♦ 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.

Support and solidarity for victims of West Darfur attacks

November 26 – 2021 JEBEL MOON / DAR EL SALAM Protesters and organisations expressed their solidarity with the people in Darfur as the number of victims from the armed attacks on villages in West Darfur continues to rise. In North Darfur, four people were killed by gunmen.

The West Darfur Humanitarian Aid Commissioner, Omar Abdelkarim, reported that the number of victims of the attacks that took place in the Jebel Moon area of West Darfur in the past week has risen to 35. 16 villages completely burned to ashes.

Activist Hatem Abdallah told Radio Dabanga that tens of thousands of people from at least 35 villages fled to neighbouring Chad as a result of attacks on villages in Jebel Moon, Seleia, Kulbus, and Barak. 15 children were lost as a result of the violence.

The situation in Jebel Moon and its surrounding areas continues to be tense, with armed groups gathering in the area,. It is clear that the situation is potentially explosive, Abdallah told Radio Dabanga.

During the November 25 Marches of the Millions, held throughout Sudan, large numbers of protesters expressed solidarity with the people from Darfur and the victims of the Jebel Moon attacks. Demonstrators carried banners of solidarity and demanded that the perpetrators be brought to justice. The demonstrators chanted slogans, such as ‘the entire country is Darfur’.

PM Hamdok: ‘I will resign if political agreement does not serve the interests of Sudan’s people’

November 25 – 2021 KHARTOUM Sudan’s Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok, has said that he will tender his resignation if the Sudanese people see that the political agreement, signed in Khartoum on Sunday with coup leader Lt Gen Abdelfattah El Burhan, does not serve their interests.

The agreement resulted in the reinstatement of Hamdok – who had been under house arrest since the coup – and return the country to democratic transition in terms of the Constitutional Document. The agreement also stipulates the release of all political detainees, an investigation into the events that took place during the demonstrations, including injuries and deaths among civilians and soldiers, and to bringing those involved to justice.

Hamdok defended the agreement and said that it came ‘within the framework of the possible’ and that it aims to spare the country the risks of slipping into the Yemeni and Syrian model and turning into a civil war.

More Dabanga news

Journalists tell of beatings in Sudan police detention
November 29 – 2021 KHARTOUM Authorities in Sudan released journalist Fayez El Seleik, who was detained after openly criticising the military coup d’état of October 25. He is the fifth journalist detained during the aftermath of the coup to be released. All explained to be subjugated to harassment, beatings, or other forms of mistreatment whilst in detention.

20 Sudan troops killed in Ethiopia border clash
November 29 – 2021 EL GEDAREF At least 20 members of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) have died during a clash with Ethiopian forces and militiamen, who reportedly ambushed them in the border area of El Fashaga El Soghra in El Gedaref. The SAF said that it had inflicted “heavy losses of life” on the Ethiopian troops and militiamen who attacked them.

COVID-19 ‘Omicron’: Sudan imposes travel ban from Southern Africa
November 29 – 2021 KHARTOUM The health authorities in Sudan have issued a decision banning entry to travellers arriving from six Southern African countries, due to the outbreak of the new ‘Omicron’ mutation of COVID-19 that was first identified by South African scientists.

Sudan police, intel chiefs sacked after protest carnage
November 28 – 2021 KHARTOUM Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok has issued a directive relieving the Director General of Sudan’s police and his deputy from their duties with immediate effect. Chairman of the Sovereignty Council Lt Gen Abdelfattah El Burhan has similarly relieved the Director of Military Intelligence and the Director of General Intelligence from their duties.

Resistance Committee members beaten and humiliated as detentions continue
November 26 – 2021 SENNAR / ZALINGEI / KHARTOUM The detention campaign that has been carried out by the military since it staged a coup d'état on October 25 is still ongoing. Several more people were detained in the past few days, including doctors and minors.

Police use excessive violence to disperse Nov 25 Marches of the Millions
November 26 – 2021 KHARTOUM / EL OBEID / NYALA The November 25 Marches of the Millions kicked off in Khartoum and all other state capitals to honour the people killed during the anti-coup protests and to reject the military coup and the political agreement between El Burhan and Hamdok. Security forces used excessive violence to disperse the crowds.

Sudan coup death toll climbs to 42
November 25 – 2021 KHARTOUM The number of people killed since the military junta seized power in a coup d’état on October 25 has risen to 42, according to the latest update by the Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors (CCSD). 

PM Hamdok orders Sudan police to release detainees
November 25 – 2021 KHARTOUM / SENNAR / EL GEDAREF Sudan’s Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdok has ordered the Sudanese police not to intervene in the November 25 mass demonstrations, and to initiate the release of all detained members of the resistance committees.

Darfur refugees in Chad desperate and destitute
November 24 – 2021 CHAD Thousands of Sudanese refugees who fled to eastern Chad from Jebel Moon in West Darfur as a result of armed attacks on their villages over the last weeks, are calling for urgent humanitarian intervention to save their lives.