♦ Sudan: This week’s news in brief ♦

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.

Sudan health services in disarray: ‘10k+ children will die by the end of this year’

20/10/2023 – KHARTOUM / EL GEDAREF / EN NAHUD. The Coalition of Civilian Forces in Eastern Sudan has condemned the way the de facto military authorities are dealing with a worsening cholera epidemic, as well as malaria and dengue fever in El Gedaref state. UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO) have confirmed 65 deaths from cholera, including children, out of 1,310 cases in four states in Sudan. They warn that more than 10,000 children will die by the end of this year as a result of further attacks and disruptions to health and nutrition services in Sudan.
 
“The information we received from reliable sources in El Gedaref confirms that the actual numbers of deaths and infections are higher than reported, as most cases are not recorded by health agencies, whose capacity is limited,” Salih Ammar, spokesperson for the coalition, told Radio Dabanga. He also expressed our concern about the worsening situation in the neighbouring state of Kassala, “whose health system is also collapsing and cannot bear higher infection rates”.

‘The actual numbers of deaths and infections are higher than reported’

Sudan war: RSF blockade raises concerns for Zalingei camps

20/10/2023 – ZALINGEI. Concerns arise following reports that the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) shelled and blocked access to El Hasahisa camp for the displaced in Zalingei in Central Darfur for the past month, “preventing food and water from entering”. Local sources report an escalating death toll due to RSF bombings, exacerbating dire conditions in the camp.
 
Humanitarian conditions in the camp are dire. Sheikh Abdelrazag Yousef described the situation as ‘catastrophic’ explaining that “no supplies have reached the camp for the past month, and current stocks are depleted.” In nearby El Hamidiya camp, violence, medical shortages, and food scarcity also compound difficulties for residents.

Picking up the pieces as Darfur and Khartoum bombardments decrease
24/10/2023 – NYALA / ZALINGEI / KHARTOUM / OMDURMAN. Nyala University professor Mohamed Abdel Aziz said that Nyala, capital of South Darfur, is one of the most affected cities after Khartoum state. The RSF continue to besiege Hasahisa camp in Zalingei, Central Darfur.
 
French Court of Asylum rules: ‘Darfur in grip of indiscriminate violence of exceptional intensity’
24/10/2023 – PARIS. In what could form important precedents, the National Court of Asylum in France granted political asylum to two applicants from West Darfur and North Darfur last week, acknowledging that “Darfur is in the grip of indiscriminate violence of exceptional intensity”.
 
300 more Central Darfur families displaced as Zalingei fighting rages
23/10/2023 – ZALINGEI. Renewed between the army and the RSF in the Central Darfur capital fighting has prompted 300 more families to flee the Unity neighbourhood of Zalingei to the city’s El Hamidiya camp for displaced people.
 
Sudan Armed Forces chief retires ‘defecting’ Major General in charge of Abyei
23/10/2023 – KHARTOUM / ABYEI. The Commander-in-Chief of the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and leader of the ruling Sudan junta, Lt Gen Abdelfattah El Burhan, has announced the ‘retirement’ of Maj Gen Mohamed Alawi Koko Mukhir after the general announced his intention to join the RSF.
 
Health emergency and epidemic control director shot dead in West Kordofan attack
20/10/2023 – EL FULA. The director of the Health Emergency and Epidemic Control Department in West Kordofan, Dr Safaa El Dalil, was killed by unidentified assailants in the state capital El Fula on Tuesday evening. Four other doctors, including her husband, were injured in the attack.
 
Trial of Darfur janjaweed ‘Colonel of Colonels’ Ali Kushayb resumes at ICC
19/10/2023 – THE HAGUE. The trial of former Darfur janjaweed leader Ali Muhammad Ali Abdelrahman, known as ‘Ali Kushayb’ and referred to as the ‘Colonel of Colonels’, who stands accused of 31 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity between 2003 and at least 2004, resumed at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, the Netherlands.
 
UN expert warns of child recruitment by armed groups in Sudan
18/10/2023 – GENEVA. An independent UN human rights expert expressed concern about the increased risk of recruitment and use of children by armed forces and armed groups in Sudan.
 
Sudan Foreign Ministry: Deadly Gaza hospital blast ‘a crime against humanity’
18/10/2023 – KHARTOUM / GAZA / TEL AVIV. The Sudanese Foreign Ministry has condemned the killing of hundreds of Palestinian civilians, including children and women, on Tuesday evening in an explosion at Gaza’s Baptist Hospital as “a complete crime against humanity”.
 
Sudan war enters its seventh month
17/10/2023 – KHARTOUM / KHARTOUM NORTH / OMDURMAN. The war in Sudan entered its seventh month as violent clashes continued between the SAF and RSF in Khartoum North. The Forces of Freedom and Change Central Council (FFC-CC) executive office said that the war has expanded into El Gezira and White Nile states whilst the US embassy called for humanitarian access.
 
Saleh Mahmoud: ICC jurisdiction may expand beyond Darfur
17/10/2023 – BRUSSELS / THE HAGUE. Member of the Darfur Bar Association, human rights lawyer, and winner of the European Sakharov Prize for Human Rights Saleh Mahmoud said that the area of the ICC’s jurisdiction may expand soon to include all parts of Sudan.