♦ This week’s news in brief ♦

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

♦ Cholera kills 14 in West Darfur camp, halts in Sennar

August 7 – 2017 MURNEI / EL FASHER / TOKAR / SENNAR One cholera patient died and 39 new cases were reported in Darfur over the weekend. Last week 14 people died of cholera in Murnei camp in West Darfur, where the isolation centre received 25 new cholera patients on Saturday. Local sources have attributed the cause of the increased infection rate mostly to a lack of potable water and unawareness of camp residents and officials.

A North Darfur locality recorded four deaths in a couple of days. A state public health specialist, Esam Osman Zakaria, resigned from the Ministry of Health in protest against the government’s silence on cholera. “Because of misty reports on 'watery diarrhoea' in Kabkabiya, the cover up and non-response to the demands of the medical teams that have been sent to the area,” he told Radio Dabanga.

In Tokar, in the eastern Red Sea state, two people died of cholera last week. The total number of deaths has risen to five and more than 100 infections in a week's time. A journalist reported to this station that most of the infections in Tokar originate from the districts surrounding the town, which are overcrowded and lack clean water and toilets.

In eastern Sudan’s Sennar, the spread of the infectious disease seems to be halted. Cholera has been ravaging in a number of localities but isolation centres in El Dindir, El Souki, and Singa witnessed a remarkable decrease in infection rates in the past few days.

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♦ First warning in Darfur's illegal arms, vehicle collection
August 8 – 2017 EL FASHER The five governors of Darfur and the Second Vice-President of Sudan issued a warning to people who possess weapons illegally, or unlicensed vehicles, to hand them over to the Sudanese army and police or risk a penalty. Complaints arose over the government targeting civilians, instead of militia members.

The first meeting of the Higher Commission for the Collection of Unlicensed Firearms and Vehicle took place this week to implement the disarmament campaign in Darfur. Only owners of unregistered Land Cruisers will be compensated for the confiscation as of Monday, Second Vice-President Hassabo Mohamed Abdelrahman said. Specific measures are established for the many segments of the paramilitary Border Guards, Popular Defence Forces, Rapid Support Forces and Central Reserve Forces. The holding of weapons will be restricted to the regular forces, initially in Darfur and Kordofan but eventually in all states of the country.

Representatives of displaced people and activists in Darfur have ridiculed the government's decision to collect weapons. “This campaign should collect arms from the hands of the government’s militias, not from civilians,” an activist told Radio Dabanga, claiming that all illegal weapons in Darfur are in the hands of militiamen. Some complained that the ones who own a Land Cruiser with a machine gun mounted on top are often the bandits who roam the markets carrying weapons and exercise banditry.

More news from Radio Dabanga:

Severe weather kills seven in Sudan capital

August 6 – 2017 KHARTOUM At least seven people died during rain storms that hit Khartoum state on Thursday night…

Demands to treat miners with cholera outside of Northern State town

August 4 – 2017 DELGO The number of gold miners who contracted cholera in the last week has overloaded the Hospital of Delgo in Northern State. Members of local Popular Committees…

'90 Sudanese fighting for IS': report

August 4 – 2017 KHARTOUM The number of Sudanese enrolled in the Islamic State (Da'esh) is recorded at 90 people, including 50 in Syria and Iraq and 40 in Libya. An estimated 70 Sudanese…

El Hilu’s SPLM-N faction declares six-month unilateral cease fire

August 3 – 2017 NUBA MOUNTAINS The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) faction led by Lt. Gen Abdelaziz El Hilu has declared a six-month unilateral cessation of…

Khartoum police chief: ‘Social media panic prompts kidnapping reports’

August 2 – 2017 KHARTOUM The police chief of Sudan’s Khartoum state says that 17 cases of kidnapping have been filed over the last two weeks ‘as a result of the panic of residents reacting…