of many ways that fasting Sudanese cool off, a significant challenge in one of the world’s hottest countries.

  • Israel and Sudan to sign peace deal in Washington

    Israel and Sudan to sign peace deal in Washington

    Following negotiations in Khartoum, Israel’s foreign minister declared that Israel and Sudan would soon sign a “historic peace agreement” in Washington.

    Eli Cohen claimed that during his one-day visit to meet with Sudanese President Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the agreement’s language was finalized.

    Sudan agreed to normalize relations with Israel two years ago, but a pact was never carried through.

    It would be the newest member of the Arab League to forge such connections.

    As part of the Abraham Accords, which were mediated by the US, the UAE, Bahrain, and Morocco have formally normalized relations with Israel since 2020.

    In the past, Arab League members had resisted recognizing Israel, which contributed to the continuation of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

    http://tigpost.co/sudan-frees-killer-of-us-diplomat-after-financial-settlement/

    Jordan signed a peace deal with Israel in 1994 after Egypt did so as the first Arab nation in 1979.

    An accord with Sudan holds particular symbolic importance as Khartoum was the venue for an Arab League meeting in 1967 where members vowed not to recognise Israel, after the Arab-Israeli war three months earlier.

    Sudan’s foreign ministry said Mr Cohen and Lt-Gen Burhan had “discussed means for establishing fruitful relations with Israel” and strengthening cooperation in “agricultural, energy, health, water, education fields with special emphasis on security and military fields”.

    It did not say whether a peace agreement would be signed.

    The growing number of Arab countries formalising relations with Israel has been condemned by the Palestinians, who see it as a betrayal of their cause.

    For years, Arab countries conditioned peace talks with Israel on its withdrawal from territories occupied in the 1967 war, and the establishment of a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.

    Speaking on his return to Israel on Thursday night, Mr Cohen said his trip had been made “with the consent of the United States”.

    The visit, he said, “lays the foundations for a historic peace agreement with a strategic Arab and Muslim country. The peace agreement between Israel and Sudan will promote regional stability and contribute to the national security of the State of Israel”.

    Mr Cohen said a signing ceremony is expected to take place after the planned transfer of power in Sudan to a civilian government following a military coup in October 2021.

  • US concerned over Sudan freeing diplomat’s killer

    US concerned over Sudan freeing diplomat’s killer

    The United States says it is deeply concerned over the release this week of a Sudanese man facing the death penalty in connection with the killing of a US diplomat 15 years ago.

    The Sudanese authorities on Monday freed Abdel-Raouf Abu Zaid, who was convicted over the killing of John Granville and his Sudanese driver Abdel Rahman Abbas.

    They were shot dead by Islamist gunmen on New Year’s Day 2008.

    The State Department denied that the release was part of an agreement by both countries.

    It said it was troubled by the lack of transparency in the legal process.

    Source: BBC

  • Sudan frees killer of US diplomat after financial settlement

    Sudan frees killer of US diplomat after financial settlement

    Sudan on Monday released from jail the convicted killer of US diplomat John Granville after he “paid compensation” to the victim’s family, according to Sudanese media.

    Abdel Raouf Abu Zaid told privately-owned Sudan Tribune website that “the authorities released him after they received documents from the US showing that he had paid monetary compensation to the family”.

    In June 2009, a Sudanese court convicted Abu Zaid and four other men in connection with the diplomat’s killing, and handed four of them the death penalty, including Abu Zaid.

    His release came after he threatened to go on hunger strike over “inhumane treatment” by prison authorities.

    The US said “our embassy is engaging government officials to obtain more information” following the man’s release.

    Mr Granville was an employee of USAid when he was killed alongside a Sudanese colleague in Khartoum in 2008.

    Source: BBC

  • Leader of Sudan, Burhan visits Chad to boost ties

    Leader of Sudan, Burhan visits Chad to boost ties

    Head of the Sudanese military, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, visited the neighboring Chad on Sunday for talks aimed at strengthening ties between the two nations, according to the state-run Suna news agency.

    Gen Burhan and Chadian interim military leader Mahamat Idriss Déby met in N’Djamena and renewed their commitment to implement a 2018 bilateral agreement, the news agency said.

    They also expressed their concern over communal violence in their countries and agreed to form a joint force to handle insecurity along their border.

    Gen Burhan and Mr Déby also agreed to take the necessary steps to tackle irregular immigration and weapons smuggling.

    They also agreed to bolster joint patrols along the tri-border area with the Central African Republic (CAR).

    The border region has been the focus of intense manoeuvring in recent weeks involving forces loyal to Sudanese deputy military leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, CAR and Chadian rebels as well as the Russian Wagner mercenary group.

    Source: BBC

  • Sudan is “in agreement” with Ethiopia over its Blue Nile dam

    Sudan’s de facto leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan has said that Khartoum and Addis Ababa are “aligned and in agreement” on a controversial Ethiopian dam on the Blue Nile which Egypt views as a threat.

    Burhan’s remarks came during a meeting on Thursday with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed who was on a one-day visit to Khartoum, his first since Burhan led a 2021 military coup.

    “Burhan emphasised… that Sudan and Ethiopia are aligned and in agreement on all issues regarding the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD),” according to a statement by the sovereign council, which he chairs.

    The dam has been the source of tensions between Ethiopia and downstream countries, Egypt and Sudan, ever since work began in 2011.

    Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed “confirmed that the Renaissance Dam will not cause any harm to Sudan but will have benefits for it in terms of electricity,” the statement said.

    Multiple rounds of talks between the three governments have failed to produce an agreement over the filling and operation of the reservoir.

    Egypt is dependent on the Nile for irrigation and drinking water and the Blue Nile accounts for more than 80 percent of its flow.

    Source: African News

  • Armed men kill 4 in Sudan’s South Kordofan, state of emergency declared

    Armed men kill 4 in Sudan’s South Kordofan, state of emergency declared

    Armed men opened fire on a bus station in southern Sudan on Monday January 23, 2023, officials said, killing at least four people and prompting authorities to declare a monthlong state of emergency.

    Officials in South Kordofan province said the attack in the provincial capital of Kadugli wounded at least four others.

    No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, which took place as the victims were heading to areas controlled by a rebel group, known as the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North, local media reported.

    Mousa Gaber Mahmoud, South Kordofan’s acting provincial governor, called the attack “unfortunate,” pledging that local authorities “will spare no effort to regain security and stability” in the province.

    He said a state of emergency took effect Monday across the southern province on the border with South Sudan.

    The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North, led by Abdel Aziz al-Hilu, controls large swaths of the province, including the Nuba mountains. It has been fighting the government in Sudan’s capital of Khartoum for decades.

    A cease-fire was established between the military and the group following the removal of longtime strongman Omar al-Bashir in April 2019 amid a popular uprising against his three decades of repressive rule.

    There were tensions between the two sides after a military coup removed a transitional government in October 2021, plunging the entire country into further chaos.

    Source: African News

  • CHAN2022: Daniel Afriyie Barnieh starts as captain for Ghana against Sudan; check Black Galaxies confirmed starting XI

    CHAN2022: Daniel Afriyie Barnieh starts as captain for Ghana against Sudan; check Black Galaxies confirmed starting XI

    The head coach of the Black Galaxies of Ghana, Coach Annor Walker has named his starting eleven for the clash against Sudan tonight.

    The home-based national team of Ghana will come up against their counterpart from Sudan today in a second Group C match of the 2022 Championship of African Nations (CHAN) tournament.

    Ahead of the crucial meeting that will kick off at 7 pm, Coach Annor Walker has selected Danlad Ibrahim as his goalkeeper for the game. Augustine Agyepong comes in to replace Augustine Randolph in the right-back.

    Solomon Adomako, Dennis Korsah, and Konadu Yiadom are the other players completing the defensive setup.

    In the midfield, Sylvester Simba, David Abagna Sandam, and Dominic Nsobila are the men selected to get the job done for Ghana.

    Meanwhile, the attacking trio is made up of Daniel Afriyie Barnieh, Jonah Attuquaye, and Kofi Kordzi.

    In the absence of Gladson Awako, Daniel Afriyie Barnieh has been named captain.

  • Sudan, South Sudan to set up joint border force

    Sudan, South Sudan to set up joint border force

    South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir and Sudanese military ruler Lt Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan have agreed to set up a joint force to secure their two countries‘ 1,800km- (1,120 mile-) border, state-owned channel Sudan TV has reported.

    The agreement was announced following talks between the two leaders in South Sudan’s capital, Juba, on Thursday.

    The two countries’ defence and foreign ministers also attended the talks.

    Gen Burhan and Mr Kiir also discussed the disputed Abyei region, calling for “regular joint meetings” to resolve the dispute over the territory, the statement added.

    Mr Kiir also briefed Burhan on the implementation of the 2018 South Sudan peace agreement, of which Sudan is one of the main guarantors.

    Source: BBC

  • Sudanese woman jailed 6 months for kissing man 

    A Sudanese woman charged with adultery has had her life spared and will instead spend six months behind bars after she admitted to kissing a man.

    The 20-year-old was initially sentenced to death by stoning, sparking an international outcry.

    She was arrested by police after her cousin killed her boyfriend.

    The African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies (ACJPS) described the initial penalty as a “grave violation of international law”.

    The divorcee was sentenced to death after she was found guilty of adultery by a court in the city of Kosti, in Sudan’s White Nile state.

    Following international condemnation, the White Nile state court retried the case. Ultimately, the presiding judge changed the charge from “adultery” to an “obscene act” which meant she would instead serve prison time for her actions.

    She confessed in court to being with a man and admitted that the pair had kissed.

    Her lawyer, Intisar Abdullah, said the judge “didn’t have many options but to convict her”.

    “The thing is she confessed at the court that she was with a man, she is very young and she doesn’t know the complications of the case,” the lawyer told the BBC.

    The woman had been free on bail but has now gone to prison to start her sentence.

    The ACJPS said she was not allowed a lawyer in the initial case, and procedural errors led to the stoning sentence being overturned.

    Sudan still imposes the death penalty for some hudud crimes – offences specified by Allah in the Quran, including theft and adultery. In Sudanese law they carry penalties such as flogging, the amputation of hands and feet, hanging and stoning.

    The majority of stoning sentences in Sudan – laid predominantly against women – have been overturned at the High Court.

    Previously, a government minister described the sentence as a “joke” but admitted that no government minister could intervene.

    Sudan has been run by a military junta since a coup in 2021.

    Source: BBC

  • Sudan houses hundreds who fled South Sudan violence

    According to the state-run Sudanese news agency Suna, at least 1,700 people have crossed into Sudan as a result of fighting between armed factions in South Sudan’s northern Upper Nile province.

    Earlier reports of escalating civilian casualties, injuries, and kidnappings prompted thousands of women and children to evacuate their homes in Upper Nile state as a result of fighting between armed factions that began in August, according to the UN agency Unicef.

    Since then, the fighting has spread to the states of Jonglei and Unity.

    The UN reported on Wednesday that at least 166 people have died as a result of the violence.

    Large numbers of South Sudanese fleeing the violence had arrived in the border state of White Nile, according to Salah Taaj al-Sir, a member of Sudan’s state-run Humanitarian Aid Commission, who spoke to Suna.

    He urged humanitarian organizations to help the refugees right away.

  • New conflict in South Sudan has forced 40,000 people to flee

    A UN agency has reported that over 40,000 people have been forced from their homes as a result of fresh conflict in South Sudan’s oil-rich Upper Nile state.

    In its latest update, the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha) said threats of violence continue to hamper humanitarian response in the state.

    It said the displaced people were living in dire conditions and required urgent life-saving assistance.

    Last week ceasefire monitors said they would send a team to investigate the ongoing deadly clashes in the state.

    Fighting has been reported in the state since state mid-November – reportedly involving the national army and the Maiwut opposition forces.

    There are also reports of renewed hostilities in Fashoda area between different ethnic rival groups.

    A prominent civil society group, the Community for Progress Organisation (CEPO), told the BBC that it received credible reports from civilians about armed youths amassing troops in the state over the weekend.

    The BBC could not independently verify this information.

    Source: BBC

  • ‘I’ve been spat at in the face for the colour of my skin’

    Basketball scout Sarah Chan’s career has taken her all over the world, from Sudan to Kenya, Europe and the US – but she’s had to face war, racism and gender-based violence along the way.

    “I have been spat in the face for the colour of my skin,” says the former professional basketball player.

    “I’ve experienced racism in more ways than I would like.”

    Now the first woman to manage African scouting for a team in the NBA – the world’s top professional basketball league – Ms Chan is inspiring a new generation of young people to seek out opportunity in the sport.

    “Basketball illuminated my way to where I am today. It is everything,” says Ms Chan, who is featured in the BBC 100 Women list of inspiring and influential women this year.

    She and her family lived in Khartoum during the second Sudanese Civil War. There were several attempts to arrest her father and she recalls often being woken in the night by noises outside their house.

    Eventually they fled, hoping to find a safer life and better education in Kenya.

    “It was the first place that we could actually enjoy the right of playing sports, because in Sudan [playing] sports and seeing a girl or woman in shorts was a taboo,” says Ms Chan.

    It was here that her passion for basketball would emerge. She remembers a conversation that led to her and her sister playing the sport for the first time.

    “I remember being one of the tallest kids in school in Kenya and our principal approached us and asked if we could play.

    “And at the time, honestly, my mind wasn’t there. And so I said, with all respect I didn’t want to join – and because of that, he immediately made sports mandatory.”

    'I've been spat at in the face for the colour of my skin'
    Ms Chan – here on the left, with shirt number 33 – discovered her passion for basketball in Kenya

    After years of training, she went on to secure a four-year undergraduate basketball scholarship at Union University, in Jackson, Tennessee, in the US. Over a 14-year playing career, she competed professionally in Europe and across Africa.

    “Through basketball you touch so many hearts. Basketball changes lives,” she says.

    But Ms Chan also encountered racism in the sport – including an incident she says happened when she travelled to Algiers, with her team mates and was spat at on the face by a man.

    “Without the foundation of what my family instilled in me, I wouldn’t have been able to withstand all of that,” she says.

    “Right before I left home, my dad and my mum said, ‘You’re beautiful just the way you are.’”

    When she took her first trip back to South Sudan in 2012, Ms Chan witnessed injustices against women, including early and forced marriages.

    “At the age of 18 you’re expected to start looking for a mate,” she says.

    Girls are forced to choose whether to stay in school “or to get financial relief from the man that the family might choose for you”, she explains.

    “I cried for way too long.

    It got to a point where I was done crying and I needed to find out what I could do to contribute towards making some things right.”

    'I've been spat at in the face for the colour of my skin'
    Sarah (second from right) attributes her success to a strong support system from her family

    And so Ms Chan started the Home At Home/Apediet Foundation, a mentoring charity to combat child marriage and advocate for education and sport.

    She remembers a time she was watching a game when a girl came to sit next to her on the bench.

    “She wasn’t even a basketball player, she was just a random kid that came to the court and started opening up to me and told me a gut-wrenching story of how she had got raped the night before,” she says.

    “And it really took me apart because I have had my own traumatic experiences with rape. And it took a long time to heal.

    “In the beginning I was in denial – [I thought] that such trauma and rape didn’t happen to six-foot-two girls. Then anger, then grief, and it makes you feel just worthless and helpless and bitter.”

    For her, healing has come from doing “one of the hardest things” and forgiving the perpetrator – and also from her work with the foundation.

    “I came from poverty and we figured it out,” she says.

    “These kids only need an opportunity because they’re very gifted, smart and able.

    “Somebody helped me to start playing sports, and without them doing that, I wouldn’t be where I am today.”

    Despite being a male-dominated sport, Ms Chan thinks that the potential for women’s basketball on the continent is bright.

    “Sports is the future of Africa. It’s the weapon of Africa, especially for the girls,” she says.

    She takes her mentoring work seriously, she says, “because people saw things in me that I hadn’t already seen”.

    'I've been spat at in the face for the colour of my skin'
    Sarah Chan takes mentoring seriously to help girls achieve their dreams

    It was through coaching that she landed her role with the Toronto Raptors, after an NBA executive spotted her working at a basketball camp in Kenya.

    Now employed by the team, which was founded in 1995 as part of the NBA’s expansion into Canada, it’s Ms Chan’s job to spot emerging talent – both male and female – to support the players’ development and create a pipeline to open up basketball opportunities for them in North America.

    She recently travelled to Uganda and Tanzania to pick players for a major tournament in Rwanda next year.

    “It’s my hope that ‘ball gets to the point where there’s a WBAL, a Women Basketball African League,” she says.

    “That is my dream for these girls, that they’re not limited by culture, they’re not limited by any thinking.

    “They’re free and liberated truly in their minds, and can chase their dreams as human beings, not restrained or limited by being this or that gender.”

    Source: BBC

  • Sudanese Anti-Corruption leader Salih regains his liberty

    Wagdi Salih, a well-known Sudanese politician, was released from prison just one day before his civilian coalition was set to sign a first agreement with the military to end a political deadlock caused by an October 2021 coup.

    Following the ouster of former Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir in 2019, leftist politician Salih was in charge of an anti-corruption commission and was released on Sunday at a police station in the nation’s capital Khartoum.

    Wagdi Salih

    The generals who had been co-ruling with the civilian Forces of Freedom and Change (FFC) until they staged their takeover attacked the committee, stalling the transition that was supposed to lead to democratic elections.

    Salih and a policeman who had been on the committee were both released. His October arrest was seen as “purely political” by his FFC coalition.

    Since the coup, Sudan has been without a prime minister, and its already-in-crisis economy has stagnated as a result of the suspension of billions of dollars in international financial aid.

    The military and the FFC declared on Friday that they intended to sign a framework agreement for a civilian-led transition that would start after a final pact is inked, along with other groups.

    The United Nations, the US, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, among others, have helped to organise talks.

    Salih has been taken into custody by the authorities previously. Security incarcerated him forcibly in the capital city of Khartoum in February.

  • UN envoy discusses Sudan peace process in Juba

    On the fringes of East Africa’s trade bloc session in Juba Thursday December 1, the UN envoy for Sudan discussed the peace process in Khartoum.

    2 years after the signing of the Juba Peace Agreement, by the former Sudanese military-civilian power sharing government and various rebel groups, protocols have made little headway.

    “We informed the three stakeholders about the political process in Khartoum, Voker Perthes said.

    “We asked their views, we asked their perspectives, we also asked for their advice and we got it and we said that we will, of course, we will report back to the stakeholders.”

    The UN envoy for Sudan’s press conference took place after he met with representatives of the African Union (AU) and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) as well as non-state stakeholders who are not part of the Juba peace agreement.

    “Some forces may not be eager to enter the political process in Khartoum at this particular stage but it does not mean that they are not relevant for a lasting, return to transition towards democracy and lasting peace and we have said it often but we can only repeat that transition towards democracy and stable inclusive peace are very, very closely interrelated.”

    According reports by local media Sudan Tribune, the UN, AU and IGAD representatives met with delegates from the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North and separately with the Sudan Liberation Movement, two organisations of rebel groups from regions of Darfur.

    In Sudan, ongoing talks between the county’s main civilian bloc and the military aim to break the political deadlock following the 2021 military coup.

    Source: African News

  • Sudan’s Rastas vow to fight on amid crackdown

    Near weakly protests against the October 2021 coup usually gather thousands in Sudan. Among the demonstrators some stand out with their flags, placards or hairstyle.

    Members of the Rastafarian community proudly wear dreadlocks.

    Rastafarianism considers former Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie to be its Messiah.

    In the majority Muslim nation, unlike in Jamaica were most Rastafarians are found, wearing dreads doesn’t have religious overtones.

    “It is a way of protesting [the October 2021 military coup],” Saleh Abdalla explains.

    “We, as youths, refuse all our government’s violations. After all, we don’t consider it a government that represents us, the youths, or the people. We will keep the Rasta [dreadlocks] until the regime falls. After it falls, I might shave my head or keep my Rasta-like lifestyle. We do not consider it a religion[…]”

    The number of Rastafarians in Sudan is unknown. Environments like an art exhibition in Khartoum celebrate reggae culture.

    The whiff of freedom after the fall of Omar Al Bashir enabled many Rastas to thrive. However, it did not last as a post-Bashir transition to civilian rule was upended last year when army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan led a military coup.

    “The Rasta never dies”

    The community doesn’t want to go back to largely living underground.

    “During the [anti-Omar al-Bashir] protests, I knew that if I got arrested, they [security forces] will shave [my head]. It was my motivation to keep running [from security forces]. It was very bad, and I feel this [behaviour from the authorities] is back.”

    Men and women Rastafarians would face persecution under public order laws restricting how people dress or behave in public. during Omar al-Bashir’s tenure.

    The killings of several Sudanese Rastafarians in mass anti-coup demonstrations since General Al-Burhan’s takeover have given rise to a popular protest slogan, “The Rasta never dies”.

    At least 121 people have been killed in the crackdown on protests since the October 2021 coup, according to medics group.

    Noting the “peacefulness and spontaneity” of the demonstrations, 35-year-old filmmaker Afraa Saad said “this made us [Rastas] believe they were being especially targeted.”

    “I believe the slogan emerged to say that their good reputation will last.”

    Being a woman, Saad said she has faced greater scrutiny than men Rastafarians since she embraced the tradition during the height of the anti-Bashir demonstrations.

    “The most persistent objection is why would a girl wear dreadlocks when there are other more acceptable hairstyles,” she said, noting a “prevalent stereotype” tying dreadlocks with drug use and “unbecoming behaviour”.

    For now, wearing dreadlocks, listening to reggae music or having a Rasta-like lifestyle is an act of defiance in Sudan.

    Source: African News

  • Sudan court quashes decision to stone woman to death

    An appeal court in southern White Nile state in Sudan has invalidated a court decision that a young woman convicted of adultery be stoned to death, her lawyer said.

    In June, a court in Kosti town found Maryam Tiraab guilty under a Sudanese law that states that a married person, male or female, be stoned to death if he/she commits adultery.

    Intisaar Abdullah, her defence lawyer, told the Sudan Tribune news website, on Thursday that a court of appeal “invalidated the court ruling concerning Tiraab”.

    Ms Abdullah said that the court of appeal decided to return the case to the trial court, and ordered it to reconsider the ruling, saying that it had not “taken into consideration the guidelines of a fair trial”.

    She said that the court of appeal also ordered the trial court to restart the litigation process afresh, in accordance with “instructions it had issued”, without giving more details.

    Ms Tiraab’s defence lawyers said that the previous ruling was “illegal” since their client had no “legal representation”.

    Ms Tiraab, 20, who separated from her husband in 2020, was accused of adultery by her husband a year later.

    The trial court’s decision had angered many Sudanese lawyers, who sympathised with Ms Tiraab, and vowed to appeal against the decision.

    Source: BBC.com 

  • Thirteen killed as Sudan rebel groups clash

    Thirteen people were killed and 12 others are reported missing following fierce fighting between two rival factions of the rebel Sudanese Liberation Movement-Nur (SLM-Nur) group in Central Darfur state, western Sudan, the UN has said.

    In a statement issued on Thursday, the UN humanitarian agency (OCHA) in Sudan said the clashes started on 19 November in the Umu and Arshin areas of Shamal Jebel Marra locality.

    Six people were abducted and four others wounded, privately-owned Al-Intibaha news site reported.

    The fighting later spread to the villages of Daya, Wara, and Kia, in the same locality, with an estimated 5,600 people reportedly fleeing their homes and moving to displaced people’s camps, OCHA said.

    The situation remains tense as there are reports that both parties are mobilising their forces for fresh attacks, according to the UN.

    In October, similar clashes between the two groups left at least 13 people killed and 15 others wounded.

    SLM-Nur is one of the few rebel groups that did not sign the 2020 Juba peace agreement, which the government signed with former rebel groups in Darfur and southern regions.

    There has been division within SLM-Nur in recent months, as some factions have defected.

    Source: BBC

  • Meroe in Sudan was the Capital of the Great Kushite Empire

    Archaeological discoveries and historical documents indicate that the ancient city of Meroe served as the capital of the kingdom of Kush, which is now located in Sudan.

    Kush was a northern African kingdom whose influence spanned approximately 1069 BCE to 350 CE. Although the region around Kush, later known as Nubia, had been inhabited since around 8,000 BCE, the kingdom of Kush rose later. Findings also indicate that, while early Egyptians and the Kushite were in contact as early as c. 3150 – c. 2613 BCE during Egypt’s Early Dynasty Period, the Kushite civilization most likely evolved from this early cultural contact and was heavily influenced by the Egyptians.

    Kush, which was rich in gold, was the Egyptians’ main source of this precious commodity, and it is widely assumed that the later name, Nubia, was derived from the Egyptian word for gold, ‘nub.’ Because of the Kushite kingdom’s vast wealth, it quickly ruled over Egypt and dominated its politics, with its kings ruling over Egypt.

    Egypt’s weakness benefited Kush, and Kushite kings reigned without reference to Egyptian monarchs or policies around 1069 BCE. As the kingdom expanded steadily, it reached the point where it could take whatever it wanted from Egypt without deferring to Egyptian kings. They rose to power in Egypt over time, not to conquer, but to preserve Egyptian culture and heritage.

    Meroe, the Great City

    He was succeeded by a puppet king named Necho 1 after the 25th Dynasty ended with Tantamani. His son, Psammetcus 1, also known as Psamtik 1, c. 665-610 BCE, ended Assyrian rule and established Egypt’s 26th Dynasty. Psammeticus and his successor, Necho 11, ruled successfully. Nonetheless, Psammeticus 11, Necho 11’s successor, led an expedition against Kush, destroying towns, temples, monuments, stele, and finally the capital city of Napata before calling it quits and returning to Egypt due to boredom.

    For safety reasons, the capital city of the Kushite kingdom was relocated further south to the town of Meroe around 590 BCE. Meroe’s rulers continued to imitate Egyptian customs and fashion, as well as Egyptian policies and religious rituals, until the reign of King Arkamani.

    Arkamani 1 had some education in Greek philosophy and resisted being controlled by priestly superstitions, according to historian DIodorus Sirculus (1st century BCE). As a result, he led a band of men to the temple, slaughtered all the priests, and ended their reign over the monarchy. In their place, he implemented a new policy and practice that included abandoning Egyptian cultural practices in favor of Kushite practices.

    Arkamani, for example, replaced Egyptian hieroglyphic script with Meroitic, which has yet to be deciphered. He also changed the fashion sense from Egyptian to Meroitic, and Egyptian gods such as Aperdemak were assimilated into Kushite ones. Burial customs were also altered, with royalty now buried in Meroe rather than Napata, where they had previously been interred.

    Meroe, on the Nile’s banks, thus became the capital of the Kingdom of Kush. Its ironwork and trade brought it great wealth as an agricultural and industrial center. Agricultural products such as grains and cereals were exported, as were iron weapons and tools, and the city was overrun with livestock.

    Meroe became legendary, and King Cambyses 11 of Persia (525-522) is said to have launched an unsuccessful expedition to plunder. If the expedition was ever launched, legend has it that Cambyses 11’s army was defeated by the treacherous and inhospitable terrain they crossed, as well as the weather.

    The Axumites, however, invaded and sacked Meroe around 330 CE. Even though the city will survive for another 20 years, it has been effectively destroyed. Meroe was doomed even before the invasion and would have imploded. For one thing, the iron industry required a large amount of wood to produce charcoal and fuel the furnaces used in iron smelting. Because of the high demand, a large portion of the city has been deforested. Furthermore, due to the city’s large livestock population, the fields around the city were heavily overgrazed and overused for crop production, depleting the soil.

    Meroe was already in decline and on the verge of abandonment before the Axumites arrived. The once prosperous and wealthy Kingdom of Kush had effectively come to an end by the time the last of the people walked away from the city around 350 CE.

     

    Source: theafricanhistory.com

  • 50% of countries highly affected by climate change are in Africa – Patrick Low

    Sudan, Ethiopia, Senegal, Zimbabwe, Egypt, Tunisia, Mali, Mozambique, Morocco, Mauritania, Niger, Eritrea, Algeria, Sudan, Benin, Rwanda, Chad, Kenya, and Libya are just a few of the many African nations that have been identified as among the thirty (30) nations in the world that are most at risk from the effects of climate change.

    According to reports, these nations are experiencing the negative effects of climate change, including food crises, ocean acidification from rising CO2 levels, droughts, flood risks, storms, melting glaciers, rising sea levels that affect low-lying areas and coastal cities, declining crop yields, especially in tropical regions, and water shortages.

    These negative effects are leading to the destruction of tropical forests, forest fires, Malnutrition and heat stress, spread of vector-borne disease e.g., malaria, dengue fever etc., Physical displacement of populations and risks of mass migrations, Damage to ecosystems and species extinction, Sudden shifts in weather patterns and many more problems that are confronting humanity and the environment.

    Thus, international economist and a member of tralac Advisory Board who is also a former Chief Economist at the Word Trade Center, Patrick Low has challenged African countries to seize the opportunity of the ongoing COP 27 in Egypt to concentrate on Green Growth to improve competitiveness and enhance access in big markets.

    Addressing the 2022 tralac Annual Conference in Nairobi, Kenya, Patrick Low who currently serves as a fellow of the Asia Global Institute emphasized that there is the need for a clear and united African position to addressing the climate issues affecting the continent considering the fact that Africa’s population will double by 2050.

    Patrick Low distinguished between two main approaches to tackling climate change issues; namely abatement and adaptation where abatement which is also referred to also mitigation seeks to reduce emissions while adaptation refers to preparing the environment to sustain a given level of global warming. He however advised Africa to focus on the sustained growth trajectory relying on particularly the current integrated continental trading under AfCFTA.

    “Africa’s challenge is not abatement, but rather mapping out a sustainable growth trajectory. Green growth will improve competitiveness and enhance access in big markets,” he advised.

    The Geneva-based consultant on trade and trade-related matters also charged the continent to Support the development of a negotiated carbon price among major emitters and a market for carbon credits particularly when all the major emitters are not necessarily part of the top-tier list of countries that face the worse threats from climate change.

    “It is in all countries’ interest to act maximally, especially the major emitters on abatement and the richer countries also with finance for adaptation around the world,” he recommended.

    Patrick Low encouraged Africans to continue pushing for countries particularly big emitters of CO2 to fulfill their commitment to climate change financing in order to have funds tackle the adaptation approach of handling climate change.

    “Keep up the pressure on financing, remind RoW that Africa is an important carbon sink,” the international economist advocated.

    He added that adaptation is about reducing the impact of global warming and big emitters can pursue meaningful abatement policies, but this is less true of small emitters who are the most vulnerable to climate change with disparate income and development levels, vulnerabilities afflicting dozens of countries powerless to address them, even though everyone can play the appropriate part and therefore a Unified Africa can team with other parts of the world to corporate on the levels of addressing all climate change issues.

  • Sudan shuts internet, imposes lockdown on coup anniversary

    Sudanese authorities on Tuesday cut internet service and imposed a tight cover of the capital Khartoum as the country marks a year since the coup that toppled the transitional government of Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok.

    Processions against military rule were expected as has been the case every week since October 25 last year.

    And Khartoum State Government declared an official holiday in all government and private institutions while the authorities deployed reinforcements from the army and police in the central Khartoum area. They also closed all roads leading to the Presidential Palace and the General Command of the Army, the headquarters of the military.

    But an analysis by internet service watchdog Net Blocks said there had been internet disruption for most of Tuesday.

    “Confirmed: Live metrics show a nation-scale internet disruption in #Sudan; the incident comes amid planned pro-democracy protests on the first anniversary of the 25 Oct 2021 military coup that seized power from the transitional government,” the watchdog tweeted.

    All Nile bridges closed

    The authorities also announced the closure of all Nile bridges linking the central Khartoum area with the rest of the cities of the state, except for the Soba and Halfaya bridges. In a statement published by the state news agency, the Khartoum State Security Committee stressed said it was keen “to protect the participants in peaceful processions and marches that express the will of the youth,” noting that “the security services are working to save the lives and property of citizens.”

    No formal government

    Sudan has been without a formal government since, and the authorities are controlled by the junta leader Lt-Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who is the chairman of the Sovereignty Council. His bid to re-form a transitional government has often fallen through as civilian movements reject any role of the military in the transitional government.

    On Monday, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said Sudanese people must be given their democratic aspirations, praising civilian movements “who continue to demand freedom, peace, and justice under a democratic government and remember those who died while pursuing those goals”.

    “The Sudanese people have shown themselves as unshakeable in their aspiration for a civilian-led government that shows respect for their dignity and is responsive to their needs. The continued willingness of Sudanese protests, often in the face of violent suppression by security forces, to demonstrate in support of an end to military rule is deeply inspiring.”

    Blinken said only an inclusive initiative to find an exit from Sudan’s political crisis that ends military rule and restores the country’s democratic transition will be sufficient.

    “We continue to support the UN, AU, and IGAD Tripartite Mechanism and urge all Sudanese actors to prioritise engaging constructively in dialogue,” said the US top diplomat, referring to a joint bid by the United Nations, the African Union and regional bloc the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD).

    Reject military rule

    “We stand ready to use all the tools at our disposal against those who seek to derail progress toward Sudan’s democratic transition. As we did a year ago, we continue to reject military rule and stand with the people of Sudan in their demands for freedom, peace, and justice for all Sudanese,” the statement said.

    Events have accelerated in Sudan since the morning of October 25, 2021, with deterioration in the political and economic situation while security is out of control in several states.

    On October 25, the army chief declared a state of emergency, suspended several articles of the constitution, and dissolved the Sovereign and Ministerial Councils ostensibly to “correct the course of the revolution” that ousted former president Omar al-Bashir.

    On his first day, Al-Burhan vowed to form a government of independent technocrats, achieve the requirements of justice and transition, and form a constitution-drafting commission. He also pledged to form an electoral commission, a council of the high judiciary, a constitutional court, and a parliament, and set the end of the month following the coup, last November, as a deadline for the implementation of those promises, according to his first statement.

    Constitutional vacuum

    But a year has passed since the coup and its promises and al-Burhan has been unable to implement any of the previous promises.

    The country continues in a state of constitutional vacuum that may be the longest in the history of Sudan.

     

    Source: The East African

  • Thousands march across Sudan on 1st anniversary of military coup

    Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of Sudan’s capital Tuesday (Oct 25).

    They marked the first anniversary of a military coup that upended the nation’s short-lived transition to democracy.

    Videos published on social media showed protests with flags and drums, most of them bound for the Presidential Palace. Other footage showed protesters standing in front of convoys of security forces or calling out that the “revolution continues”, to demanded the creation of “a civil democratic Sudan”.

    “This is the first time in history that we have seen a man lead a coup and not make any progress in a whole year despite the support of foreign countries”, a man says.

    “But the Sudanese people are determined and especially this generation that has decided to do away with military coups forever”, he adds.

    Last year, army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan seized power and arrested the civilian leaders with whom he had agreed to share power in 2019, when mass protests compelled the army to depose one of its own, long-time ruler Omar al-Bashir.

    Since its takeover, the military has cracked down and suppressed near-weekly pro-democracy marches, with as many as 118 protesters killed, according to statistics published by the Sudan Doctors Committee.

    Eyewitnesses said thousands also took to the streets in the cities of Wad Madani and El Obeid south of theKhartoum, Gedaref and Port Sudan in the east, Atbara in the north and Nyala in the southwestern Darfur region.

    Online monitor NetBlocks claimed authorities restricted internet access across the country in an attempt to stem protests.

    Source: African News

  • Sudan: protester killed two days before coup anniversary – doctors

    A protester was killed Sunday in Khartoum by a bullet fired by security forces, doctors said, as the anti-putsch mobilisation begins, culminating in the first anniversary of General Abdel Fattah al-Burhane’s coup on Tuesday.

    The new death, the first of a protester since August 31, brings to 118 the number of protesters killed in a year of repression, added the doctors’ union, which has been keeping track of victims for the past year.

    On 25 October 2021, the army chief dismissed the civilian members of the government that was supposed to lead the country towards democracy after 30 years of dictatorship Omar al-Bashir, who was dismissed by the army under pressure from the street in 2019.

    Since then, almost every week, Sudanese take to the streets, braving the repression.

    Activists and resistance committees, the neighbourhood groups that organise the marches, are promising another show of force in the streets on Tuesday for the first anniversary of the coup.

    Already on Friday, they managed to mobilise thousands of demonstrators in various cities across Sudan to demand a return to civilian rule.

    For a year now, the country, one of the poorest in the world, has been sinking deeper into political and economic crises.

    No way out of the crisis seems to be in sight, despite international mediation efforts to bring civilians and the military to the same negotiating table.

    As for the economic situation, it is only getting worse: between triple-digit inflation and food shortages, a third of Sudan’s 45 million people are going hungry.

    Source: African News

  • Over 150 killed in two days of Sudan clashes

    More than 150 people have reportedly been killed in ethnic clashes in the last two days in Sudan’s Blue Nile state in the south.

    The violence broke out last week over land dispute between members of the Hausa people and rival ethnic groups, in which more than a dozen people were killed.

    An overnight curfew was put in place to contain the violence.

    The UN said on Thursday that it was “alarmed by violence escalation in Lagawa and conflict resurgence in the Blue Nile region”.

    “Sustainable peace won’t be possible without a fully functional credible government that prioritizes local communities’ needs including security and addresses the root causes of conflict,” the United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan said in a statement.

    The fighting is said to be the worst in recent months.

    Sudan has been grappling with political unrest and violence since last year’s military coup.

    Source: BBC

  • At least 15 killed in Sudan land clashes

    Residents and health officials in southern Sudan say at least 15 people have been killed after a dispute over land in Blue Nile state escalated.

    The clashes were reportedly sparked by arguments between members of the Hausa people and rival groups in the small town of Wad al-Mahi, about 500 km (310 miles) south of the capital, Khartoum.

    Residents described hearing intense gunfire and said homes had been torched.

    Staff at the town clinic said a number of bodies had been brought in.

    The violence broke out despite a heavy security presence in the area, which is subject to an overnight curfew following a land dispute last week in which more than a dozen people were killed.

    Source: BBC

  • Sudanese pupils return to school amid political, economic tension

    It’s back-to-school time in Sudan, but nine-year-old Zahra Hussein is doing chores at home. Like millions of Sudanese children, she had to leave school because her parents could not pay her school fees.

    In first grade, “I was the third in the class,” the girl proudly tells AFP in her home in the village of Ed Moussa, in the eastern state of Kassala.

    Two years later, she even managed to climb to first place despite the difficult learning conditions, with cracked walls, rickety tables, and often waterless toilets in her school.

    But in the middle of third grade, she had to stop everything.

    “My father didn’t have enough money, so he took me out of school,” she says in disappointment.

    In Sudan, seven million children do not go to school, particularly in rural areas where nearly two-thirds of the 45 million inhabitants live, a “catastrophe for an entire generation”, according to NGOs.

    Already during the 30-year dictatorship of Omar al-Bashir, who will be removed from office in 2019 following a popular protest movement, families withdrew their children from school to cope with the economic crisis.

    The political and economic stagnation that followed a coup a year ago, recurring ethnic conflicts, and prolonged school closures due to the Covid-19 pandemic have only worsened the situation in this country, one of the poorest in the world.

    And every year, heavy rains destroy schools: this summer, 600 schools were damaged.

    As a result, Sudan and its 12.4 million students are the second most vulnerable country in terms of schooling, according to the Risk Education Index.

    “At the age of 10, seven out of ten children are unable to read and understand a simple sentence,” laments Arshad Malik, director of the NGO Save the Children in Sudan.

    A symbol of the distress that reaches even the teachers, the latter regularly demonstrate to demand better salaries or denounce a military power incapable of raising the country.

    – No meal, no school –

    Zahra knows that she will only return to school “if we find the money to pay for meals and school books”.

    In the village next to hers, Wad Charifaï, the school canteens closed down two years ago even though they often provided the only meal for the children, made of lentils, vegetables, and cookies.

    Since these free meals disappeared, Othmane Aboubakr, a day laborer, has had to drop seven of his nine children from school.

    Unable to pay for meals in addition to transportation and school supplies, he chose another option: to have the older children work.

    “Now the children can help bring money home,” he says.

    Abdallah Ibrahim also sends several of his seven children to work. Some help out in his café, while others have found work in a bakery.

    “Making the children work is not good but we have to, at least to pay for their meals every day,” says Ohaj Souleïmane, a 43-year-old day laborer.

    But not all children are equal when it comes to dropping out of school, points out Malik of Save the Children.

    “A family is more likely to take their daughters out of school to marry them off or to involve them in domestic chores,” he says.

    He says four out of 10 girls have dropped out of school compared to three out of 10 boys.

    Without action to get them back into school, “poverty and inequality are likely to increase, and with them families’ vulnerability to climate change and natural disasters,” Malik warns.

    Source: Africanews

  • Asante Kotoko arrive in Ghana after pre-season tour in Sudan

    Ghana Premier League champions, Asante Kotoko have arrived in Ghana following their pre-season tour in Sudan.

    Kotoko had planned a pre-season tour in Turkey, but due to visa issues, the club opted for a tour in Sudan instead.

    The Porcupines had a disappointing tour, failing to win any of their four matches.

     

    Kotoko lost twice to Al Hilal Omdurman, as well as to Simba, before drawing with Al Khatourn in their final game.

    New manager, Seydou Zerbo who replaced Prosper Narteh is still in search of his first win after managing three games since his appointment.

    Following their arrival, the club will now prepare for their CAF Champions League preliminary round first leg against Rail Club de Kadiogo of Burkina Faso on September 9.

    Source; Ghanaweb

  • Pro-democracy protests continue in Sudan

    Thousands of protesters took to the streets of Khartoum on Saturday, after nine people were killed Thursday in demonstrations against the country’s ruling generals.

    AP video shows a police armoured vehicle firing tear gas towards the protesters, who used shields and threw stones in retaliation at the vehicles.

    The demonstrators moved later to a sit-in area, which started last Thursday night outside al-Jawda hospital where injured protesters are still being treated.

    The United States and others in the international community condemned the violence in the East African nation, which has been rocked by near-weekly protests since an Oct. 25 coup upended its fragile transition to democracy.

    Protester Aisha al-Samany said she took the streets to “restore the transition to a civilian rule and to end the military coup,” with no room for compromise with the military on power-sharing.

    Sudanese military authorities have met the protests with a deadly crackdown, which has so far killed 113 people, including 18 children.

    Photographs of the dead were posted online, in some cases in an effort to identify them.

    The Sudan’s Doctors Committee, a medical group that monitors casualties from demonstrations, said security forces shot and killed nine people, including a child, in or near Khartoum during the rallies on Thursday.

    Thursday demonstrations coincided with widespread internet disruptions.

    Source: Africanews

  • AU suspends participation in UN-led Sudan talks

    The African Union has suspended its participation in the UN-facilitated talks to end the Sudan political crisis.

    Its representative in the talks cited lack of transparency and exclusion of important political actors from the process.

    Mohamed Belaish, the AU representative in Khartoum was quoted by the state-run Sudan news agency as saying that “the African Union cannot participate in a process that is not based on transparency, honesty and non-exclusion”.

    He said the AU would “not participate in a process that does not respect all the actors and treat them with full respect and on an equal footing”.

    The AU and the regional bloc Intergovernmental Authority on Development (Igad) had previously backed the UN-led intra-Sudanese dialogue process, which began on 8 June.

    The dialogue was however postponed indefinitely a few days later, after the former ruling Forces of Freedom and Change (FFC) coalition refused to join its sessions.

    The FFC is demanding the military to leave power and return power to a civilian transitional government.

    Source: BBC

  • Protester killed in latest anti-coup rally in Sudan

    Doctors in Sudan say the security forces have shot dead a protester during the latest rally against last year’s military coup.

    The pro-democracy group, the Central Committee of Sudan Doctors, said the demonstrator died after taking shots to the chest and stomach during a protest in Omdurman, the twin city of the capital, Khartoum.

    The committee says more than 100 people have been killed in such rallies since the military takeover in October.

    Since then Sudan has descended into deepening unrest together with rising prices, food shortages and ethnic clashes.

    The United Nations, the African Union and regional bloc Igad have been trying to facilitate talks to resolve the crisis.

    Source: BBC

  • Sudanese protests against military rule persist

    Sudanese demonstrators are back on the streets to protest against the military in power and ask for the implementation of a civil government.

    Large crowds could be seen around the presidential palace in Khartoum responding to calls from several dissident groups on May 12. This is the most important turnout since the holy month of Ramadan.

    “All we are asking now is for the military council to step down and hand the state over to a civilian government in order to save the state, because Sudan is now collapsing, there is no justice, there is no freedom, and there is no peace.“, says Abd El-malik Ibrahim a protester in Khartoum.

    Activists have often condemned the use of live ammunition and tear gas by the security forces during clashes with protesters. According to Sudanese lawyers, over 80 political protesters are still in jail, many of whom are tortured.

    Source: Africa News

  • Five Sudanese footballers drown in the Nile

    Five Sudanese footballers died on Sunday when their boat sank in the Nile, north of the capital Khartoum, official news agency, Sudanese News Agency reported.

    It said the players, members of the third division team Navigation, were on their way to play a match when their boat sank.

    The agency did not state how the vessel sank but said the entire team was on board.

    The players were travelling from the city of Shendi in the River Nile state in northern Sudan to the city of Al Matama to play against El-Jiref, in the third division league

    Boat accidents are not new on the Nile. Passenger ferries are often old and not safe. 

    Incidents are particularly frequent when the river tends to flood in the summer when water levels rise.

    Source: africanews.com