sudan - The African Mirror

Mar

2024

As UN urges Sudan truce, Russia and China cite Gaza

THE United Nations Security Council called for an immediate cessation of hostilities in Sudan, prompting China to remind it not to forget about the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and Russia to accuse the United States of double standards. Russia abstained, while the remaining 14 council members voted in favour of the British-drafted resolution that called for an immediate cessation of hostilities during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which begins early next week. War erupted in Sudan on April 15, 2023, between the Sudanese army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The U.N. says nearly 25 million people - half…

Mar

2024

By MICHELLE NICHOLS

UN chief, fearing spread of conflict, urges Ramadan truce in Sudan

NEWS

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged the warring parties in Sudan to agree to halt hostilities during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, a move the Security Council is also considering. "This cessation of hostilities must lead to a definitive silencing of the guns across the country, and set out a firm path towards lasting peace for the Sudanese people," Guterres told the 15-member Security Council. "There is now a serious risk that the conflict could ignite regional instability of dramatic proportions, from the Sahel to the Horn of Africa and the Red Sea." The Security Council is negotiating a British-drafted resolution…

Mar

2024

By DAVID MILIBAND, INGER ASHING, JAN EGELAND, CHARLOTTE SLENTE, MICHELLE NUNN and STEPHEN OMOLLO

Sudan’s collapse is a test for the international community. We are failing it.

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

IN the deafening silence of global indifference, the war in Sudan recently entered its 10-month mark. Since April 2023, close to 8 million people have fled their homes, of whom more than 1.6 million have sought refuge in Chad, South Sudan, Egypt, Ethiopia, and the Central African Republic – countries already grappling with immense difficulties. Close to 25 million people need humanitarian assistance, including around 5 million people on the brink of famine and nearly 7 million severely undernourished children. Mass graves conceal evidence of widespread, systematic, and targeted mass atrocities that could be repeated at any moment as the…

Mar

2024

By MICHELLE NICHOLS

US pushes for UN Security Council action to end war in Sudan

NEWS

THE United States pushed for the United Nations Security Council to take action to help end a nearly year-long conflict in Sudan between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The United States says the warring parties have committed war crimes and the RSF and allied militias have also committed crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing. The U.N. says that nearly 25 million people - half Sudan's population - need aid and some 8 million have fled their homes and hunger is rising. "It is clear that this is an urgent matter of peace and security that demands greater attention from the…

Feb

2024

By EMMA FARGE

Sudan’s warring sides commit abuses, including strikes on fleeing civilians, UN report says

NEWS

BOTH sides in Sudan's civil war have committed abuses that may amount to war crimes including indiscriminate attacks on civilian sites like hospitals, markets and even camps for the displaced, the U.N. human rights office said. Efforts have so far failed to end the 10-month-old conflict that pits Sudan's regular armed forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Thousands of people have been killed and some eight million forced to flee their homes, making it the country with the largest displaced population in the world. "Some of these violations would amount to war crimes," Volker Turk, the U.N. High…

Feb

2024

By HARRY VERHOEVEN

Sudan Armed Forces are on a path to self-destruction – risking state collapse

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP, EDITORS CHOICE

IT is now 10 months since the outbreak of civil war in Sudan in April 2023, pitting the Sudan Armed Forces against the Rapid Support Forces, a powerful paramilitary group. The war, which erupted after relations between the two wings of Sudan’s security apparatus broke down, rapidly spread beyond the capital, Khartoum. HARRY VERHOEVEN, Senior Research Scholar at the Center on Global Energy Policy, Columbia University More recently, the Sudan Armed Forces have suffered numerous setbacks at the hands of the Rapid Support Forces. For months, army units have struggled to break their grip on much of the capital. The…

Feb

2024

By The African Mirror

Pope Francis appeals for an end to Sudan’s civil war

NEWS

POPE Francis appealed to Sudan's warring factions to put an end to a 10-month conflict that has seen millions displaced and prompted warnings of famine. "I ask again the warring parties to stop this war, which causes so much damage to the people and the future of the country", Francis said during his Angelus message. "Let's pray so that avenues of peace will soon be found for the future of beloved Sudan", he added. Diplomatic efforts have so far failed to end the civil war in Sudan that pits the country's armed forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). In his…

Feb

2024

By GABRIELLE TÉTRAULT-FARBER

UN says war-torn Sudan must not be forgotten, calls for aid funding

NEWS

THE United Nations urged countries not to forget the civilians caught up in the war in Sudan, appealing for $4.1 billion to meet their humanitarian needs and support those who have fled to neighbouring countries. A ten-month war in Sudan between its armed forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has devastated the country's infrastructure, prompted warnings of famine and displaced millions of people inside and outside the country. Half of Sudan's population - around 25 million people - need humanitarian assistance and protection, while more than 1.5 million people have fled to the Central African Republic, Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia and South Sudan,…

Feb

2024

By KHALID ABDELAZIZ

Sudanese warring parties hold first high-level talks in Bahrain

NEWS

SENIOR leaders from Sudan's army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) met three times this month in Bahrain, sources with knowledge of the talks said, the first such contact between the two warring sides in nine months of conflict. Unlike previous talks on war in Sudan, the meetings in Manama were attended by influential deputies from both forces and by officials from Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, key supporters of the army and RSF respectively, according to the four sources, two of whom were present at the talks. The unannounced talks, which the sources said were also attended…

Jan

2024

By MICHELLE NICHOLS and MAGGIE MICHAEL

Ethnic killings in one Sudan city left up to 15,000 dead, UN report says

NEWS

BETWEEN 10,000 and 15,000 people were killed in one city in Sudan's West Darfur region last year in ethnic violence by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and allied Arab militia, according to a United Nations report seen by Reuters. In the report to the U.N. Security Council, independent U.N. sanctions monitors attributed the toll in El Geneina to intelligence sources and contrasted it with the U.N. estimate that about 12,000 people have been killed across Sudan since war erupted on April 15, 2023, between the Sudanese army and the RSF. The monitors also described as "credible" accusations that the United Arab…