SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Sudan Tribune - Sudan bears primary responsibility to protect civilians in Darfur: says FM

20/1/2021: Sudan Tribune - Sudan bears primary responsibility to protect civilians in Darfur: says FM

 Sudan Tribune report that the Sudanese government has stressed its responsibility to protect and maintains security in Darfur following recent deadly intercommunal violent incidents in South and West Darfur that killed at least 200.

 The Sudanese foreign ministry said "the government and peace partners are exerting great efforts to meet these responsibilities, through activating the joint tripartite mechanism and implementing the national plan to protect civilians”.

  Sudan’s Attorney General formed an investigation committee into the attacks on West Darfur camp of Krinding. The committee is also tasked with identifying the causes that led to the clashes and the measures taken by state and local authorities.

SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: New York Times - Violence in Sudan’s Darfur Region Dims Hopes of a Long-Sought Peace

20/1/2021: New York Times - Violence in Sudan’s Darfur Region Dims Hopes of a Long-Sought Peace, by Abdi Latif Dahir

 The New York Times’ feature piece states that the recent violence that has killed hundreds in across Darfur states is “dampening hopes for long-lasting peace”.

Following the UN and African Union handing over peacekeeping responsibilities to the Sudanese government, Jonas Horner, a Sudan analyst with the International Crisis Group, said: “the government comprehensively failed its first real test of maintaining security” 

The rapid mushrooming of the latest conflict from a market fistfight into a violent interethnic episode “illustrates the persistent insecurity in Darfur as well as the folly of the Sudanese government’s premise that security in the region had improved sufficiently” for the peacekeepers to leave, Horner added.

The Sudanese Professionals Association called for “drastic measures” to be taken to prevent further violence, including deploying security forces, disarming tribes and setting up a reconciliation commission among communities.

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Radio Dabanga - West Darfur doctors: 159 people killed in El Geneina attacks

20/1/2021: Radio Dabanga - West Darfur doctors: 159 people killed in El Geneina attacks

Radio Dabanga report that the death toll of the massacre in al-Geneina, West Darfur has risen to 159, with over 90,000 fleeing their homes.

The violence was reportedly triggered by the killing of an Arab herdsman by a member of the Masalit tribe. Although the perpetrator was arrested, the relatives of the victim sought revenge – culminating in large groups of armed men attacking al-Geneina and the two Kerending camps for the internally displaced “from all directions.

According to the Darfur Bar Association (DBA), they were supported by groups of gunmen from North and Central Darfur and the border area with Chad.

West Darfur Governor Mohamed El Doma said government forces present in the area reacted slowly, with the DBA calling for an investigation into the delayed response of the local army commander.

Local civil society activists said that collecting bodies has not been completed as gunmen are still roaming.

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: AP - Armed men try to storm governor’s house in Sudan’s Darfur

20/1/2021: AP- Armed men try to storm governor’s house in Sudan’s Darfur, by Samy Magdy

 AP report that armed men opened fire trying to storm the residence of a provincial governor in Darfur.

 There were no injuries or damage in the attempted attack on West Darfur Gov. Mohammed Abdalla al-Douma’s residence in the provincial capital of Geneina. but it underscored the heightened tensions in the restive region where a bout of tribal violence has killed around 230 people since last week.

A statement from the governor said the attempted attack sought to create “instability and chaos” in the province. There was no immediate claim of responsibility, and the statement did not say who the attackers were.

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Radio Dabanga – Death toll of South Darfur attack rises to 56

20/1/2021: Radio Dabanga – Death toll of South Darfur attack rises to 56

 Radio Dabanga report that at least 56 have died and 37 were wounded in al-Tawil village in South Darfur after Arab Rizeigat tribe gunmen attacked Fallata tribal members.

Fallata spokesperson Ibrahim Mousa told Radio Dabanga that he was surprised by the heavy weapons used by attacks and alleged that Rapid Support Forces (RSF) troops participated in the attack. Mousa also criticised the failure of the government forces to intervene, despite the fact that the army garrison is only five kilometres away from where the attack took place.

Radio Dabanga also provide context on the tensions between Rizeigat and Fallata herders, which “have a long history in South Darfur.”

The Rizeigat are nomadic Arab herders who mainly herd cattle in South Darfur. When the Darfur War began in 2003, “many young Rizeigat herders were recruited to join the 'Janjaweed militia’”. The Fallata are cattle herders from non-Arab ethnic origins.

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Sudan Tribune - Sudan regrets that Libya’s neighbours were not invited to Berlin conference

20/1/2020: Sudan Tribune - Sudan regrets that Libya’s neighbours were not invited to Berlin conference

Sudan Tribune reports that the Sudanese foreign ministry denounced the exclusion of Libya’s neighbours – Sudan, Chad, Tunisia and Niger – in a conference organised by Germany to discuss a negotiated solution for the Libyan crisis.

Berlin hosted a meeting that included the leaders of Algeria, the UK, China, Egypt, France, Italy, Russia, Turkey, the UAE, and the US, alongside Libya’s warring rivals, General Khalifa Haftar, of the Libyan National Army (LNA) and Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj, head of Libya’s UN-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA).

The Sudanese foreign ministry said that Libya’s neighbours have a fundamental role in reaching a peaceful solution to the crisis in Libya due to their interlinked security interests.

The foreign ministry also denounces the absence of a clear criteria for selecting the participants of the conference.

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Sudan Tribune - Darfur holdout group strengthens military capacity thanks to gold mining

20/1/2020: Sudan Tribune - Darfur holdout group strengthens military capacity thanks to gold mining

Sudan Tribune reports that the Sudan Liberation Movement faction led by Abdelwahid el-Nur (SLM-AW) has strengthened its military capability thanks to the significant goldfields in Torroye, a rebel-controlled area in Jebel Marra, according to a report by a UN panel.

The report said the discovery of gold-mines has funded a recruitment drive and purchase of weapons from local militias, with SLM-AW commanders supervising mining operations by the residents and collecting 25% of the revenue generated by artisanal miners

The report cited rebel sources to say that a new SLM-AW training center hosts 150 trainees recruited from former fighters and internally displaced persons.

Furthermore, the SLM-AW discovery of gold triggered conflict between rebels, security forces and militias, with clashes between miners and the Sudanese military in East Jebel Marra causing two deaths in September 2019. 

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Multiple sources – Grenade kills at least 7 at wedding in Khartoum

20/1/2020: Multiple sources – Grenade kills at least 7 at wedding in Khartoum

A grenade exploded during a wedding party in Khartoum, killing at least seven people, including three children, security and medical officials said.

More than 70 were also wounded during the explosion in al-Haj Youssif district.

A fight between two people at the party escalated into one of them throwing the grenade and causing the explosion, the Sudanese health ministry said.

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Multiple sources – Three churches torched twice in Sudan’s Blue Nile state

20/1/2020: Multiple sources – Three churches torched twice in Sudan’s Blue Nile state

Three churches in Bout, Blue Nile state, were set on fire twice in the past four weeks, the Sudanese Human Rights and Democracy Organisation (HUDO) reported in an Urgent Appeal.

On December 28 2019,, unknown persons simultaneously torched church buildings belonging to "the Sudan Internal Church, the Catholic Church, and the Orthodox Church" in the Bout.  The incidents were reported to the police, who did not move to investigate the case or put preventive measures, HUDO says.

After church members rebuilt the three churches, the churches were torched again on January 16 2020.  Again, the case was reported to the police, and again, no further steps were taken.

HUDO expresses its concerns about the violations of “the rights of the worshipers” and calls upon the Sudanese government “to take urgent action to safeguard the constitutional rights of the affected citizens”.