Famine looms in Sudan war survivors tell of killings

NOTE from Sudan Watch Editor: The following report by the BBC is not balanced. It is mostly filled with graphic news of violence against males and sexual violence and rape against girls and women in Sudan. Not a word about justice or sexual violence and rape being carried out on boys and men. Why not? The report says sexual violence is a taboo topic in Sudan. It doesn't explain rape is rife in all wars not just in Sudan. "Famine looms in Sudan" says the title but the content does little to educate readers about the reasons for the looming famine and the lack of telecoms and internet connectivity, humanitarian aid and access for aid. The report says nothing new, uses cobbled together news from old reports and uses exploitative photos of vulnerable people. Shame on the BBC for allowing such shoddy reporting on Sudan where babies, children and adults are starving to death and famine looms. What does the BBC expect the readers of this report to learn, I wonder. At the end of the report I have selected and added details of the National Male Survivor Helpline and Online Service run by Safeline. 

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BBC News - 20 March 2024

Famine looms in Sudan as civil war survivors tell of killings and rapes
By Feras Kilani in Sudan & Mercy Juma in Chad

Additional reporting by Peter Ball and Mohamed Ibrahim, verification by Peter Mwai

WARNING: This article contains accounts of physical and sexual violence

If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this story you can visit BBC Action Line.

National Male Survivor Helpline and Online Service run by Safeline, provides emotional support, advice and information for children and adults who identify as male affected by recent/historic sexual abuse.
Phone: 0808 800 5005
Text: 07860 065187
Webchat available via the website
Visit the Safeline website

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-68606201

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ICC: There are grounds to believe Sudan’s warring sides are committing crimes in Darfur (Edith Lederer)

NOTE from Sudan Watch Editor: A 2-week deadline set by IGAD for Messrs Burhan and Hemeti to meet has passed. It is easy to understand why Gen Burhan has refused meetings. Even if Hemeti agrees to make his fighters leave Khartoum, he and his words cannot be trusted. He should be jailed. Meanwhile: ICC prosecutor says there are grounds to believe Sudan’s warring sides are committing crimes in Darfur; Sudan leaves regional bloc IGAD over attempt to end war; The US offers reward for arrest of ex-minister accused of Darfur war crimes. More in three reports here below.

 

From Associated Press (AP)
BY EDITH M. LEDERER
Updated 12:02 AM GMT, January 30, 2024 - here is a copy in full:

ICC prosecutor: There are grounds to believe Sudan’s warring sides are committing crimes in Darfur

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The International Criminal Court’s prosecutor told the U.N. Security Council Monday his “clear finding” is that there are grounds to believe both Sudan’s armed forces and paramilitary rivals are committing crimes in the western Darfur region during the country’s current conflict.

Karim Khan, who recently visited neighboring Chad where tens of thousands of people from Darfur have fled, warned that those he met in refugee camps fear Darfur will become “the forgotten atrocity.” He urged Sudan’s government to provide his investigators with multiple-entry visas and respond to 35 requests for assistance.

Sudan plunged into chaos last April when long-simmering tensions between the military, led by Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan, and the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary, commanded by Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, erupted into street battles in the capital, Khartoum, and other areas.

Darfur, which was wracked by bloodshed and atrocities in 2003, has been an epicenter of the current conflict, an arena of ethnic violence where paramilitary troops and allied Arab militias have been attacking African ethnic groups.

The fighting has displaced over 7 million people and killed 12,000, according to the United Nations. Local doctors’ groups and activists say the true death toll is far higher.

In 2005, the Security Council referred the situation in Darfur to the ICC, and prosecutor Khan has said the court still has a mandate under that resolution to investigate crimes in the vast region.

He told the council: “Based on the work of my office, it’s my clear finding, my clear assessment, that there are grounds to believe that presently Rome Statute crimes are being committed in Darfur by both the Sudanese armed forces and the Rapid Support Forces and affiliated groups.”

The Rome Statute established the ICC in 2002 to investigate the world’s worst atrocities — war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide — and the crime of aggression.

In Darfur, Khan warned, the world is confronted with “an ugly and inescapable truth” relating back to the original conflict.

“The failure of the international community to execute the warrants that have been issued by independent judges of the ICC has invigorated the climate of impunity and the outbreak of violence that commenced in April that continues today,” he said.

“Without justice for past atrocities, the inescapable truth is that we condemn the current generation, and if we do nothing now, we condemn future generations to suffering the same fate,” Khan said.

Sudan’s U.N. Ambassador Al-Harith Mohamed countered that the government has cooperated with the prosecutor’s office and is waiting for a visit from him. He accused the ICC of not taking into consideration its “strategic engagement and the operational realities on the ground.”

Mohamed called the Rapid Support Forces a “militia” and accused it of committing wide-scale, systematic attacks which aim “to force ethnic cleansing and identity killing” of Darfur’s Masalit ethnic community. He said it’s up to the prosecutor to determine if this amounts to genocide.

The Sudanese ambassador said the armed forces don’t call for war but are compelled to defend the country, stressing that soldiers spare no effort to minimize collateral damage and comply with the laws of war including proportionality.

The 2003 Darfur conflict began when rebels from the territory’s ethnic sub-Saharan African community launched an insurgency accusing the Arab-dominated government in Khartoum of discrimination and neglect.

The government, under then President Omar al-Bashir, responded with aerial bombings and unleashed local nomadic Arab militias known as the Janjaweed, who are accused of mass killings and rapes. Up to 300,000 people were killed and 2.7 million were driven from their homes.

Khan told the council Monday it was “quite stunning” in visiting different refugee camps in Chad that people who lived through the Darfur confllict from 2003 told him spontaneously that what is happening today “is the worst ever.”

“And they’re very grateful to the council for casting a lifeboat on the high seas for them to clamber aboard,” the prosecutor said. “They want justice and they see the ICC is a very important vehicle to ensure that they’re not forgotten, or they drown unseen and unheard.”

Last April, the first ICC trial to deal with atrocities by Sudanese government-backed forces in Darfur began in The Hague, Netherlands. The defendant, Janjaweed leader Ali Muhammad Ali Abd–Al-Rahman, also known as Ali Kushayb, pleaded innocent to all 31 charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Khan urged the parties to the ongoing conflict to respond “meaningfully” to requests for assistance from Abd-Al-Rahman’s defense team.

The prosecutor said he was pleased to report to the council that there has been “progress” in the ICC cases against former president al-Bashir and two senior government security officials during the 2003 Darfur conflict, Abdel-Rahim Muhammad Hussein and Ahmed Haroun.

“We’ve received evidence that further strengthens those particular cases,” Khan said. The three have never been turned over to the ICC, and their whereabouts during the current conflict in Sudan remain unknown.

View original: https://apnews.com/article/un-icc-sudan-military-paramilitary-darfur-crimes-a782e1376ab91a2f7b9dcbd276d379f9

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Related

Report at BBC News UK

Dated 20 January 2024

Igad: Sudan leaves regional bloc over attempt to end war

Sudan is suspending its membership of north-east African bloc Igad over an attempt to mediate the brutal conflict in the country. Igad has been trying to end the nine month-long war between Sudan's army and rival paramilitary group the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). On Thursday Sudan's government criticised Igad for inviting the RSF's chief to a summit.

Full story: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-68041134

Report at Sudan Tribune

Dated 29 January 2024

U.S. offers reward for arrest of ex-minister accused of Darfur war crimes

The United States Department of State has announced a reward of up to $5 million for information leading to the arrest of Sudan’s former Minister of State for the Interior, Ahmad Mohammad Harun, who is accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur. The State Department’s designation of Harun under the War Crimes Rewards Program is a significant step towards bringing him to justice for his alleged crimes. The program has a proven track record of success, having helped to bring over 20 war criminals to justice. Harun, who has been wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) since 2007, is accused of mobilizing, funding, and arming the Janjaweed militia, a notorious group responsible for widespread atrocities in Darfur.

Full story: https://sudantribune.com/article281808/

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Sudan: Humanitarian Update. 53 healthcare attacks, 11 dead. Aid workers attacked or detained, 18 killed

HERE is a full copy of a Press Release from OCHA

(United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs)

Dated Monday 07 August 2023

SUDAN: Humanitarian Update (7 August 2023) 

HIGHLIGHTS • More than 3 million people have been internally displaced across all of Sudan’s 18 states due to the ongoing conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), as of 1 August. • About 2.2 million of all people internally displaced have fled from Khartoum State. • About 880,000 people have fled the conflict across Sudan’s borders into neighbouring countries, including Central African Republic, Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia and South Sudan, as of 3 August. • About 20.3 million people across Sudan – over 42 per cent of the population – are now facing high levels of acute food insecurity between July and September 2023. More than 6.2 million people are just one step away from famine. • On 3 August, the first humanitarian convoy to reach East Darfur since the start of the conflict arrived in the state, after a nine-day road trip. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) facilitated the first cross-border delivery of food items by the World Food Programme (WFP) from Chad into West Darfur, one of the most food-insecure states in the country. Those supplies arrived in West Darfur on 3 August.

SITUATION OVERVIEW As the conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) continues across the country, more people are being displaced and humanitarian needs are increasing daily. To date, about 3.9 million people have been displaced inside and outside the country due to the conflict that erupted on 15 April. More than 3 million people have been displaced internally as of 1 August, according to the International Organization for Migration Displacement Tracking Matrix (IOM DTM). People have been displaced across all 18 states, the majority of whom are in River Nile, Northern, North Darfur and White Nile states. About 71 per cent of those displaced are originally from Khartoum. The most severe clashes have taken place in the capital city of Khartoum and the state capital of West Darfur, Ag Geneina town. Additionally, ­fighting between SAF and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) has been reported in several locations across South Kordofan and Blue Nile states, resulting in civilian displacement. In addition, about 880,000 refugees, asylum seekers and returnees have crossed the border into neighbouring countries, including Central African Republic, Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia and South Sudan as of 3 August, according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR). Humanitarian needs across the country continue to rise. The conflict and economic crisis have driven about 20.3 million people across Sudan (over 42 per cent of the population) into high levels of acute food insecurity between July and September 2023, according to the latest report from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) for Sudan. This is nearly double the number of food-insecure people compared to the last IPC analysis conducted in May 2022. Of these food-insecure people, 14 million (29 per cent of the population) are in crisis levels, IPC Phase 3. This means that people have less food to eat and are forced to adopt crisis-coping strategies, such as eating fewer meals a day. More than 6.2 million people (13 per cent of the population) are at emergency levels, IPC 4, just one step away from famine (IPC 5). They mainly reside in states with active conflict and are selling off assets to buy food.   On 30 July, Sudan's Civil Aviation Authority extended the closure of Sudanese airspace until 15 August 2023 to all air traffic, except for humanitarian aid and evacuation flights. Sudanese airspace has been closed to regular air traffic since mid-April, when the conflict between the SAF and RSF erupted. In addition, state authorities in North Kordofan imposed a curfew from 1900 to 0500 across the entire state, effective from 2 August until further notice.

STATE UPDATES The majority of people internally displaced due to the conflict are from Khartoum State. IOM estimates that 2.2 million people have fled the state capital Khartoum, with 2.16 million people going to other states, while about 38,400 people have been displaced in seven locations within the state, mainly in Bahri (Khartoum North), Jebel Awlia, Karrari, Khartoum, Sharg An Neel, Um Bada and Um Durman localities. Most of these displaced people are living with relatives, while the rest have rented accommodations. More than 420,100 people, mostly displaced from Khartoum, have taken refuge in 73 locations across six localities in Blue Nile State, mainly Ed Damazine, Ar Rusayirs, Al Kurmuk, At Tadamon, Geisan, and Wad Al Mahi localities. About 66 per cent of displaced households are seeking shelter with relatives, while the remaining 34 per cent have rented accommodations. On 9 July, an inter-agency assessment mission was carried out in Ed Damazine and Rusayris localities. The World Food Programme (WFP) plans to start a verification exercise for internally displaced persons (IDPs) from Khartoum in these two localities to provide them with food assistance. UNICEF plans to rehabilitate two water yards in Abu Hashim, Ed Damazine locality. On 25 July, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported a measles outbreak in Wad Al Mahi locality, with 211 suspected cases and nine related deaths reported between 1 May and 24 July. Most of the cases were reported in Dam Town 7/ Umdarfa, while other cases were reported in Dam Town 1, 2 and 3. One suspected case each was reported in Ed Damazine and Geisan localities. A measles vaccination of 2,989 children under five years of age was carried out in Dam Town 7/ Umdarfa between 31 May and 2 June 2023. WHO and the State Ministry of Health (SMoH) are planning to vaccinate children under five years of age in Wad Al Mahi locality and catchment areas. About 297,000 people have arrived in North Darfur State after fleeing the conflict between SAF and RSF forces, according to IOM. Those displaced are taking refuge in 72 locations across Al Fasher, Al Koma, Al Lait, Al Malha, As Serief, At Tawisha, Dar As Salam, Kebkabiya, Kelemando, Kernoi, Kutum, Melit, Saraf Omra, Tawila, and Um Kadadah localities. Most (93 per cent) have been displaced from within the state, while the remaining displaced people have arrived from West Darfur, Khartoum, South Darfur and Central Darfur states. More than 43 per cent of those displaced are living with the host community, 17.5 per cent are living in IDP camps, and 6.5 per cent have taken refuge in schools or other public buildings. Northern State is hosting about 361,000 displaced people from Khartoum across 232 locations, according to IOM. All IDPs within Northern State have reportedly arrived from Khartoum. Displaced populations have been reported in Dabbah, Al Burgaig, Al Golid, Delgo, Dongola, Halfa and Merowe localities. Most of those displaced (80.96 per cent) are living with relatives, 8.7 per cent have rented accommodations, and 10.3 per cent have taken refuge in school premises or other public buildings. Many of the displaced people in Northern State are either waiting for the situation to improve in Khartoum or for their visas to Egypt to be processed, as it is close to both Argeen and Ashkeet border crossings. As people continue to move to Northern State, basic services are becoming stretched. On 27 July, the Medical Director of the Halfa Hospital indicated that remaining medicines and medical supplies in the hospital were only sufficient for one more week. Furthermore, the laboratory in Halfa Hospital lacks the supplies needed for different medical tests. Water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services are also affected. Access to safe drinking water is one of the main needs for displaced people at gathering points or shelters, as are sanitation facilities. More than 15 per cent of those displaced by the conflict between the SAF and RSF have taken refuge in River Nile State, which hosts about 467,700 displaced people across 244 locations, according to IOM. All IDPs have reportedly arrived from Khartoum and have taken refuge in Hamad, Ad Damar, Al Buhaira, Al Matama, Atbara, Barbar and Shendi localities. About 78 per cent of the displaced population are living with relatives and 15 per cent have rented accommodations, while the remaining displaced people are either sheltering in schools and public buildings or out in the open in gathering sites.   West Darfur currently hosts about 119,500 displaced people in nine locations across the state, according to IOM. IDPs have been reported in Ag Geneina, Foro Baranga, Jebel Moon, Kulbus and Sirba localities. The vast majority of those displaced have reportedly come from within the state (99 per cent) while others came from Central Darfur, Khartoum and South Darfur. About 73 per cent of the displaced population have taken refuge in shelters, while 27 per cent are living with relatives. On 2 July 2023, inter-communal conflict between Arab and Masalit tribesmen spread to Murnie Town in Kereneik locality. An estimated 87,500 people (17,535 households) were reportedly displaced by this conflict within the state and into neighbouring South Darfur and West Darfur states. Due to insecurity and targeted killings, people from Ag Geneina, Habila, Beida, Forobaranga, Kreneik, Mornei and Sisi localities continue to cross the border into neighbouring Chad.   On 29 July, RSF – supported by Arab militias in more than 100 vehicles and on motorbikes – reportedly attacked Sirba Town (50 kilometres north of Ag Geneina Town), according to the head of the Government’s Humanitarian Aid Commission (HAC), Adam Abdelnabi Al-Sheikh. The Commissioner reported that the entire town has been looted and burned, and an unspecified number of civilians have reportedly been killed. He also reported that about three-quarters of the town’s inhabitants have fled to Kondobei and Bir Dageeg villages in Sirba locality, while others crossed the border to Birak in neighbouring Chad. The remaining residents did not leave the town, as many were children, women and older or disabled people. After the attack on Sirba, the perpetrators went to Kondobei and Bir Dageeg villages, where they intimidated and looted residents’ homes, according to the HAC Commissioner. The de facto Wali (governor) of West Darfur formed a peace committee with representatives of the different tribes in Sirba locality to address the conflict and sign a reconciliation agreement between the tribes. More than 272,300 people have been displaced in 498 locations across White Nile State since the start of the conflict in mid-April, IOM reports. All of those displaced have reportedly arrived from Khartoum State and have taken refuge in Ad Diwaim, Aj Jabalain, Al Gitaina, As Salam/Ar Rawat, Guli, Kosti, Rabak, Tendalti and Um Rimta localities. More than half of the displaced population are living with relatives, 30 per cent are living in camp-like settlements, 9.8 per cent have rented accommodations, and the rest are staying in schools, public buildings or in open areas.

HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE AND CHALLENGES Since the start of the conflict in mid-April, humanitarians have worked to ensure the continued delivery of life-saving assistance to people in need, wherever and whenever possible. On 3 August, the first humanitarian convoy to reach East Darfur since the fighting began on 15 April arrived in the state, after a nine-day road trip. OCHA negotiated with the SAF, RSF, state governor, HAC, and community leaders in North and West Kordofan and East Darfur states for the movement of these trucks from White Nile to East Darfur. The SAF and RSF secured the roads in their areas of control, and community leaders supported the movement of the relief items between Tandulti and Um Rawaba in North Kordofan, and from El Fula in West Kordofan to the border of East Darfur state. The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) also facilitated the first cross-border delivery of food items by the World Food Programme (WFP) from Chad into West Darfur, one of the most food-insecure states in the country. Those supplies arrived in West Darfur on 3 August. Insecurity, bureaucratic access impediments, and looting of humanitarian premises and warehouses across the country continue to negatively impact the delivery of assistance. At least 18 aid workers have been killed, with many others injured or detained, since the start of the conflict in mid-April. Between 15 April and 3 August 2023, there have been 53 attacks on health care, resulting in 11 deaths and 38 injuries, according to the WHO Surveillance System for Attacks on Health Care (SSA). These figures only represent attacks that WHO has been able to verify through its verification system. Attacks on health care include incidents involving hospitals, ambulances, laboratories, warehouses, health workers and patients. Some humanitarian organizations have also been forced to shutter offices or suspend operations in areas they are unable to access due to security concerns, mainly in Khartoum and the Darfur region. Any remaining resources will be used to scale up operations in accessible areas. Funding shortfalls, the limited capacity of humanitarian personnel and government counterparts on the ground, lack of fuel needed for the transportation of humanitarian supplies and staff, lack of access to money in banks, and difficulties in delivering humanitarian supplies to areas outside state capitals due to insecurity have also affected the humanitarian response. These challenges are further compounded by power outages, as well as poor internet and telephone connectivity.

CLUSTER UPDATES Food Security and Livelihoods Cluster: The Food Security and Livelihoods (FSL) Cluster partners continue to support people affected by the conflict with life-saving food and livelihood assistance. Since mid-April, FSL partners reached 2.03 million people with life-saving food assistance and 45,000 people with life-saving livelihoods assistance. FSL partners also distributed 2,800 metric tons (MT) of seeds benefitting 280,000 people. FSL partners plan to distribute a total of 8,840 MT of cereal seeds to 1 million vulnerable farmers for the planting season. The conflict is undermining the current planting season, coupled with soaring prices of fertilizer and seeds, which is impacting the food security and livelihoods situation in Sudan. The main livestock vaccination laboratory in Khartoum has been closed due to the conflict, and the resulting unavailability of livestock vaccines will also impact people’s livelihoods. Refugee Consultation Forum (RCF): Following the start of the conflict between the SAF and RSF, refugees are facing acute protection risks, including heightened risks of detention, extortion and deportation, according to Refugee Consultation Forum (RCF) partners. There are reports of refugees being stopped by armed elements or prevented from moving from one place to another. Refugees in White Nile State are facing critical gaps in services. Refugee camps were already below SPHERE[1] standards before the conflict, due to chronic funding shortages and a lack of durable solutions, and the fighting that has continued since mid-April has only made conditions worse. As people started arriving in the state from Khartoum, there has been an increase in the number of severe acute malnutrition (SAM) and moderate acute malnutrition (MAM) cases, as well as a suspected measles outbreak. About 300 South Sudanese refugee children in the state have died due to suspected measles and malnutrition, according to RCF partners. Since the start of the conflict, an estimated 187,333 refugee movements to new locations in the country have been reported. Most of these movements have been from Khartoum to White Nile State, with South Sudanese refugees accounting for more than 144,000 of the total. RCF partners have verified that 71 per cent are internal secondary movements, of which 16 per cent are women, 14 per cent are men, 34 per cent are girls, and 36 per cent are boys. Between 26 July and 1 August, RCF partners continued to respond to the needs of refugees across the country. In East Darfur, 633 South Sudanese refugees were reached with general protection awareness-raising activities. In South Kordofan and Gedaref states, 1,310 outpatient consultations were provided, and 393 Ethiopian refugees received mental health and psycho-social support (PSS) services. Case management continues to be provided for survivors of gender-based violence (GBV) and child protection cases, ensuring access to specialized services.  Logistics Cluster: The Logistics Cluster is currently providing storage services to partners at four locations, including in Port Sudan (Red Sea State), Wad Madani (Aj Jazirah State), Kosti (White Nile State), and Gedaref Town (Gedaref State). In the past week, the Logistics Cluster has provided storage space of up to 2,542 cubic meters for four partners at warehouses in Port Sudan, Wad Madani and Kosti. The cluster is in the process of contracting 190 square meters of temperature-controlled storage space for WFP. [1] The SPHERE standards are a set of minimum standards in humanitarian response for water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH); food security and nutrition; shelter and settlement; and health assistance.

FUNDING Humanitarian partners urgently require additional resources to scale up relief efforts across Sudan. The revised Sudan Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) requires US$2.6 billion to provide life-saving multi-sectoral assistance and protection services to 18.1 million people through the end of this year. To date, the appeal is only 24.5 per cent is funded, with $628 million received as of 6 August, according to the Financial Tracking Service.

Download the Humanitarian Update here

[Ends]

TRANSCRIPT: Plea by West Darfur Governor Abaker

Hat tip to Cameron Hudson @_hudsonc. I made the transcript here below.

The last interview conducted by Khamis Abbaker before he was abducted & killed, reportedly by RSF
He is one of the few officials that held his position, staying with his constituents, calling for aid during this conflict/war#Sudan #WestDarfur #DarfurBaladna #Darfur https://t.co/fDaXxwZoEZ

— Tagreed Abdin (@taggy_) June 17, 2023

Near-Verbatim Transcript

Taken from English sub-titles superimposed on the video of Al-Hadath TV interview with West Darfur Governor Mr Khamis Abdalla Abaker

Filmed and aired on Wednesday 14 June 2023

TEXT, AL-HADATH TV:

The violence in El Geneina City continues, leaving people in a dire condition.

Thousands fled to neighbouring Chad, and other states. More than 3000 were killed.

One of those victims is the Governor of West Darfur Sate, who was murdered just hours after asking for help. 

Not knowing that his cry for help in the interview would be his last public statement...

VOICE, WEST DARFUR GOVERNOR MR KHAMIS ABDALLA ABAKAR:

“Now you can hear bombing and shelling sounds, those are directly falling on citizens.

Citizens are killed randomly, and in great numbers.

We have lots of wounded people that cannot receive medical care, there are no open hospitals or pharmacies.

All hospitals and medical centres have been bombed completely, and citizens lack medical care.

The number of injuries has surpassed 3000, and it is increasing, and there is no place for them to receive first aid.

Doctors are trying to help within the neighborhoods, yet many wounded people need operations. 

So, the aid is limited, and doctors themselves are now targeted. Three weeks ago, 6 doctors were targeted. 

The issue began between the two parties in a joint force area.

Then it escalated to the area of Masaleet tribe, however, today all the city is violated.

All the city and all the tribes have been violated and targeted by the RSF and their supporting militias.

We spoke with both the central and regional government about the need for deploying a force, yet there is no response. 

All the fight has shifted to West Darfur, and they are directly targeting civilians.

The army base of Division 15 Infantry is about 7 km from my location. 

Yet the army did not come out of their base, not even to secure the city.

This has been going on for 57 days at least, and we have yet to see the armed forces leaving their barracks, not even to protect civilians.

[My message] to the global community: this city suffered a great deal, and these people have been murdered by the thousands.

A genocide was committed in this area, and we ask the global community to intervene urgently to save the remaining lives!

These people have no place to sleep, no food or water and are under shelling.  

Therefore, I plead with the international and regional community to save the remaining lives in this state!"  

[Ends] + + +

UPDATED 5 hours later to add: near-verbatim; closing quotation mark; Masalit tag.

Sudan: West Darfur Governor Khamis Abakar killed

Report at BBC News - bbc.co.uk/news/world/africa
By Mercy Juma, BBC News
Dated Thursday 15 June 2023 - full copy:

Sudan conflict: West Darfur governor killed after genocide claim

West Darfur Governor Khamis Abakar said people from his 

Massalit ethnic group were being targeted in El Geneina

A governor from Sudan's Darfur region has been killed hours after accusing the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of committing genocide.

In a TV interview, Khamis Abakar had asked for international intervention to stop violence in West Darfur he blamed on the RSF and its Arab militia allies.

The conflict that erupted two months ago between the RSF and army has inflamed ethnic tensions in Darfur.

The army said the RSF abducted Abakar and executed him, which it denies.

He is the most senior official known to have been killed since the conflict began in April.

Video footage circulating on social media appears to show a group of armed men, some wearing RSF uniforms, detaining the governor of West Darfur state on Wednesday. 

But the RSF blamed "outlaws" for his death, saying its fighters had tried to protect Abakar by taking him to their headquarters in El Geneina, the capital of West Darfur.

It was then overrun and the governor kidnapped and "assassinated in cold blood", the RSF said.

• BBC Africa Live: Updates from the continent
• The accountant fighting for his people in Darfur
• What is going on in Sudan? A simple guide

Black African and Arab communities in Darfur have long been at loggerheads - with the worst violence erupting two decades ago when non-Arabs took up arms accusing the government of discrimination.

In response the government armed Arab militias, known as the Janjaweed. They were accused of widespread atrocities and ethnic killings, described as the first genocide of the 21st Century. 

The RSF was born out of these Janjaweed fighters - and now they and other Arab militias have again been accused of targeting African communities, going on the rampage in El Geneina.

The city is a symbol of black African power in Darfur and many people from the Massalit ethnic group live there.

"Civilians are being killed randomly and in large numbers," Governor Abakar told Saudi-owned Al-Hadath TV on Wednesday, saying the army was doing nothing to help those under attack.

Last week he told BBC Arabic's emergency pop-up Sudan radio service that the killings were especially targeting his Massalit group: "El Geneina city has been attacked from three directions: east, south and west.

"These people have been attacked in their homes and displacement camps. People are targeted… on a daily basis, based on their ethnicity."

In a statement condemning his killing, the army said Governor Abakar had been one of the leaders of former rebel groups that signed the historic peace agreement in 2020 that brought rebels into the then-transitional government. 

In his BBC Sudan Lifeline interview, the governor said that the whole of West Darfur - one of five states in the gold-rich Darfur region - faced a "tragic" situation.

"All the vital facilities in the state have been totally destroyed. Hospitals are not operating. Water sources have been utterly destroyed.

"I am calling on the international and regional community to interfere immediately in West Darfur to save those who are remaining alive in the state," he said - a plea he repeated in his last interview.

On Tuesday, the UN's envoy to Sudan, Volker Perthes, said most of these attacks did appear to have been committed by Arab militias and the RSF which "could amount to crimes against humanity".

Last week, medical aid charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) said estimates suggested that at least 500 people had been killed in El Geneina alone. 

Abakar told the BBC more than 2,000 people had also been wounded, trapped in the city and unable to get treatment.

According to the UN, more than 100,000 people have now fled the fighting in Darfur across the border into neighbouring Chad.

View original: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-65914569

[Ends]

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Could an old tribal foe undercut Sudan’s Hemedti?

See Aljazeera report 03 May 2023 - excerpt:

“If [Hemedti and Hilal] get along, there will be consequences for the African tribes and the internally displaced people. [Hilal and Hemedti] remember the displaced people as being in opposition to them [in previous wars],” warned Zakaria.

“The consequence would make the [Arab] forces much bigger than the [armed non-Arab groups] in [West Darfur].”

View original: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/5/3/could-an-old-tribal-foe-undercut-sudans-hemedti

[Ends]