SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: Financial Times - Sudan is tumbling into the Somalia trap

17/6/2024: Financial Times - Sudan is tumbling into the Somalia trap, by Andres Schipani

The FT’s Andres Schipani warns that Sudan is following the path of Somalia, whereby “two factions [splintered] into many, sucking in foreign powers, spreading violence and man-made famine and opening the floodgates for hardline Islamists and jihadi militants linked to al-Qaeda”.

Amjed Farid, a former special adviser to ex-prime minister Abdalla Hamdok, warned the war could last another decade “unless there is a united civilian front that can bring everyone together to work on stopping the war”. If the slide continues, he warned, “there’s no coming back for Sudan”.

SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: Foreign Affairs - Sudan’s Manmade Famine

17/6/2024: Foreign Affairs - Sudan’s Manmade Famine, by Alex de Waal

Alex De Waal calls for the US and western allies to pressure the UAE and Saudi Arabia to lead on getting food aid to starving Sudanese.

De Waal accused Sudan’s warring parties of using starvation as a weapon of war. The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) “[strip] cities and countryside bare of all moveable resources,” whereas the army is accused of blocking humanitarian aid to areas under RSF control with the aim of turning its fighters against its leader.

De Waal suggests that starvation benefits the RSF, as the starving in Darfur are African ethnic groups that the RSF targets for ethnic cleansing.

De Waal argues that Saudi Arabia and the UAE have leverage over the warring parties but attributes their failure to “seriously engage” to the Saudis not wanting the UAE to participate in their peace talks, and the UAE not wanting Saudis to get credit for a peace deal. 

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Sudan Tribune - RSF suffers major setback in Khartoum, North Darfur clashes rage near Libyan border

17/6/2024: Sudan Tribune - RSF suffers major setback in Khartoum, North Darfur clashes rage near Libyan border

 Two summaries

Khartoum

Sudan Tribune report that the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) announced a decisive victory over a significant Rapid Support Forces (RSF) contingent attempting to seize the strategic Armoured Corps base south of Khartoum.  

Since August 2023, the RSF has repeatedly failed in its efforts to capture the Armoured Corps, a critical asset for the Sudanese military. Their most recent attempt resulted in a strike by the SAF, routing the RSF and inflicting heavy casualties.

Meanwhile, in the southern belt area of Khartoum, hostilities resumed after a two-month lull. Eyewitnesses reported drones and heavy artillery pounding RSF camps in the Sports City and surrounding areas, with explosions and smoke indicating significant damage.

Clashes near Libyan border

Sudan Tribune report that in North Darfur’s desert region, fierce clashes have escalated between the RSF and Darfur armed groups allied with the Sudanese army, focusing particularly on the strategic RSF base of Al-Zurq, a vital supply hub for the paramilitary group from neighbouring Libya.

A joint force official reported inflicting a significant defeat on the RSF in the Wadi Ambar area, claiming to be in pursuit of retreating RSF elements accused of burning villages near Al-Zurq.

RSF-affiliated sources, however, countered these claims.

The ongoing violence near Al-Zurq, a town bordering Libya and Chad, is an extension of the fighting that has plagued al-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur.

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Sudan Tribune - Sudan conflict forces more than 40,000 people into Libya

17/6/2024: Sudan Tribune - Sudan conflict forces more than 40,000 people into Libya

Sudan Tribune report that over 40,000 Sudanese refugees and asylum-seekers have arrived in Libya following outbreak of conflict in Sudan, the United Nations said.

A statement from the UN World Food Programme (WFP) also warned of an impending humanitarian disaster if aid is not urgently provided to those in need.

The estimated total number of Sudanese refugees in Libya’s Kufra city is 45,000.

Authorities, however, say it is difficult to know the exact number of these displaced people due to the continuing waves of people coming from war-torn Sudan.

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Sudan Tribune - Sudanese army rejects talks with RSF, vows to fight on for “true peace”

17/6/2024: Sudan Tribune - Sudanese army rejects talks with RSF, vows to fight on for “true peace”

Sudan Tribune report that Sudanese army Assistant Commander-in-Chief Yassir al-Atta said peace will only be achieved through the defeat of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

“We will not postpone the war by concluding a truce and conducting negotiations, only for the war to return (again) after a year or two,” Al-Atta said.

Al-Atta, who leads military operations in Khartoum, told his troops to ignore rumours about the resumption of negations, stressing: “true peace will be achieved through the defeat and surrender of the Janjaweed, the return of foreign Arabs to their countries of origin, and the prosecution of all those who have committed crimes”. 

Alongside emphasising the need to distinguish between the Darfur Arab tribes and the RSF: “we are not fighting a tribe. And I hope the Sudanese army will never be programmed to fight a tribe. We are fighting the Janjaweed, the murderers, thieves, looters, slave traders, rapists”.

B) SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: Arab Center DC – The Muddled Diplomacy of Sudan’s Tripartite Mechanism

17/6/2022: Arab Center DC – The Muddled Diplomacy of Sudan’s Tripartite Mechanism, by Kholood Khair

 Kholood Khair, the founding manager of Confluence Advisory, calls for the UNITMAS, AU and IGAD tripartite mechanism to invest in developing new, more relevant mediation pathways that complement Sudan’s rich pro-democracy movement in order to prevent itself from becoming irrelevant.

Alongside suggesting closer engagement with the concerns of the resistance committees, the Sudanese Professionals Association, and the families of martyrs, Khair also calls for better and more targeted outreach, particularly to women, young people, and internally displaced persons “who are entirely left out of the process”.

Khair adds that building credibility with a broad range of Sudanese would both dispel suspicions around international actors’ motivations as well as counter the pre-existing center-periphery inequity and privileging of elite narratives in Sudan.

A) SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: Arab Center DC – The Muddled Diplomacy of Sudan’s Tripartite Mechanism

17/6/2022: Arab Center DC – The Muddled Diplomacy of Sudan’s Tripartite Mechanism, by Kholood Khair

 Founding manager of Confluence Advisory think-tank Kholood Khair identified challenges facing the UNITAMS, AU and IGAD tripartite mechanism attempting to end Sudan’s political impasse.

Firstly, key pro-democracy groups refuse to participate in talks considered to legitimise the coup, with the failure to engage the resistance committees demonstrating the UN’s “inability” to recognise Sudan’s political shift to broad-based, coalition-led political change.  

Secondly, Khair argues that UNITAMS’ failure to consult frequently neglected Sudanese stakeholders means it has failed to grasp Sudan’s political complexity or power dynamics.

Thirdly, the incorporation of the AU at the military’s behest - under the guise of “African solutions to African problems” - reflects autocrats co-opting anti-colonial refrains when pressured.

Finally, Khair argues that the mechanism’s treatment of concerns regarding justice and accountability for ongoing violence as a “backdrop to the process, rather than central to it” culminates in perceptions of its support for the generals.  

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Radio Dabanga - Protest in North Darfur against violence in camps

17/6/2020: Radio Dabanga - Protest in North Darfur against violence in camps

 Radio Dabanga report that citizens of Kabkabiya locality in North Darfur organised a march to the locality offices yesterday to protest against the continued violence, assassinations, rapes, and beatings in the camps for the displaced.

 Speakers at the ensuing vigil demanded that the coordinators of the camps and the native administration in Kabkabiya address the violence that the inhabitants face. They also called on the authorities to put an end to the violence, including attacks on farmers.

 They claimed that the police fails to fulfil its promise to arrest the perpetrators of the violence that took place in Gargara camp the week earlier.

 The protesters announced that they will not end their sit-in in front of the Kabkabiya locality offices until their demands are met.

SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: BBC – Letter from Africa: ‘Sudan’s revolutionaries offline but not silenced’

17/6/19: BBC – Letter from Africa: ‘Sudan’s revolutionaries offline but not silenced’, by Zeinab Mohammed Salih

 Sudanese journalist Zeinab Mohammed Salih describes life without the internet in Sudan, with protesters both unable to gather, nor communicate and share their “disappointment, frustration and anger at the turn of events,” following the June 3 massacre.

 Salih notes the reliance on SMS texts, including her own in order to send work to editors in London, although they  “would not always be delivered.”

 The Sudanese Professionals Association is also using text to mobilise, but not everybody is signed up, with some fearing that the texts are tracked by authorities.

 Salih then notes that accessing officers with good landline internet connection is difficult due to activist-erected barricades, forcing her sister to walk 3 hours to check an email.

 Activists are cut off from “trusted” news sources, only accessing military “mouthpieces” state TV and Saudi channel Al Hadath.

 Thus, people are reliant on “old-fashioned phone calls” to pass on information.

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: AP - Sudan protesters urge night rallies amid standoff with army

17/6/19: AP – Sudan protesters urge night rallies amid standoff with army, by Hussein Malla and Samy Magdy

AP reports that Sudan’s protest leaders, the Declaration of Freedom and Change (DFC), on Monday called for night-time demonstrations and marches in Khartoum, and elsewhere in the country, amid a tense standoff with the ruling military over who should lead the transition.

 The DFC said they’ve begun a “revolutionary escalation” to pressure the country’s generals to hand over power to civilians and to condemn the military’s violent dispersal of their sit-in camp in Khartoum earlier this month.

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: AFP - EU blames Sudan military council for deadly crackdown

17/6/19: AFP – EU blames Sudan military council for deadly crackdown

 AFP reports that the EU blamed Sudan's military authorities for a bloody crackdown on protesters that left dozens of people dead, demanding a full investigation.

 Foreign ministers from the bloc issued a statement hailing the protest movement that swept away former strongman Omar al-Bashir after three decades in power as "a historic opportunity for Sudan".

 "It is clear that the responsibility lies with the Transitional Military Council (TMC) as the authority in charge of protecting the population," the ministers said in their statement.

 "All human rights violations and abuses committed must be investigated in an independent and transparent manner, and perpetrators held accountable for their acts."