♦ Sudan: This week’s news in brief ♦

DABANGA SUDAN – June 28, 2023

A compact digest of the past week’s most-read highlights, from the heart of Sudan. Subscribe to receive this digest weekly in your inbox.

Sudanese escaping Darfur violence continue to face assaults on road to Chad

EL GENEINA / ADRÉ, CHAD – June 23, 2023. At least 350 corpses line the road between El Geneina, capital of West Darfur, and Adré in eastern Chad, West Darfuri refugees report. “They are victims of brutal attacks carried out by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and affiliated armed groups.”

Activist Ibrahim Shamou, who arrived in Adré from El Geneina, told Radio Dabanga that thousands of people embarked on the journey towards Adré “but many have yet to arrive, and others went missing”. The Assistant Commissioner for Refugees in West Darfur said that hundreds of women and children were killed and subjected to humiliating beatings while fleeing to Chad and that “some children were lost during their escape from the violence”.

‘They are victims of brutal attacks carried out by the RSF and affiliated armed groups’

Nearly 20,000 displaced from Tawila in North Darfur clashes

EL FASHER / TAWILA – June 26, 2023. Clashes between the army and the RSF in Tawila, North Darfur, last week caused the displacement of tens of thousands of civilians. Residents from 12 villages near Tabit also decided to leave as the armed forces withdrew from the area.

The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) estimated that the number of people who fled their homes at about 19,000 families. They sought refuge in various areas, including the North Darfur capital El Fasher. School director Umelhasan Awadallah from El Fasher said that “about a thousand people arrived here on foot, with almost nothing, as they had fled their houses in panic”.

RSF take control of Central Reserve Police HQ in Khartoum ‘killing hundreds of soldiers’
KHARTOUM – June 27, 2023. Fighting in Central Khartoum and Khartoum North (Bahri) led to civilian deaths. The army confirmed that the RSF managed to take control of the Central Reserve Police headquarters on Sunday. The RSF claim to have killed hundreds of army officers in the attack.
 
Claims of aid items stored in Sudan warehouses not distributed yet
RABAK / EL OBEID / PORT SUDAN – June 27, 2023. The number of people from the Sudanese capital seeking refuge in White Nile state is still increasing. People claim that aid arrived two months ago but has not been distributed yet.
 
International rescue operations underway to evacuate West Darfur refugees
ADRÉ / EL GENEINA – June 26, 2023. People are still arriving in the Chadian border town of Adré on foot or on donkey carts as they flee the violence in El Geneina but international rescue operations are getting more people out of West Darfur as well.
 
21 killed in South Darfur fighting 
NYALA – June 26, 2023. At least 21 civilians were killed in and around Nyala, capital of South Darfur, during the “indiscriminate exchange of shelling and gunfire” between the army and the RSF on Friday and Saturday.
 
SJS: ‘Fate of dozens of Sudan journalists unknown’
KHARTOUM – June 25, 2023. Journalists and media personnel have continued to be targeted for attacks and violations during the first half of the second month of the war that erupted on April 15 between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary RSF.
 
More than 2.5 million Sudanese now displaced or refugees
GENEVA / SUDAN – June 22, 2023. The number of refugees and people displaced due to the ongoing war in Sudan has risen to 2.56 million according to the latest figures by the IOM.
 
Listen: Radio Dabanga journalist interviewed by BBC on the desperate situation in West Darfur
LONDON / AMSTERDAM / EL GENEINA – June 22, 2023. Radio Dabanga journalist Amgad Abdelgadir was interviewed for the BBC World Service Africa Daily podcast episode ‘How desperate is the situation in El Geneina?’ to discuss the situation in the West Darfur capital.
 
Cautious calm, electricity restored in North Kordofan, clashes continue in South Kordofan
EL OBEID / EL RAHAD / KADUGLI – June 21, 2023. El Obeid and El Rahad in North Kordofan experienced a period of relative calm in the past days, thanks to successful communication between civilians and the RSF. In South Kordofan, clashes continued between the army and SPLM-N (El Hilu).
 
DBA: Four lawyers slain in West Darfur ‘deliberately targeted’
El GENEINA – June 21, 2023. Four lawyers have died in the violence in El Geneina, where the death toll exceeds 5,000. The Darfur Bar Association (DBA) asserts that “the lawyers were deliberately targeted for their involvement in reporting past incidents” and calls for international intervention.