♦ This week’s news in brief ♦
A compact weekly digest of Dabanga Sudan’s highlights of the news from Darfur and Sudan
A compact weekly digest of Dabanga Sudan's highlights of the news from Darfur and Sudan
♦ Sudan army, SPLM-N clash and violate ceasefire
February 21 – 2017 KADUGLI The Sudanese army has accused the SPLM-N rebel forces of attacking its soldiers near Kadugli in South Kordofan, after the rebel movement reported that the Sudanese army attacked its position in the area on Tuesday. The attack violates their unilateral ceasefire and terms drawn-up for the lifting of US sanctions against Sudan.
The fighting took place in El Mashayesh, 35 kilometers west of Kadugli, the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) spokesman Brig. Ahmed Khalifa El Shami reported to the Sudanese News Agency. In a press statement the spokesman of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) accused the Sudanese army and allied militias to have launched their dry season offensive against their forces at Krongo Abdalla area, at around 6am on Tuesday.
Brig. El Shami said that the rebel movement has managed “to provoke the government to carry out reactions that affect its international pledges and commitments”. Meanwhile the SPLM-N spokesman said: “The area of the offensive is heavily inhabited by civilian population. We warned the Sudanese government from using their air force against the civilian population.”
The Sudanese army launched its first offensive against the SPLM-N in South Kordofan in June 2011, which affected tens of thousands of civilians in the Nuba Mountains. A renewed offensive would be a violation of the terms that the Obama administration stipulated in its recent decision to partially lift the United States' economic sanctions against Sudan. The sanctions lifting will commence after a six months reviewing period, if Khartoum complies to two conditions: improvement in humanitarian access and an end to military offensives in Darfur, Blue Nile, and South Kordofan.
♦ Deadline to vacate South Darfur camp centre extended
February 20 – 2017 OTASH CAMP The Governor of South Darfur has extended the deadline for the evacuation of Centre 4 of the Otash camp for the displaced for another two weeks. About 520 families will have to leave their shelters.
Radio Dabanga reported on Friday that the South Darfur authorities had given the inhabitants of Centre 4 less than a week to vacate it before it would be dismantled.
The spokesman for the Darfur Displaced and Refugees Association, Hussein Abusharati, told this station that 14,000 displaced would have to leave their shelters. This number was corrected however by the head of Centre 4, Sheikh Hassan Suleiman, on Sunday. He said that about 520 families will have to vacate the area.
The Commissioner of Nyala North locality, Ismail Yahya, told Radio Dabanga on Sunday that in a meeting with Governor Adam El Faki, the displaced agreed to move to a new location allocated by the state. The land of Centre 4 is one of the 19 schools to be built based on a grant from the World Bank, under the supervision of the federal Ministry of Education, the commissioner explained.
Sheikh Suleiman responded that the school to be built is quite small compared to the now inhabited area. “We have asked all visitors last week, the South Darfur authorities, members of the state Humanitarian Aid Commission, security agents, as well as Unamid officials, why the entire Centre 4 has to be vacated. No one could give us a convincing answer.”
Other highlights from Radio Dabanga:
Famine strikes, say South Sudan and aid agencies
February 21 – 2017 JUBA The South Sudanese government and humanitarian agencies have declared a famine in parts of the country. The international children's charity Save the Children warned that more than one million children risk starvation, as a famine is declared in Unity state. A further one million people in…
UN allocates $21 million for humanitarian aid in Sudan
February 20 – 2017 KHARTOUM Through the Sudan Humanitarian Fund, the UN has allocated $21 million to help thousands of people in need of humanitarian assistance across Sudan in 2017. Global financial support for humanitarian work in Sudan however, is expected to drop this year, despite improved aid access and the…
Sudanese journalists condemn Islamist preacher’s attack on colleague
February 19 – 2017 KHARTOUM Journalists in Sudan have denounced the attack on one of their colleagues, Shamayel El Nour, by a radical preacher in his sermon on Friday. Islamist preacher Mohamed Ali El Jazouli accused Shamael El Nour…
20 ‘watery diarrhoea’ cases reported in northern Sudan
February 19 – 2017 DONGOLA The medical director of the Dongola Specialist Hospital in northern Sudan reports that the hospital admitted 20 cases of watery diarrhoea last week. On Thursday, Dr Moataz El Amin said in a press statement that the…
Now 300k+ South Sudanese refugees in Sudan: UNHCR
February 17 – 2017 KHARTOUM The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has determined that there are now more than 300,000 South Sudanese refugees in Sudan. In its weekly humanitarian bulletin, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that according to the UNHCR, the number of South Sudanese refugees…
North Darfur capital tense as army, militias clash
February 16 – 2017 EL FASHER Armoured military vehicles, troops, and police are patrolling the streets of the El Fasher tonight following violent clashes that erupted between combined government forces and militiamen from an unnamed armed group at El Borsa exchange market today…
Health, water crisis spreads disease in Darfur camps
February 15 – 2017 KASS / TAWILA The camps for the displaced in Kass locality in South Darfur and Tawila in North Darfur are experiencing a severe shortage of health and water services, which is leading to a deterioration in the environment. Abdelrahman Abdullah Mohammed, the head Sheikh of the camps in…
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