♦ 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.

Arab and Gimir tribes sign reconciliation agreement in West Darfur

July 8 – 2022 EL GENEINA / KULBUS On Wednesday, leaders of the Gimir tribe and a number of Arab tribes signed a final reconciliation agreement with the West Darfur government in El Geneina to end the conflicts witnessed in the area of Kulbus, which claimed the lives of more than 125 people and wounded dozens. The signing ceremony was witnessed by Mohamed Hamdan ‘Hemeti’ Dagalo, Deputy-Chairman of the Sovereignty Council and Commander-in-Chief of the infamous Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the wali of West Darfur, and military and tribal leaders.

Hemeti explained that this is the fifth peace agreement to be signed in West Darfur, described it as the best document so far, and said that this is the last real signing and reconciliation between the tribes. "With this, we have covered all the tribal problems in the state”, he said.

Sudan-Ethiopia border conflict escalates as 7 soldiers and a civilian are killed

June 28 – 2022 EL FASHAGA / KHARTOUM The Sudanese-Ethiopian border tensions witnessed rapid developments after the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) reported the killing of a Sudanese citizen and seven army soldiers by Ethiopian armed forces who raided and captured the El Usra area in El Fashaga, El Gedaref. Both parties accuse each other of unacceptable behaviour.

Fierce fighting broke out between the SAF and members of an Ethiopian army base east of Barakat Noreen village last week. The official SAF spokesperson called the attack “a behaviour that contradicts all the laws and customs of war and international humanitarian law”. The Ethiopian Foreign Affairs Ministry described the event as skirmishes between the Sudanese army and the local militiamen (known as shifta in the region) on June 22.

Saleh Mahmoud: Hemeti-brokered Darfur accords ‘superficial… do not represent interests of the people’
July 12 – 2022 DARFUR The reconciliation agreements brokered in Darfur by Deputy-Chairman of the Sovereignty Council and Commander-in-Chief of the infamous Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Mohamed ‘Hemeti’ Dagalo, are “superficial, do not represent the interests of the people, and will not to real stability in Darfur,” asserts a leader of the Communist Party of Sudan, member of the Darfur Bar Association, and human rights lawyer Saleh Mahmoud.
 
North Darfur farmers call for protection from bandits
July 11 – 2022 ZAMZAM CAMP / EL FASHER / NYALA Residents of Zamzam camp for the internally displaced have called on authorities to deploy protective forces during the agricultural season to protect them while they cultivate their lands. The Deputy Chairman of the Sovereignty Council and Commander-in-chief of the Rapid Support Forces, Mohamed ‘Hemeti’ Dagalo, has ordered gunmen who have set up illegal ‘toll gates’ in Darfur to remove them within 24 hours.
 
Tear gas fired into mosque in Sudan capital
July 10 – 2022 KHARTOUM Members of the Central Reserve Forces (also known as Abu Tira) allegedly fired tear gas at worshipers during Friday prayers at a Khartoum mosque after the imam’s sermon denounced the killing of protesters without justification.
 
Lack of confidence in Sudan’s military reflected in rejection of El Burhan's speech
July 6 – 2022 KHARTOUM The speech of Gen Abdelfattah El Burhan on Monday, in which he announced the military’s withdrawal from the current governing bodies, and gave the civilian opposition groups in the country the opportunity to form a government of technocrats, has mostly been met with scepticism and rejection.
 
Sudan military withdraws from negotiations, 'civilians to form govt'
July 4 – 2022 KHARTOUM Chairman of the Sovereignty Council and the Commander-in-Chief of the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) Gen Abdelfattah El Burhan, announced that the military will no longer participate in the current national negotiations. In a televised speech this evening, El Burhan announced the army’s withdrawal from the current dialogue facilitated by the AU-IGAD-UNITAMS Trilateral Mechanism.
 
Hemeti warns ‘enemies of peace’ as ‘security concerns’ postpone El Burhan North Darfur visit
July 4 – 2022 EL FASHER The head of the Sovereignty Council, commander of the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF), and head of the ruling military junta, Gen Abdelfattah El Burhan, abruptly postponed a visit to El Fasher, capital of North Darfur on Sunday, citing ‘security concerns’.
 
At least 9 killed in Sudan protests, many detained, as activists call for new demos
July 2 – 2022 SUDAN According to the Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors (CCSD) nine protesters were killed in the June 30 Marches of the Millions in the Sudanese capital. Many others were wounded. On Friday, protests continued and the Central Khartoum Resistance Committees called for new demonstrations. Hundreds of activists have been detained in the country.
 
Sudan's poverty rates potentially even higher than reported
July 1 – 2022 ROME / KHARTOUM Sudan’s poverty and food insecurity rates are projected to increase further until September. Numbers are said to be significantly higher than those estimated by the country’s authorities and the United Nations (UN).
 
FFC-CC and junta close to an agreement, UNITAMS says
July 1 – 2022 KHARTOUM / WAD MADANI The UN Special Representative for Sudan and head of the United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS), Volker Perthes, announced that the talks between the Forces for Freedom and Change-Central Council (FFC-CC) and the military have allowed both parties to come close to an agreement. The main dispute is limited to the military remaining its presence and influence in state institutions.
 
First casualties fall as pro-democracy Marches of the Millions erupt across Sudan
June 30 – 2022 KHARTOUM / DARFUR / RIVER NILE / RED SEA STATE / KORDOFAN [UPDATED} Hundreds of thousands of Sudanese answered the call of the Resistance Committees and took to the streets in what have become the country's largest protests since the October 25 military coup. The June 30 Marches of the Millions were timed to mark the 33rd anniversary of the coup d’état that toppled Sudan’s last elected government and began the Al Bashir dictatorship that would last for 30 years.
 
Sudan activists, authorities ready for June 30 mass protests
June 29 – 2022 KHARTOUM / DONGOLA / EL GEDAREF / WAD MADANI Resistance groups continue their preparations for the launch of the June 30 anti-junta mass Marches of the Millions all over Sudan calling for a civilian-led government, while the authorities have announced strict security measures. A shut-down of telephone traffic and the Internet is expected as well. The resistance committees in the country are working on the unification of the two ‘Power to the People’ charters issued earlier this year.
 
West Darfur tribal leaders sign accord to end hostilities
June 27 – 2022 EL GENEINA On Saturday, West Darfur witnessed the signing of agreements to stop hostilities between Arab and Masalit tribes in El Geneina locality, and the Rizeigat and Iringa tribes in Sirba locality, in the presence of Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo ‘Hemeti’, Deputy Chairman of the Sovereignty Council and Commander-in-Chief of the Rapid Support Forces. The Darfur Bar Association has dismissed the conference as “mere political demonstrations that encourage impunity in the absence of the Rule of Law”.
 
‘Military coup has cost Sudan $4.4 bn in suspended aid’
June 27 – 2022 KHARTOUM Sudan has lost $4,364 billion in aid pledged by the international community, in the eight months since the October 2021 military coup d’état, according to Faroug Kembereisi, former deputy governor of the Central Bank of Sudan (CBoS).