Showing posts with label News round-up. Show all posts
Showing posts with label News round-up. Show all posts

Monday, April 24, 2023

Sudan news round-up from BBC Mon 24 Apr 2023

BBC EPA-EFE/REX/ShutterstockCopyright: EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock
Image caption: A battle-damaged street in Khartoum on 23 April

From BBC News Live Reporting 

Monday 24 April 2023 22:26 BST UK


Edited by Nathan Williams and Alys Davies


22:26 Pausing our coverage
Nathan Williams
Live reporter
We're pausing our live coverage for now, thanks for following along.


The two rival factions – the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the regular Sudanese army – have agreed to a 72-hour ceasefire, the US says. But, this is not the first ceasefire of the conflict – let's see if this holds. You can continue to read about the story here.


Nations have been attempting to get diplomats and citizens out of the country. But UK defence sources have warned the situation is "more dynamic, more dangerous" than what was seen during the evacuation of Kabul, Afghanistan back in 2021.


Amid the evacuations, some 3,500 Nigerians are "stranded", a Nigerian diaspora body has said. 


Throughout the day, we've also heard many harrowing stories from people on the ground – including those who are having trouble accessing food and water.


For more on this story see this short background piece. And here's another on how evacuations happen.


And here's our latest news story on the situation in Sudan.


Today's coverage was brought to you by Heather Sharp, Alexandra Fouché, Cecilia Macaulay, Ece Goksedef, Antoinette Radford, Laura Gozzi, Adam Durbin, Sam Hancock, Aoife Walsh, Nadine Yousif, Alys Davies and myself.


Summary


The UK government has insisted it's doing all it can to help British nationals stuck in Sudan - after diplomats and their families were rescued yesterday


Minister Andrew Mitchell says there are estimates of around 4,000 Britons in the country, but the number could be higher


Fighting between two opposing forces has seen deadly shooting and shelling in the country's capital, Khartoum, for more than a week


France, Germany, Italy and Spain have been evacuating diplomats and other nationals from Sudan


But UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly has warned that help for Britons will remain "severely limited" until a ceasefire is reached


He added there were "specific threats and violence directed towards diplomats", which led to the decision to evacuate staff from the British embassy in Khartoum


A British businessman living in Sudan has told the BBC the situation is a "nightmare for those of us left behind" in the country


UK defence sources say the situation in Sudan is “very, very different” than what was seen during the evacuation out of Afghanistan in 2021


Khartoum is "more dynamic, more dangerous" than Kabul - with ongoing fighting in areas where Western nationals are located, the sources say


The BBC understands that a small British military team has landed in Sudan to assess potential evacuation options


Meanwhile, Sudan's rivals have agreed to a three day ceasefire starting on Tuesday, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken says


More than 1,000 EU citizens have been airlifted out, many on French and German rescue missions


Fighting between the Sudanese army and RSF paramilitary force has left 420 people dead since it began on 15 April


About 9,000 refugees flee to South Sudan


US heavily involved in efforts to stop the fighting


Ceasefire comes after past attempts to call truce collapsed

See above reports here with thanks to the BBC.


Video caption: 
Sudan fighting: Europeans cram onto evacuation planes from Sudan

[Ends]

Sudan news round-up by Guardian Mon 24 Apr 2023

UN staff are evacuated from Port Sudan. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

From The Guardian, UK

A roundup of today’s news from The Guardian LIVE reporting

By Harry Taylor Monday 24 April 2023 18:54 BST UK


Summary

The time is approaching 8pm in Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, which has been the site of fierce fighting which has led to a mass exodus and evacuation effort from the north-eastern African country.


Gun fire has been heard in Khartoum as fighting continues between the Rapid Support Force, a paramilitary group who follows the former warlord Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, who is also known as Hemedti, and the Sudanese army forces loyal to Abdulfatah al-Burhan, the current de facto leader of Sudan.


Here is a roundup of today’s news.

A British RAF plane has landed at port city in the north-east of Sudan as a British minister said that the UK is evaluating further military options for rescuing non-diplomats from the country by land, sea and air. 


A C17 Globemaster is on the ground at Port Sudan with some troops who may form part of a second rescue organised by the UK following Sunday’s controversial evacuation of British diplomats from the capital, Khartoum, but not other UK nationals. 


The head of the UN António Guterres has warned that the situation could engulf the whole region and that Sudan stands on the “abyss”. He said: “Let me be clear: the United Nations is not leaving Sudan. Our commitment is to the Sudanese people, in support of their wishes for a peaceful and secure future. We stand with them at this terrible time. We must all do everything within our power to pull Sudan back from the edge of the abyss.” 


The French embassy in Khartoum will be closed until further notice. France has airlifted 491 people from 36 countries, including 12 EU nations, to Djibouti since Sunday, according to the ministry, Agence France Presse (AFP) reports. It has also sent a warship as part of the rescue effort. 


US secretary of state Antony Blinken has raised concerns about the Russian mercenary force, the Wagner group, operating in Sudan. Wagner, who were founded by Yevgeny Prigozhin, have been heavily engaged in the conflict in Ukraine after Russia’s invasion. There is now a suggestion the group is active in Sudan. He told a press conference: “We do have deep concern about the engagement of the Prigozhin group – the Wagner group – in Sudan.” 


Germany’s foreign minister Annalena Baerbock has said that the country has been able to fly more than 300 people out of Sudan. 


The US is pushing for a ceasefire between the two warring factions in Sudan to be broadened to help bring the conflict to an end. Secretary of state Antony Blinken told a news conference that was talking “directly” with military leaders. Israel has offered to host ceasefire talks. 


The British ambassador to Sudan was on holiday when fighting broke out in the country’s capital Khartoum, according to a report in the Times of London.


That’s all from me today. I will be handing over to my colleague Gloria Oladipo.


This photograph from the Etat Major des Armees (French defence staff) shows French military personnel at French military airbase in Djibouti before they fly for Khartoum during the "Sagittaire" evacuation of about 100 people from Sudan on the first French flight out of the war-hit country after a "complicated" rescue operation.  Photo: Adj Laure-Anne Maucorps Ep Derri/Etat Major des Armées/AFP/Getty Images

Evacuees from Sudan arrive at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi, Kenya. Photograph: Thomas Mukoya/Reuters


View the Guardian's Live Reporting here or here.


[Ends]

Tuesday, June 08, 2010

Darfur Sudan news round-up: Alex de Waal, New York Times, SRS (Sudan Radio Service)

Sharp Increase in Lethal Violence in Darfur
Report from Alex de Waal's blog, Making Sense of Sudan
By Alex de Waal, published on Saturday, 5 June 2010:
May 2010 saw the largest number of recorded violent fatalities in Darfur since the arrival of UNAMID in January 2008. According to the figures compiled by the Joint Mission Analysis Centre (JMAC), there were 491 confirmed fatalities and 108 unconfirmed but very probable fatalities during the month, about five times higher than the average for the last year.

The reason for the increase in violence is fighting between JEM and the Sudan Armed Forces, which accounts for 440 deaths. At the time of the ceasefire agreement signed in N’djamena in February (and subsequently in Doha), JEM was required to relocate inside Darfur and joint Sudanese and Chadian forces began patrolling the border. A large and well-equipped JEM force established itself at Jebel Moon. The ceasefire lasted two months, and after it collapsed, with no additional progress in the Doha talks, the fighting rapidly resumed, alongside GoS efforts to prevent Khalil Ibrahim from returning to the field. Unwilling to fight defensively, JEM preferred to go on the offensive. It was forced out of Jebel Moon and instead dispersed across Darfur and into parts of Kordofan, taking the war to these areas. The largest number of clashes has been in south-east Darfur but JEM has also been active in the vicinity of al Fashir.

Reports indicate that JEM has made alliances, possibly tactical and operational, with the SLA in Jebel Marra and with disgruntled Arab groups.

JEM forces have also been responsible for an upsurge in carjacking, capturing 13 vehicles. Among them were UNAMID supply trucks carrying fuel and other provisions. Cut off from its Chadian supply base, JEM is now resupplying itself from whatever resources it can find in Darfur and Kordofan, and UNAMID supplies are an attractive target.

Even without this, May would have been an above-average month for lethal violence, because of an increase in inter-tribal fighting in West Darfur, which caused 119 fatalities (monthly total for inter-tribal fighting: 126). The previous two months have actually seen even higher levels of inter-tribal violence, including fighting in the Kass-Jebel Marra area between the Missiriya and Nuwaiba Arab tribes. The repercussions of the collapse of the Suq al Mawasir pyramid scheme in al Fashir also have security repercussions, first in that the angry defrauded investors have been mobilizing to make their case to the authorities, and second in that commanders of armed groups had been profiting from the scheme and are now left without that source of easy income.
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