Sudan hit by internet blackout as conflict continues

NOTE from Sudan Watch Editor: This site hasn't had visits from Sudan or S. Sudan in past week. A job seeker in Khartoum wrote in to say he's unable to complete job applications online due to patchy connectivity and electricity. 

The internet and telecoms blackout might not be caused by RSF terrorists. Could be SAF and its allies on the move under cover to retake Aj Jazirah from RSF. Iran, Russia and others are good at hacking too. 

Sudan hit by internet outage: the affected areas include Khartoum, Darfur, Kordofan, and some Gezira states - mostly areas that are under control of RSF terrorist group. Photo credit: TechReport

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Report at BBC News
By Danai Nesta Kupemba, BBC News 
Dated Wednesday, 7 February 2024 - here is a copy in full:

Sudan hit by internet blackout as civil war continues

IMAGE SOURCE, REUTERS. Image caption, Some Sudanese providers have been experiencing problems since Friday

Sudan has been plunged into an internet blackout with many blaming the paramilitary group fighting the army in the country's 10-month civil war.

The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has denied responsibility.

NetBlocks, a watchdog that monitors internet freedom, said on X, there had been a "new collapse of internet connectivity" in Sudan.

It comes as a Sudanese hacktivist group targeted Uganda for welcoming the RSF leader, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.

NetBlocks said it had found a disruption to the services of internet providers Uganda Telecom and MTN, although a BBC reporter in the capital Kampala said he did not notice any problems.

In Sudan, some people have reported being unable to access the internet since Friday but the situation has since got even worse.

State-aligned media have blamed the RSF.

However, according to the Sudan Tribune news site, an RSF official accused the army of issuing direct orders to sever communication in parts of Darfur, Kordofan, Khartoum, and Gezira states, which are largely under the control of the paramilitary group.

NetBlocks said on Wednesday that the one of the major mobile operators in Sudan, Zain, was "largely offline".

In a statement posted on Facebook, Zain said that it was "working under very difficult, harsh, and dangerous circumstances".

It added that the "current network outage is due to circumstances beyond its will".

Two other providers, South African-owned MTN Sudan and state-owned Sudani, were operating at zero on Friday, according to NetBlocks.

The network outage adds another layer of hardship to a nation at war.

In response to the ongoing conflict, the United Nations has appealed for $4.1bn (£3.25bn) to address the urgent humanitarian needs of those in Sudan and people who have been forced to flee their homes.

At least nine million people have been displaced, while some 25 million - half the entire population - need assistance, the UN says. 

"Ten months of conflict have robbed the people of Sudan of nearly everything - their safety, their homes and their livelihoods," said the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Martin Griffiths.

He added that the situation in Sudan needed to be addressed with a "heightened sense of urgency".

More stories on Sudan:

• ‘Our lives have become a piece of hell in Sudan’
• My family buried my grandmother while ducking bullets
• 'I saw bodies dumped in Sudan mass grave'
• Why Sudan's descent into violence matters

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View original: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-68228340

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Is Sudan's Ministry of Health working? Women’s vigil in North Darfur capital decries healthcare collapse

NOTE from Sudan Watch Editor: Why can't urgent medical supplies be dropped by air? Planes are used in Australia's outback to provide medical services. Billions have been raked into the coffers of the UN and countless charities to help the most vulnerable and needy in Sudan and South Sudan. The belligerents need medical aid too. What is Sudan's Ministry of Health doing? Why can't it and the UN track and coordinate where supplies are needed and get them delivered by any means possible as soon as possible? 

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Dated 18 August 2023 - here is a full copy:
Report at Radio Dabanga

Women’s vigil in North Darfur capital decries healthcare collapse

Vigil by women activists in El Fasher on Thursday (Photo: RD)

Women’s activists organised a vigil in the North Darfur capital, El Fasher, on Thursday to protest the deteriorating healthcare conditions, and what they called the failure of the Ministry of Health and the state government to support the Specialised Maternity Hospital. 

Shortages of medicines and equipment at hospitals has become a country-wide crisis, as logistics, supply, and power outages stress facilities beyond their limits.

The participants in Thursday’s vigil told Radio Dabanga of their dissatisfaction at the facilities at the specialised obstetrics and gynaecology hospital, which is the main reference hospital, and the only one of its kind in the state. They lament that “the hospital lacks even the simplest equipment to provide treatment in the fields of obstetrics and gynaecology.” they say, “which has resulted in the deaths of a large number of mothers and newborns”.

The medical staff lack essentials such as surgical gloves and blood for transfusion, the activists say. The electricity supply is subject to frequent outages, and “for the past four months, the hospital has relied entirely on initiatives by public volunteers and the support committee”.

The vigil appealed to the state government and the Ministry of Health to pay urgent attention to the conditions at the hospital, as they fear ”the situation may collapse”.

The protesters decried the murders, rapes, and kidnappings in North Darfur state, pointing to the deteriorating conditions of women in various fields. “Women are subject to continuous violations in the centres and neighbourhoods.”

Activist Asmaa El Nour, one of the participants in the vigil, told Radio Dabanga that the vigil demanded the provision of necessary medicines to save women’s lives, especially at the specialised hospital for obstetrics and gynaecology in El Fasher, and criticised the state health ministry’s failure in doing its part.

National crisis

Earlier this month, Dabanga reported that blood transfusion bags, anaesthesia, gauze, solutions, and suture threads are among the medical supplies that are in critically short supply in the South Darfur capital of Nyala, as medical facilities are swamped with an influx of conflict-related cases. Health care in South Kordofan is suffering from a shortage of medicines.

The Children’s Hospital in El Gedaref, eastern Sudan, recorded figures of 132 children who died as a result of a surge in malnutrition-related diseases. According to recent reports, there has been a marked increase in the number of disease cases and fatalities, notably within camps providing shelter to those uprooted by the conflict in Khartoum. From April to July, the Children’s Hospital documented a total of 365 malnutrition cases, which they state, translates to a 20 per cent mortality rate among afflicted children. 

The monthly death toll saw 33 casualties in April, followed by 41 in May, 24 in June, and another 34 in July.

Apart from massive logistical challenges to distribute vital equipment and medicines brought about by the war, a lack of fuel means that hospitals cannot always run generators to power equipment. As reported by Dabanga this week, a kidney failure patient died in Port Sudan, after a dialysis centre was struck by a power outage.

Compounded with the scarcity of essential medical supplies required to provide adequate care for over 360 patients, among whom at least 100 have been uprooted from Khartoum due to the destructive clashes that ravaged the capital’s healthcare infrastructure.

View original: https://www.dabangasudan.org/en/all-news/article/womens-vigil-in-north-darfur-capital-decries-healthcare-collapse

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Sudan Ocha: SAF & RSF clashes in Nyala, South Darfur

Press Release from OCHA - OCHASudan@un.org

Flash Update No. 01 

SUDAN: SAF & RSF clashes in Nyala, South Darfur (21 August 2023)

Monday 21 August 2023 - here is a full copy:

Clashes between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Nyala Town, South Darfur State

HIGHLIGHTS

• Renewed clashes between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Nyala Town since 11 August 2023 are continuing to fuel displacement of the civilian population.

• Up to 50,000 people have fled their homes in Nyala Town due to the fighting.

• At least 60 people have been killed and 250 others injured due to the clashes.

• Staff at the Turkish Hospital have been overwhelmed by the number of injured seeking assistance.

• Trucks loaded with humanitarian supplies are unable to travel to Nyala Town due to the fighting.

SITUATION OVERVIEW

From 11 to 17 August 2023, renewed clashes between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Nyala Town, the state capital of South Darfur State, have displaced thousands of people to other areas, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM). 

Preliminary reports indicate that approximately 10,000 families – about 50,000 people –  fled their homes in the Al-Mazad, Tayba, Seka Hadeed, Al-Jabal, Neil, Karrari, Musa and Texas neighbourhoods of Nyala Town to Hai Al-Jeer, Al-Nahda, As Salam, Derwa and Kangho neighbourhoods in the town; and to the As Salam, Al Serief, Otash and Kalma displacement camps in Beliel and Nyala Shimal localities in South Darfur. 

People have also fled to Tulus, Buram, As Salam and Damso localities in South Darfur, as well as to Shia'ria locality and Ad Du’ayn Town in East Darfur and Al Fasher Town in North Darfur. 

At least 60 people have been killed and 250 others injured during the fighting, according to IOM.
 
Staff at the Turkish Hospital – which is already understaffed – are reportedly struggling to cope with the influx of wounded people, and humanitarian partners on the ground report that medical supplies are running low.
 


Trucks loaded with nutrition, health, and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) supplies destined for Nyala Town have remained in Ad Du'ayn Town, the capital of East Darfur, since 14 August due to the fighting, and planned distributions by UNICEF have been postponed. 

There are concerns that continued fighting will cause the already precarious humanitarian situation in the state to deteriorate and heighten the health, nutrition, sanitation and food security needs of the vulnerable. Meanwhile, some areas could become inaccessible if roads become impassable during the ongoing rainy season.


Gathering information from Nyala Town in recent days has been challenging, as communication towers have reportedly been damaged during the fighting, and the electricity and water systems in the town are no longer functioning.
 


Background 


Nyala Town is located in Nyala Janoub locality, South Darfur State. An estimated 401,000 people live in the locality, of whom about 95,000 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/6pAVMP3Q8Fckx2PGKNkZA1/

View original: 

https://reports.unocha.org/en/country/sudan/flash-update/6pAVMP3Q8Fckx2PGKNkZA1/

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