SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Radio Dabanga -Violence and chaos in eastern Sudan’s Kassala

28/7/2020: Radio Dabanga -Violence and chaos in eastern Sudan’s Kassala

 Radio Dabanga report that Kassala town and surroundings witnessed widespread violence, following protests against Kassala’s newly appointed civilian governor Saleh Ammar, a member of the Beni Amer tribe with a military background.

 Four were killed in the clashes in fighting that coincided with a march organised by opponents of the new governor - thousands of Beja tribesmen, headed by Hadendawa Nazir Sayed Tirik, and Beni Amer tribesmen who marched to call for Ammar to arrive from Khartoum and assume his duties. Despite a police curfew, Beni Amer marched again and a man was killed in renewed clashes.

 Beja tribal leaders also demands Ammar’s replacement, although the Kassala Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) welcomes him. Protests also erupted against Ammar in Sinkat in Red Sea state.

 Activists hold the Kassala security committee responsible for the violence, and have expressed their astonishment about allowing protest marches despite the curfew.

SUDAN POLITICAL ALERT: UNAMID - UNAMID Condemns violent attacks on peaceful protestors, civilians and IDPs in North, South and West Darfur

28/7/2020: UNAMID - UNAMID Condemns violent attacks on peaceful protestors, civilians and IDPs in North, South and West Darfur

 Expressing concern with the increased violence on peaceful protesters in Darfur, the joint UN-African Union mission in Darfur (UNAMID) said it “re-emphasises” that the primary responsibility of protecting civilians lies with the Sudanese government, “particularly in areas where UNAMID has withdrawn in the context of its drawdown.”

 UNAMID said it remains ready to assist the government in fulfilling this primary responsibility “to the extent possible within the limits of UNAMID’s mandate.”

 UNAMID called on relevant government authorities to apprehend the perpetrators and bring them to justice.

SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: AFP - Darfur attacks seek to derail Sudan's fragile transition: analysts

28/7/2020: AFP - Darfur attacks seek to derail Sudan's fragile transition: analysts

 AFP’s feature piece quotes from analysts who attribute the increased violence in Darfur to “an attempt to sabotage Sudan’s fragile democratic transition.”

 Referencing the Masterei massacre, Marc Lavergne, a Sudan expert at the French National Center for Scientific Research, argued the “attack by 500 armed men in pick-up trucks on a large village requires real organisation.”

 Lavergne added: “it’s a message. The objective is to destabilise the country and show others abroad that the administration in Khartoum is only in control of the capital."

 Darfur expert Abdallah Adam Khater linked the resurgence of violence to militias formerly backed by Omar al-Bashir’s regime fighting to regain their dominance. Khater said that since al-Bashir’s fall, farmers refused to pay taxes to militias, or allow them to continue occupying lands they were forced to flee

 Lavergne added that the militias now employ “force and terror” to fight for their existence.

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Multiple sources - Sudan extends ceasefire with southern rebels

28/7/19: Multiple sources - Sudan extends ceasefire with southern rebels

• Reuters, by Denis Dumo

• AFP

 Sudanese and South Sudanese officials agreed with Malik Agar,  the leader of Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North, an alliance of armed factions operating along the Sudan-South Sudan joint border, to extend a ceasefire and grant humanitarian access to some areas affected by conflict in Sudan.

 Sudan accuses South Sudan of giving refuge to Agar. Sudan and Agar signed a ceasefire on April 17 covering the Blue Nile and South Kordofan regions, although it is due to expire at the end of July.

 Peace talks will continue as rebel factions from Darfur region are expected to arrive in Juba on Sunday from Addis Ababa.