♦ 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.

El Burhan demands UK apologies to Sudan for colonial crimes

September 7 – 2022 KHARTOUM The chairman of the Transitional Sovereignty Council and Commander of the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF), Lt Gen Abdelfattah El Burhan, has asked the United Kingdom to provide an official apology for crimes committed during the British colonial era in a speech on Tuesday. He further denied rumours that the SAF and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) will take up arms against each other.

In a speech celebrating the 124th anniversary of the Battle of Karari between the British army and Sudanese Mahdist forces in Sudan, El Burhan described the British actions as a crime against humanity that should be accounted for. “They (British forces) committed murder and atrocities for four days after the battle,” said El Burhan, before going on to describe British actions as “tantamount to genocide and ethnic cleansing”.

Death toll of renewed clashes in Sudan’s Blue Nile state rises to 21

September 4 – 2022 ED DAMAZIN At least 21 people were killed in the renewed intercommunal fighting that broke out in northern Blue Nile state on Thursday and continued the following day, despite a curfew set by the state government. At least 33 were wounded. The violence also led to new displacement.

Mohamed Mousa, representative of the Hausa in Blue Nile state, told Radio Dabanga on Friday afternoon that seven people were killed in Teiba in El Roseires and the village of Ganis on Thursday. At least 10 were injured at that time, including two children. He said that a large group carrying knives and sticks then launched an attack on worshipers in an El Roseires mosque during Friday prayers, which led to the killing of 14 people and the wounding of 23 others. 

Sudan sends huge military reinforcements to border with Ethiopia
September 7 – 2022 KHARTOUM / KASSALA Sudanese authorities announced on Tuesday the deployment of ‘huge military reinforcements’ to Hamdayet in Kassala, as clashes intensify between the Ethiopian army and opposition Tigrayan Front forces near Sudan’s eastern border. Organisations operating near the Sudanese-Ethiopian border have been ordered to vacate the area.
 
Blue Nile state witnesses 'cautious calm' after at least 24 were killed in renewed clashes
September 6 – 2022 ED DAMAZIN / SINGA The situation in Blue Nile state witnessed a cautious calm on Monday, the second day since the deployment of joint forces and military reinforcements from outside the region in areas where four-day-long clashes took place, which left 24 dead and at least 44 wounded.
 
Sudan Humanitarian Aid Commission re-registers 23 ‘Islamist NGOs’
September 5 – 2022 KHARTOUM The Humanitarian Aid Commission in Sudan allowed the re-registration of 23 non-governmental organisations and associations on Saturday. The NGOs were suspended and their properties confiscated by the now dissolved Empowerment Removal Committee.
 
German researcher: The spoilers of Darfur
September 4 – 2022 BERLIN The 2020 Juba Peace Agreement has not brought peace to the Sudanese conflicts, writes Gerrit Kurtz. In an article for the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, he maps out how the agreement has served to create new alliances between armed groups and security forces in Sudan.
 
Dozens of refugees enter Sudan after violence resumes in Ethiopia
September 2 – 2022 BASUNDA Around 80 refugees from Ethiopia crossed into Basunda in El Gedaref, following days of violent clashes between the Ethiopian army and the opposition Tigrayan Front forces near the Sudanese-Ethiopian border.
 
Sudan: Red Sea state security to target ‘civilian arms carriers’
September 2 – 2022 PORT SUDAN The Red Sea state Security Committee announced on Wednesday that they will enforce the articles of the Sudan Penal Code that prohibits civilians to organise themselves in a military system and carry weapons. The armed opposition group  of Shaiba Dirar rejects the decision.
 
Sudan: Renewed fighting kills seven in Blue Nile state
September 2 – 2022 ED DAMAZIN Sudanese authorities said at least seven people have been killed and 23 others injured after renewed clashes in Blue Nile state on Thursday, about a month after similar violence left more than 100 dead.
 
Sudan: Pro-democracy as well as pro-military groups working on proposals for new govt
August 31 – 2022 KHARTOUM The Sudanese Bar Association will announce its version of their proposed transitional constitution later this week. A new political coalition of pro-military groups is in the making, while the Sudanese resistance committees are working to create a large coalition in order to reach a democratic civilian rule. International parties discuss new ways of mediation to help resolve the current political impasse.
 
Sudan Doctors Committee protests the ‘burying of unidentified bodies’
August 31 – 2022 KHARTOUM The Central Committee of Sudan Doctors has denounced the decision of the Sudanese Senior Public Prosecutor to bury unidentified bodies in mortuaries without recording forensic details.

6 Chadian soldiers die in Sudan border clash – West Darfuris fear reprisals
August 31 – 2022 BINDISI Six Chadian soldiers have reportedly been killed by armed men, believed to be Sudanese, in area of Roto in west Jokouma in Bindisi on the border between Central Darfur and Chad. Sources from the area told Radio Dabanga that the Chadian army has asked its Sudanese counterparts to hand over the perpetrators.