Sudan: SAF & SPLM-N clashes in Kadugli, S. Kordofan

Press Release from OCHA - OCHASudan@un.org

Flash Update No. 01 

Dated Tuesday 22 August 2023 - here is a full copy:

SUDAN: SAF & SPLM-N clashes in Kadugli, South Kordofan, 

Flash Update No. 01 (22 August 2023)

Clashes between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) in Kadugli Town, South Kordofan State

HIGHLIGHTS

• Renewed clashes between the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) have been reported in Kadugli Town in recent days.

• The government’s Humanitarian Aid Commission (HAC) in South Kordofan reports that an estimated 6,700 people fled their homes to another part of the town following clashes on 14 August.

• During the fighting, two humanitarian compounds were hit by stray bullets.

• There is a dire shortage of food and nutrition supplies in Kadugli Town.

• Conflict between the SPLM-N and the SAF has been ongoing since mid-June 2023.


The relocation of critical counterparts has led to the disruption of life-saving interventions.

SITUATION OVERVIEW

On 14 August, clashes between the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) Al Hilu faction and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) were reported near the Hajr Al-Maak neighbourhood in Kadugli Town, the state capital of South Kordofan State, forcing at least 6,700 people to flee to Al Radaif neighbourhood in the west of the town, according to the government’s Humanitarian Aid Commission (HAC) in South Kordofan. These numbers have yet to be verified. In addition, two humanitarian compounds, as well as many public buildings, were hit by stray bullets during the clashes. Humanitarian staff have been advised to restrict their movements in Kadugli Town.
 


The humanitarian situation is dire for vulnerable populations in Kadugli. Due to the insecurity, aid workers traveling from out of the area are not able to reach the town. Humanitarian food stocks in Kadugli Town have been depleted, and attempts to bring in more supplies have failed due to insecurity along the road from Dilling to Kadugli and due to the blocking of the road into the town by the SPLM-N. The last food distributions for three months were in May, and those supplies will only last families until the end of this month. Other humanitarian stocks in Kadugli, especially health and nutrition supplies, are also running low.
 


On 16 August 2023, there were renewed clashes between the SAF and SPLM-N in Kadugli Town, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM). Due to the fighting and shelling, residents in affected neighbourhoods have reportedly fled to the centre and west of Kadugli Town. The number of people affected is not yet known.
 


Fighting between the SPLM-N Al Hilu faction and SAF has been ongoing and escalating in the state since 17 June 2023. To date, nine out of 17 localities have been affected by the clashes, resulting in the displacement of more than 69,400 people.
 
 


Background 


Kadugli Town is the state capital of South Kordofan State and is located in Kadugli locality. An estimated 160,000 displaced people live in the locality, of whom about 100,000 needed humanitarian assistance even before the conflict, according to the 2023 Humanitarian Needs Overview (HNO).

Download the Flash Update here

https://reports.unocha.org/en/country/sudan/flash-update/2ssdvuTvoamtqksQt7q4O/

View original here

https://reports.unocha.org/en/country/sudan/flash-update/2ssdvuTvoamtqksQt7q4O/

__________________________

Further Reading

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

Sudan People's Liberation Movement–North

Leaders Abdelaziz al-Hilu; Malik Agar.

Founded 2011

Split from Sudan People's Liberation Movement

Ideology New Sudan

National affiliation Sudan Revolutionary Front

Politics of Sudan

Sudan People's Liberation Movement–North or SPLM–N, is a political party and militant organisation in the Republic of Sudan, based in the states of Blue Nile and South Kordofan. 

As of 2017, its two factions, SPLM-N (Agar) and SPLM-N (al-Hilu) were engaged in fighting each other and against the government of Sudan.

- - -

Abdelaziz al-Hilu

Abdelaziz Adam Al-Hilu born 7 July 1954) is a Sudanese politician and the current chairperson of the Sudan People's Liberation Army – SPLA–North.

Biography

Al-Hilu was born in Al-Faydh Umm Abdullah, South Kordofan. He is considered one of the most successful SPLA/M commanders in the history of the SPLA and worked with South Sudan's Leader John Garang in an aim to create a Sudan that is democratic, fair and free to all Sudanese population.

He was born, raised and educated in the Nuba Mountains. He studied Economics in the University of Khartoum, and graduated in 1979. He lost the election for governor of South Kordofan to Ahmed Haroun in a poll rejected by the SPLA as rigged. He had been fighting the Sudan People's Armed Forces in the South Kordofan conflict.

- - -

Malik Agar

Deputy Chairman of the Transitional Sovereignty Council

Incumbent

Assumed office 19 May 2023

Chairman Abdel Fattah al-Burhan

Preceded by Hemedti

Member of the Transitional Sovereignty Council

Governor of Blue Nile State

April 2010 – 2 September 2011

Born Nganyofa Agar Eyre Nganyofa

Ingessana Hills, Blue Nile State, Republic of Sudan

Political party SPLM-N

Occupation Politician, soldier

Military service

Allegiance Sudan People's Liberation Movement

Years of service 1983 - present

Battles/wars Second Sudanese Civil War

Sudanese conflict in South Kordofan and Blue Nile

Malik Agar is a Sudanese politician and insurgent leader active in the insurgency in Blue Nile state. Since 2023, he has been the deputy chairman of the Transitional Sovereignty Council, Sudan's ruling military junta.

 

Malik Agar was born Nganyofa Agar Eyre Nganyofa to an Ingessana chief in Blue Nile State. He did not know he was a Muslim until he was eight. His headteacher gave him the name "Malik" and told him he was a Muslim. From that day on, he was called "Malik Agar Eyre."

Second Sudanese Civil War

Agar joined the Sudanese armed opposition shortly after the beginning of the Second Sudanese Civil War in 1983.

In the 1990s, he was the commander of a section of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) military forces along the Ethiopia-Sudan border south of the Blue Nile to Geissan. SPLM units under his command captured the towns of Kurmuk and Qaissan in 1997.

Agar was close to John Garang, and shared his goal of overthrowing the Sudanese government, as opposed to fighting for the secession of South Sudan. After Garang's death, Agar, along with others who shared a desire for a revolution in Sudan, were marginalised by the new SPLM leadership. Agar expressed his disapproval of the secession of South Sudan to a US official in 2009, stating that it would cause the eventual splintering of the rest of Sudan.

Post-Civil War

He was elected governor of Blue Nile State in the Republic of the Sudan in April 2010. Agar was one of the few high-profile members of the Sudanese opposition to run in the election, and was the only non-NCP candidate to win a governorship. Agar defeated the NCP candidate, Farah Ibrahim Mohamed Al-Aggar, by 108,119 to 99,417 votes.

In February 2011 Malik Agar also became chairman of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (northern sector), the part of the SPLM that operates in northern Sudan. The SPLM-NS became a separate political party when Southern Sudan seceded from the Republic of Sudan in July 2011.

- - -

[Ends]

FULL TEXT: UNITAMS Volker Perthes Remarks to UN Security Council Meeting on Sudan 09 August 2023

Report from Sudan Tribune - sudantribune.com

Dated 09 August 2023 - here is a full copy:

UNITAMS Volker Perthes remarks to the Security Council on August 9, 2023

Image: Volker Perthes briefs the Security Council about the situation in Sudan on May 22, 2023

August 9, 2023 (KHARTOUM) – Hereunder is the briefing that the banned UN Secretary-General Special Representative to Sudan, Volker Perthes, had to present to the Security Council members on Sudan.

Following threats by the Sudanese military-led government to end the UNITAMS if he briefs the Council, the UN decided to prevent him from speaking to the 15-members body and replaced him by Martha Ama Akyaa Pobee, Assistant Secretary-General for Africa.

 

Security Council session on Sudan

9 August 2023

 

Madame President

Members of the Security Council,

Thank you for this opportunity to brief you on the situation in Sudan.

More than one hundred days have passed since the eruption of fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces.

Clashes between these parties continue in various parts of the country, particularly Khartoum, Bahri, Omdurman and Darfur, with neither side achieving victory nor making any significant gains. Khartoum State remains an epicentre of the conflict, with major combat concentrated around key SAF installations including the Sudanese Armed Forces General Command Headquarters.  Fighting is continuing in neighbourhoods. This week the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces both ordered residents to leave their homes in a part of Omdurman, declaring it “an area of operations”.

The parties have exacted tremendous suffering on the people of the Darfur region.  The fighting in Darfur continues to reopen the old wounds of ethnic tension of past conflicts in the region. The brutal violence experienced in El Geneina and Sirba are particular examples of this situation.  This is deeply worrying and could quickly engulf the country in a prolonged ethnic conflict with regional spillovers. The initiative by Chad to convene a grouping of Darfurian stakeholders to address the situation in the region is therefore welcome and should be built upon while ensuring the participation of a broad range of stakeholders, including armed groups, tribal leaders, civil society, and women’s groups.

The situation in the two Kordofan and the Blue Nile States of Sudan continues to be fragile, with persistent military actions and frequent road closures.  In North Kordofan, SAF controls El Obeid city while RSF is controlling areas around the city.

Since June, the SPLM-North Al Hilu faction has continued to make military advancements in SAF-controlled areas in South Kordofan and Blue Nile states, in which SPLM N claims is an attempt to take back territory previously taken from them.

While the East is relatively calm, there are indications of active mobilization efforts in support of SAF, with the emergence of mobilization committees and establishment of military training camps. The mobilization is particularly worrisome and risks plunging the East into conflict along ethnic lines, further highlighting the fragility of the region.

The Northern part of the country remains under Sudanese Armed Forces control.

Excellencies,

The conflict in Sudan continues to have immense repercussions on the country and its people who continue to face unimaginable suffering [The humanitarian and protection needs are rising by the day with no signs of a reprieve.  My humanitarian colleague Ms Edem Wosornu will brief you in detail on the mounting humanitarian needs and response efforts.

The indiscriminate and sometimes targeted attacks on civilians and civilian objects and infrastructure continue, particularly in Khartoum, Darfur, and North Kordofan, as the parties continue to disregard calls to protect civilians and uphold their international human rights and humanitarian law obligations.

Sexual violence continues to be perpetrated on a large scale, while children continue to be killed or victimized or are at risk of being recruited to fight.

The systematic abductions and killings of human rights defenders in Darfur and Khartoum are on the rise. The parties to the conflict must take concrete actions to end and investigate these violations, and support must be provided to strengthen human rights defenders’ networks and better protect human rights defenders.

UNITAMS and the wider UN have on several occasions denounced specific egregious violations such as ethnically-motivated attacks in West Darfur, systematic looting and rape, or aerial bombardments, and have named those responsible.

Hostilities in the country must come to an end and perpetrators should be held accountable for crimes committed, including sexual violence.

Excellencies,

We welcome the ongoing efforts by the African Union and IGAD to end the conflict in Sudan. UNITAMS remains committed to support these efforts, including through the AU-led Expanded Mechanism and its Core Group – which the UN is a part of. We also welcome the continued efforts of the US and Saudi Arabia to facilitate negotiations between the conflicting parties in Jeddah, as well as the initiative of Sudan’s neighbouring countries to help resolve the conflict. The common thread among these initiatives is the call for a permanent cessation of hostilities, facilitation of humanitarian access, and engagement with civilian stakeholders in an inclusive political process.

Coordination between the existing regional and international mechanisms and fora remains essential to maximize the collective leverage of regional and international actors and enhance the effectiveness of mediation efforts. The United Nations is supporting a joined-up approach towards facilitating a comprehensive solution and will continue to work closely with our partners – particularly the African Union and IGAD in this regard, in coordination with others.

We must also highlight that a broad range of civilians remain committed to ending the war and a resumption of a transition leading to a democratic state. Civilians, tribal leaders and others are coming under increasing pressure to take sides in the war, and we continue to urge against this. Such pressure will only lead to a civil war with ethnic and regional repercussions for decades to come. In fact, UNITAMS is supporting efforts by local leaders to prevent or de-escalate conflicts, particularly in Darfur.

UNITAMS also welcomes the ongoing efforts by civilian leaders to consolidate various civilian initiatives under one umbrella to unify anti-war forces in one broad front and prepare for an inclusive political process. It is important to include civil society, women’s rights groups, youth, trade professions, and resistance committees whose voices and engagement are particularly significant in any efforts to end the conflict in Sudan.  UNITAMS continues its outreach with these initiatives and encouraging broad-based inclusivity.

Let me also highlight the important role Sudanese women are playing by leading several anti-war initiatives that call for the immediate cessation of violence, accountability for human rights violations, including sexual violence, and for women’s participation in ceasefire negotiations and any future political process. Their voice must be heard.

Excellencies,

Let me close by reiterating that there needs to be a negotiated solution to end this war as soon as possible. There is no other alternative. Calls by some to continue the war in order to achieve a military victory will only contribute to destroying the country. The longer this war continues, the greater the risk of fragmentation, and foreign interference and erosion of sovereignty, and the loss of Sudan’s future, particularly its youth. Now is the time to end this senseless war and return to negotiations. UNITAMS, along with its partners, will continue to engage with both sides towards this goal and we count on the united support of this Council.

Thank you, Madam President.

View original: https://sudantribune.com/article275981/

[Ends]