SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Sudan Tribune - 83 people killed in West Darfur tribal attacks: medical group

17/1/2021: Sudan Tribune - 83 people killed in West Darfur tribal attacks: medical group

Sudan Tribune report that at least 83 people were killed and 160 were wounded in tribal revenge attacks in al-Geneina.

According to Adam Rijal, spokesman for the General Coordination of Displaced Persons and Refugees Camps, the situation in al-Geneina is “extremely complex” despite the arrival of military reinforcements from other parts of Darfur. 

Sudan Tribune note that while the government and armed groups agreed to deploy a 16,000 joint force in Darfur after the withdrawal of the UNAMID, it is yet to be on the ground. 

Columnist Shamael al-Nur said the continued civilian casualties in the region reflects the weak impact of the Juba peace agreement on the ground and the government failure to disarm the population. "Nothing makes the gunmen continue to shed blood more than their certitude that the law does not and will not affect them," she wrote.  

SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: Sudanow – Tale of Fashaga Border Enclave With Ethiopia

17/1/2021: Sudanow – Tale of Fashaga Border Enclave With Ethiopia

Sudanow report on accusations that the defunct Omar al-Bashir regime is responsible for the Fashaga border dispute, attributing the withdrawal of Sudanese Armed Forces in 1995 to Sudanese farmers “being left at the mercy of the Ethiopian gangs”. 

However, while local farmer Alrasheed Abdelgadir agrees that the regime’s withdrawal left Sudanese citizens “prey to lootings, thefts and forced immigration,” he rejects the term “Ethiopian gangs”.

Abdelgadir says the militants are official Ethiopian forces sent by the Ethiopian Federal Government, who are operating “a carefully designed plan to build settlements, towns and infrastructure that provide food and services free of charge to attract more people to the area.”

Osman Nafi’, Sudan’s former ambassador to Ethiopia attributed “raised Ethiopian ambitions” to al-Bashir’s regime “belittling the importance of al-Fashaga”.

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Radio Dabanga - Darfur displaced demand protection from armed criminals

17/1/2020: Radio Dabanga - Darfur displaced demand protection from armed criminals

Radio Dabanga reports that displaced community leaders in Darfur have decried the proposed withdrawal of the Joint United Nations-African Union Mission In Darfur (UNAMID), in demands for protection after repeated attacks by unknown assailants.

The community leaders demanded that UNAMID expand its peacekeeping mission across the Darfur region, conduct patrols to protect the displaced, and establish a section to monitor the mission’s work in protecting the displaced.

SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: Foreign Policy - Sudan’s New Prime Minister Grapples With His Country’s Past

17/1/2020: Foreign Policy - Sudan’s New Prime Minister Grapples With His Country’s Past, by Justin Lynch and Robbie Gramer

Foreign Policy (FP) examine Hamdok’s stint as Sudanese Prime Minister.

Indicating that Hamdok is in an “unstable security situation,” FP quote fromer NISS chief Salah Gosh, exiled in Cairo, refuting Himedti’s accusations that he arranged the NISS mutiny on January 14 2020, with Gosh accusing Himedti of “playing political games.”

FP write that Hamdok “has gone out of his way not to directly antagonise Himedti,” who he has been “quietly” outmaneuver by liberalising the gold sector to choke off gold mining revenue.

Hamdok’s January 9 journey to Kauda, a rebel stronghold in South Kordofan was successful according to Jerome Tubiana, indicating that “Hamdok had started to compete with Himedti and some officers in the military council for support in the peripheries.”

However, Hamdok’s focus on getting the US State Sponsor of Terrorism designation lifted “backs [him] into a political corner with impatient [Sudanese] if the US cannot deliver.”