♦ This week’s news in brief ♦

A compact weekly digest of Dabanga Sudan's highlights of the news from Darfur and Sudan

♦ Darfur: Strafing continues in Jebel Marra war zone

25 January – 2016 JEBEL MARRA Three children were killed in aerial bombardments on rural villages in Darfur’s western Jebel Marra on Monday morning, on the eleventh day of the army's military offensive against the rebel stronghold in the mountains. Air raids with barrel bombs and pillaging militiamen sow terror among the population, and sources reported that tens of thousands of residents have sought refuge higher in the mountains.

The area of Golo, in the upper part of Central Darfur State, has been under attack by the Sudanese Air Force since Saturday. Two girls, aged 12 and 14 years, and a baby were killed south of Golo on Monday morning. Five civilians sustained injuries in the attack.
Approximately 435 displaced families from Jebel Marra managed, with the help of police forces, to reach Tawila in North Darfur on Monday, despite militiamen having cut off the road to Tawila. “But a great number of displaced families still live out in the open in the locality,” an activist in the area told Radio Dabanga.

The African Union-UN peacekeeping mission (Unamid) has reported that 8,403 affected civilians, mostly women and children, have taken refuge in the vicinity of the Mission’s Sortoni team site in North Darfur. Sources reported to Radio Dabanga that the residents of at least 140 villages in Jebel Marra (in Rokoro locality in Central Darfur) have since fled the continuous bombing and shelling by government forces. 

Aerial bombardments are often followed by ground attacks of militiamen who plunder the villages, a displaced man from western Jebel Marra told this station last Friday. “Four bombed villages were later plundered by militiamen on camels and horses. They killed a number of men and raped several women.”

On 15 January, the Sudanese army, in cooperation with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and Darfuri militiamen, launched the major offensive against the rebels of the Sudan Liberation Movement led by Abdelwahid El Nur. United Nations peacekeeping chief Hervé Ladsous informed the Security Council about the clashes on Monday, saying the warring parties “boycott the current national dialogue framework”.

♦ Gas price soars, flour scarce in Sudan

January 26 – 2016 KHARTOUM Sudan exponentially increased the price of cooking gas as of today while the head of the Bakers' Union says the country witnesses a flour crisis. The government announced a threefold increase in the usual price for a cylinder of cooking gas on Monday, raising it from SDG25 to SDG75 ($12.20). Prices of basic commodities and transportation in Sudan have witnessed an unprecedented rise during the past weeks, and many people have been forced to reduce their daily meals from two to one meal.

The gas prices are usually set by the Ministry of Finance, which set the price of a 12.5-kg cylinder in Khartoum state on SDG17 ($2.80) for the distributors and SDG25 for consumers, Sudan Democracy First Group (SDFG) reported two weeks ago. In North Darfur, South Kordofan, and Blue Nile, the price of a gas cylinder was SDG22 for distributors and SDG30 ($4.90) for consumers. The highest official cooking gas price in Sudan is in the other Darfur states, where a cylinder officially costed SDG27 for distributors and SDG35 for consumers.

The government’s recent amendment of the penalty for rioters in Sudan – up to five years’ imprisonment – “comes in anticipation of economic decisions related to lifting fuel subsidies”, a parliamentary official told journalists last Saturday. “These could spark popular protests.” Speaking to Radio Dabanga yesterday, a lawyer expressed his surprise at the speed the amendment was passed last Wednesday.

Head of the Bakers' Union in Sudan, Badreldin El Jalal, said in a press statement on Monday that Sudan witnesses a flour crisis. The shares to bakery owners have decreased from 10 to 12 sacks a day to only four sacks. El Jalal said that there are bakeries that receive less. The country imports wheat worth about $1.4 billion, he said.

Other news highlights:

‘Little progress’ as Sudan and Darfur rebel talks end

January 25 – 2016 DBERZI The first round of informal negotiations between the Sudanese government and two holdout Darfur rebel movements in Dberzi in Ethiopia concluded today with “little progress”. After two days of direct informal…

‘Name of Darfur may change after referendum’: scholar

January 25 – 2016 CAIRO The Sudanese government intends to use the Darfur referendum to eliminate the western region as an entity, according to Dr Hamid Eltigani, economist and head of the Department of Public…

Militia ‘toll gates’ re-appear in North Darfur

January 25 – 2016 KUTUM Six months after the North Darfur authorities removed the militia toll gates on the roads between the state capital of El Fasher and Kutum, groups of militiamen are again collecting ‘passage fees’…

Jebel Marra in Darfur: Three rape victims tell their story

January 21 – 2016 NIERTETI Three of the five girls and women who were gang-raped near Nierteti in Central Darfur on Tuesday, were prepared to tell their story to Radio Dabanga today. During their flight…

520 displaced families reach Tawila in North Darfur

January 24 – 2016 TAWILA About 520 families who fled the violence in the eastern part of Jebel Marra arrived at the Rwanda camp for the displaced in Tawila locality in North Darfur on Friday and Saturday…

Berlin talks between Sudan govt., SPLM-N broken off

January 24 – 2016 BERLIN The second informal meeting between delegations of the Sudanese government and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) broke off on Saturday with no sign of progress toward…

5,000 newly displaced in West Darfur capital

January 21 – 2016 KHARTOUM / EL GENEINA The governmental Humanitarian Aid Commission (HAC) and the Sudanese Red Crescent Society (SRCS) estimate that, since 10 January, nearly 5,000 people displaced…

EU concerned about Sudan’s closure of Tearfund

January 20 – 2016 KHARTOUM The ambassadors of the resident EU Embassies and Norway in Khartoum expressed their concerns about the closure of the UK-based Tearfund organisation by the Sudanese authorities…

‘No quick fix for Sudan’s hard currency crisis’: economist

January 20 – 2016 KHARTOUM The US Dollar rate rose on the Khartoum black market on Monday. The Minister of Finance attributed the rise to telecommunications companies’ purchase of significant sums of…

This digest is an excerpt from the weekly Darfur & Sudan News Update. Subscribe to the newsletter here