sudan - The African Mirror

Apr

2024

Sudan’s civil war is rooted in its historical favouritism of Arab and Islamic identity

THE current civil war in Sudan goes beyond a simple power struggle between two generals. It reflects a deep-rooted crisis within the country’s governing structure that’s been present since it gained independence from the British in 1956. Since independence, the Sudanese have experienced 35 coups and attempted coups, more than any other African country. In the country’s southern region a 56-year rebellion eventually led to the creation of South Sudan in 2011. A Darfurian uprising in 2003 was sparked by accusations that the central government was discriminating against the region’s non-Arab population. It led to ethnic killings and continues to…

Apr

2024

By The African Mirror

Sudan’s humanitarian crisis: The facts and figures

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

A year of war between rival military factions in Sudan has pushed parts of the country to the brink of famine, and left 25 million people - about half the population - in need of assistance, according to aid agencies. Sudan was already burdened with rising hunger, a collapsing health system and widespread poverty before the conflict between the army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) broke out. HUNGER *Some 17.7 million of Sudan's 49 million population were facing what experts term acute food insecurity, a sharp increase from last year, according to a projection covering the five months to…

Apr

2024

By The African Mirror

Who is fighting in Sudan?

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

HERE are some facts about Sudan's army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group which have been fighting each other for a year, devastating their country, reigniting ethnically-targeted killings in Darfur and displacing millions. The factions, uneasy partners in the toppling of President Omar Hassan al-Bashir in 2019 and the overthrow of a civilian-led government in 2021, clashed as they competed to protect their interests in a planned political transition. THE ARMY Sudan's military leader General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan stands at the podium during a ceremony to sign the framework agreement between military rulers and civilian powers in Khartoum, Sudan December 5, 2022.…

Apr

2024

By YAZAN KALACH, KHALID ABDELAZIZ and EL TAYEB SIDDIG

Sudan’s uprooted millions pay price for year-long war

NEWS

AFTER fleeing from the war in Sudan to Egypt, Mohamed Ismail says his ambitions are limited to putting food in the mouths of his five children from a meagre monthly salary of about $100 earned at a paper factory in Giza. One seven-year-old son sleeps in his arms because of the trauma of hearing explosions before they fled from the outskirts of the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, in January. A year of war between Sudan's army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has driven more than 8.5 million people from their homes, creating the world's largest displacement crisis and uprooting families multiple…

Apr

2024

By THABO MBEKI

To avert catastrophe in Sudan, the international community must immediately avail resources for life-saving humanitarian aid – Mbeki

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

ON April 15, 2024, a critically important ‘International Humanitarian Conference for Sudan and its Neighbours’ started in Paris, convened by France, Germany and the European Union.It is of the greatest importance that this very timely conference must succeed in its efforts urgently to generate the humanitarian resources needed, particularly in Sudan.A year ago, armed conflict erupted in Khartoum between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces.Since then, I have informally engaged Sudanese and other stakeholders, including humanitarian actors, on how best to address the crisis that now imperils the future of Sudan and threatens the stability of the…

Apr

2024

By The African Mirror

Why is Sudan still at war a year on?

NEWS

A conflict in Sudan that erupted a year ago has wreaked havoc across swathes of the country, unleashed waves of ethnic violence in Darfur, driven millions into extreme hunger and created the world's largest displacement crisis. WHAT TRIGGERED THE VIOLENCE? Tensions had been building for months before fighting between Sudan's army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) erupted in the capital Khartoum on April 15, 2023. The army and RSF had been in a fragile partnership after toppling a civilian government in an October 2021 coup, a move that derailed a transition from the rule of Islamist autocrat Omar al-Bashir, who was…

Mar

2024

By MICHELLE NICHOLS

Sudan needs ‘immediate action’ on hunger to avert widespread death

NEWS

IMMEDIATE action is needed to "prevent widespread death and total collapse of livelihoods and avert a catastrophic hunger crisis in Sudan," a United Nations-backed global authority on food security warned. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) had been due to issue an update to its December analysis that found nearly 5 million were on the verge of catastrophic hunger. However, it was unable to do so due to the war. Instead, the IPC said it reviewed the latest evidence available and published the alert on Friday "to express major concern" about the deteriorating situation and to push for immediate…

Mar

2024

By The African Mirror

Year-long war dims Sudan’s Ramadan festivities

NEWS

THE feasts and festivities of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan have been muted in Sudan this year with millions of people displaced from their homes and struggling with hunger as a war between the army and paramilitaries nears the one-year mark. "All what we were accustomed to, how we eat, drink, meet people in Ramadan, ... all of that is no longer available," said Mohamed Ali, who broke his fast in a displacement centre in Port Sudan on the Red Sea, to which many have fled from the capital Khartoum and other active war zones. In the past, Ramadan in Sudan…

Mar

2024

By MICHELLE NICHOLS

US urges UN Security Council action to get aid into Sudan from Chad

NEWS

THE United States warned that it would push the U.N. Security Council to take action to get aid to starving people in Sudan, possibly by authorizing cross-border deliveries from Chad, if the Sudanese armed forces do not restore full access. Ahead of the first anniversary of the conflict in Sudan, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield said the warring parties had both undermined aid operations and ignored a Security Council call for an immediate cessation of hostilities. "The situation in Sudan remains catastrophic and it is only getting worse," she told reporters. "People are starving." War erupted in Sudan on April 15, 2023,…

Mar

2024

By AIDAN LEWIS

US pushes peace talks to avert ‘point of no return’ in Sudan

NEWS

The United States hopes for a relaunch of talks aimed at ending the conflict in Sudan and opening up humanitarian access soon after Ramadan ends in mid-April, Washington's newly appointed envoy said on Thursday. Saudi Arabia and the United States led talks in Jeddah last year to try to reach a truce between Sudan's army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), but the negotiations faltered amid competing international peace initiatives. "We need to restart formal talks. We hope that will happen as soon as Ramadan is over," Tom Perriello, who took up his role as U.S. special envoy to…