Sudan: Clashes between SLA-AW & Arab armed group in Gharb Jabal Marrah (Thur Village), Central Dafur

From Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) Sudan 
UN International Organization for Migration (IOM) - https://dtm.iom.int/
Early Warning Flash Alert
Dated Sunday, 31 December 2023 - here is a copy in full including map:

DTM Sudan Flash Alert: Conflict in Gharb Jabal Marrah (Thur Village), Central Dafur

DTM Sudan's Early Warning Flash Alerts provide immediate updates on incidents and sudden displacement in Sudan. These Flash Alerts aim to notify humanitarian partners of sudden events where DTM's Emergency Event Tracking (EET) may subsequently take place.

Update One: 31 December 2023

On 24 December 2023, clashes erupted between the Sudanese Liberation Army (SLA – Abdelwahid) and an Arab armed group in Thur village of Gharb Jabal Marrah locality, Central Darfur. Field teams reported that approximately 50 households were displaced from Nertiti Town to Golo village of Gharb Jabal Marrah locality. The situation remains tense and unpredictable. DTM is monitoring the situation closely and will provide further information on displacement and population mobility across Sudan, on a monthly basis, via its Monthly Displacement Overview.

Disclaimer: Due to the current circumstances, the DTM network is relying on remote interviews with key informants and further verification is not possible at this time.

*DTM Sudan Flash Alerts provide an initial estimation of affected population figures gathered from field reports. All information is therefore pending verification through DTM’s Emergency Event Tracking (EET) and/or registration activities and is not to be used as official figures.

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Sudan: Darfur rebels JEM & SLM join SAF against RSF

Report from BBC News

By James Copnall & Danai Nesta Kupemba

Dated Friday, 17 November 2023 - here is a copy in full:

Sudan civil war: Darfur's Jem rebels join army fight against RSF

IMAGE SOURCE, AFP  Image caption, 

The Sudanese army has lost control of key bases in the last few weeks

Two rebel groups from Sudan's Darfur region say they will fight alongside the army in the country's civil war.

This comes after the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) made major gains in Darfur, where it has been accused of ethnic cleansing.

Rebel leader Gibril Ibrahim told BBC Newsday they "want to defend their civilians" from the RSF, which he says has been burying people alive.

He said the decision to join forces with the army was not an easy one.

The leader of the Justice and Equality Movement (Jem) said it had taken seven months to come to an agreement.

The relationship between Jem and the Sudanese army is fraught. Mr Ibrahim's brother was killed by the army, who was previously the group's leader.

Jem and the Sudanese Liberation Movement (SLM) took up arms in Darfur in 2003, accusing the government of marginalising the region's black African communities.

The government then mobilised Arab militias against them, leading to what has been described as the 21st Century's first genocide.

These militias have since transformed into the RSF, which has been fighting the army for control of the country since April.

The RSF has taken several key towns in Darfur in recent weeks, including the country's second biggest city, Nyala.

Last week, there were reports they had massacred hundreds of people in the West Darfur capital of El Geneina.

The RSF has denied responsibility for the killings, saying they were part of a "tribal conflict".

A joint statement from Jem and the SLM read: "We have announced ending any neutrality and joining the military operations at all frontlines without hesitation."

Jem and the SLM are not as strong as they used to be, but their entry into the Sudanese civil war is significant.

Both Darfuri rebel leaders signed a peace deal in 2020, and have since been closer to the Sudanese military than would once have seemed possible.

It is possible JEM and SLM will see their ranks swell with new recruits - increasing their importance on the Sudanese political scene.

In joining the fray now - after months of professed neutrality - they seek to defend their support base in Darfur, in particular the Zaghawa ethnic group both men come from.

They will also have concluded that an RSF victory would be disastrous for them, and Darfur.

Mr Ibrahim expressed concern at the RSF's advances, saying he feared Sudan would end up divided.

There are fears it could declare its own government in the impoverished war-torn western region.

The international dimension is significant too.

The Zaghawa are present in Chad as well as Sudan, and dominate Chadian politics. Mr Ibrahim and others have accused Chad of supporting the RSF.

He will be hoping that he can use his connections - including with Chad's leader Gen Mahamat Deby - to cut any ties between Chad and the RSF.

More on Sudan's conflict:

Ethnic cleansing committed in Sudan, UK says

What is going on in Sudan? A simple guide

'I saw bodies dumped in Darfur mass grave'

'I gave birth and kept walking to escape Sudan terror'

Sudan's army: Outnumbered on Khartoum's streets

Why an accountant has taken up arms in Sudan

West Darfur governor killed after genocide claim

View original: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-67450204

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Related reports

 

JEM leader Jibril Ibrahim and SLM-MM leader Minni Arko Minawi address the press conference in Port Sudan yesterday (Photo: JEM) 

Source: Radio Dabanga report Nov 17, 2023 - see here below.

Radio Dabanga - November 17, 2023

Darfur armed movements renounce neutrality in Sudan war

The Sudan Liberation Movement under leadership of Minni Arko Minawi (SLM-MM), and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) led by Jibril Ibrahim, have announced their renunciation of the neutrality pledged in the September 2020 Juba Peace Agreement, and their preparedness “to participate in military operations on all fronts without hesitation”.

Full story: https://www.dabangasudan.org/en/all-news/article/armed-movements-renounce-neutrality-in-sudan-war

Sudan Tribune - November 15, 2023

Key Darfur groups join Sudanese army in its war against RSF paramilitary forces

The Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM-MM) led by Minni Minawi and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) have jointly announced their active involvement in military operations alongside the Sudanese army against the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

Full story: https://sudantribune.com/article279446/

Sudan Watch - July 19, 2023

Chad's Deby met Sudan's Finance Minister JEM leader Ibrahim. JEM leaders secretly met RSF commander

Note, the leader of Darfur rebel group JEM, Gibril Ibrahim, is Sudan's Minister of Finance. He was appointed to the post by Sudanese Prime Minister Hamdok in a cabinet reshuffle 8 February 2021.

Full story: https://sudanwatch.blogspot.com/2023/07/chads-deby-met-sudans-finance-minister.html

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Sudan: PM Hamdok meets French President Macron and Darfur war SLA rebel Abdelwahid Nur in France

NOTE from Sudan Watch editor: Here is news of a 30 Sep 2019 meeting between Sudan's Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and Mr Abdelwahid Nur, leader of Darfur war rebel group Sudanese Liberation Army. Mr Nur helped lead the SLA, one of two rebel groups (the other was JEM) that started the Darfur war in 2003 costing 300,000-400,000 Darfuri lives and unimaginable pain and suffering for millions of others. 

The meeting took place in France where, for the past 15 years Mr Nur has sheltered, enjoyed good food, beer and five star hotels. Nur, now aged 50, led and directed the Darfur war by satellite phone from the comfort and safety of an armchair in Paris, France where he still lives in self imposed exile. He fled to France soon after the Darfur war. He is too scared to return to Darfur and face the dwindling support of 'his people'.

In my view he is an arrogant self-serving dim-wit who spouts nonsense and has delusions of becoming president of Sudan. He once set up an office in Israel. He is infuriating. So is France's interest in Chad and the Sudans oil. See 2005 report 'South Sudan: French energy giant Total in oil talks with SPLM/A over White Nile' https://sudanwatch.blogspot.com/2005/03/south-sudan-french-energy-giant-total.html. 

Photo: Darfur rebel Abdelwahid Nur, leader of Sudanese Liberation Army (SLA-AW) 

Credit: Sudan Tribune.com report 31 Aug 2019 ‘SLM’s al-Nur calls for referendum on Sudan’s transitional authority before peace talks’

News report from MSN.com

By Agence France-Presse (AFP) - www.afp.com

Published: Tuesday 01 October 2019

Title: Sudan PM meets Darfur rebel chief in 'essential' step to peace: Macron

Sudan's prime minister has met a senior Darfur rebel leader living in France, President Emmanuel Macron said Monday, hailing an "essential step" for peace in the troubled east African nation.

Photo: © Bertrand GUAY Sudan's Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok visited French President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace

"We facilitated talks that Prime Minister (Abdalla) Hamdok had yesterday with Abdulwahid Nur, who is in our country," Macron said at a press conference with Hamdok after discussions in Paris.

"I think the step taken yesterday is an essential step," he added. "The Sudanese deserve to finally live in peace and security."

Nur, who is exiled in France, leads the Sudanese Liberation Army (SLA/AW), which does not recognise Hamdok's government, which is tasked with leading the country's transition to civilian rule.

Hamdok said that his meeting with Nur, which he had expected to last 30 minutes, went on for nearly three hours and involved "very profound exchanges".

"We discussed the roots of the Sudanese crisis and possibilities for a solution and... we are going to lay the first stones for this edifice of peace," he said.

Sudan's western region of Darfur fell into widespread conflict in 2003 when ethnic minority rebels took up arms against the Arab-dominated government of Omar al-Bashir, who was toppled in April this year.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed in the years-long conflict in Darfur and more than two million displaced, according to the United Nations.

"I accepted to meet the new prime minister not as a prime minister, but as a political figure" in the new political landscape, Nur told AFP on Monday.

"There is no peace, there is no accountability, there is no free press -- the killing in Darfur, in the Nuba mountains, in the Blue Nile is continuing," he said.

"All of us we want to sit together in a partnership country, in a partnership of equal citizenship rights, to identify all together what are the problems of Sudan and what is the solution," he said.

However Nur, 50, stressed that "we are not recognising the military council and we are not recognising the new government".

Hamdok's visit to France was his first to Europe as prime minister, and comes after France's foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian visited Khartoum earlier this month.

Macron reiterated Monday that France was ready to help rebuild Sudan's economy, announcing a 15 million euro ($16.3 million) aid package and plans for a donors' conference in the coming weeks.

View original: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/sudan-pm-meets-darfur-rebel-chief-in-essential-step-to-peace-macron/ar-AAI4z6Y