♦ This week’s news in brief ♦

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

♦ 12,500 RSF militiamen to force arms collection in North Darfur

October 16 – 2017 EL FASHER A new contingent of 2,500 members of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia has arrived in the North Darfur capital of El Fasher to assist with the forced collection of weapons and vehicle control. The new contingent reinforces the 10,000 RSF soldiers who were deployed to the state last week.

The commissioner in El Fasher said that this force will be entrusted with inspections and raids which will be organised throughout the city and the countryside in the coming days according to the directives of the State Security Committee. The deadline for people to voluntarily hand in their weapons ends on Thursday.

Yesterday the governors of South and East Darfur said that the forced collection of weapons has resulted in the seizure of a number of heavy weapons from civilians and militiamen, including machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades.

In August, the Sudanese government launched a large-scale campaign to disarm civilians and collect illegal weapons and vehicles in Darfur and states of Kordofan, in its attempt to improve the security and stability in these regions. The campaign, which has entered the stage of the compulsory collection of weapons by the Sudanese military and security forces, finds support from the United States. However the compulsory arms collection is feared to lead to new conflict and internal fighting between militias in Darfur.

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♦ 'Two refugees killed in human traffickers' gunfight': Police

October 13 – 2017 KASSALA Two Eritrean refugees were killed in Kassala in eastern Sudan, in a gunfight between human traffickers and a joint state security force last week. The incident occurred in southern El Sawaqi area on 11 October. The head of police in Kassala, Maj. Gen. Yahya El Hadi Suleiman, said at a news conference that the security force released 20 of the hostages who were being held by an armed gang of human traffickers at El Sawaqi “for weeks”. One of the gang members was wounded and has been transferred to the hospital in Kassala, the police chief reported.

The attorney-general in Kassala has instructed the prosecution in Kassala to quickly address and scrutinise investigations and interrogations into cases of human trafficking on Thursday. The United Popular Front for Liberation and Justice has accused the Sudanese parliament of refraining from authorising deterrent laws that combat the crime of smuggling and human trafficking. “Instead the government is returning the abductees to their country, which contravenes the international laws of refugees.”

The opposition group referred to the deportations of more than 100 Eritreans, from their detention in Sudan back to Eritrea in August and September. The United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) then said that “the forcible return of refugees to their country of origin is a serious violation of international refugee law”. The US State Department has again included the name of the Sudan in its ‘Tier 3’, the list of countries the US accuses of being reluctant to combat human trafficking within its borders, on 30 September.

More news from Radio Dabanga:

October 17 – 2017 ED DAEIN / KASSALA / DELLING East Darfur has seen a surge in malaria cases. The hospital in the state capital receives between 50 to 70 cases each day…
 

October 17 – 2017 KEREINIK / EL GENEINA The attack on three women farmers in Kereinik locality, West Darfur, has raised calls for the arrest of the perpetrators and the collection…
 

October 16 – 2017 ED DAEIN The number of South Sudanese refugees in East Darfur now exceeds 110,000, and the flow is expected to increase, according to Ibrahim Musa Ali, the Humanitarian…
 

October 16 – 2017 KHARTOUM The allegations of sexual misconduct against a Sudanese diplomat previously stationed at the United Nations in New York, represent a serious blow to Sudanese diplomacy…
 

October 16 – 2017 KHARTOUM The Sudanese National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) confiscated the print run of Al Jarida newspaper on Saturday, apparently after the paper carries a critical…
 

October 15 – 2017 PARIS On Friday the leadership council of the Sudanese Revolutionary Front unanimously elected the leader of the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) Arko Minni Minawi as a head…
 

October 13 – 2017 KHARTOUM For the third time this week a politician was prevented from travelling from Khartoum Airport, on Wednesday evening…
 

October 13 – 2017 KASSALA Two Eritrean refugees were killed in Kassala in eastern Sudan, in a gunfight between human traffickers and a joint state security force on Wednesday..
 

October 12 – 2017 KHARTOUM Sudan’s Transport Minister Makkawi Mohammed Awad said his Ministry is planning to recover aircraft and train spare parts confiscated in 1997 in connection with the implementation…
 

October 12 – 2017 KHARTOUM The exchange rate on the parallel markets of Khartoum once again exceeded the SDG 20 mark, less than a week after a slight recovery following the US decision to lift economic sanctions…
 

October 11 – 2017 EN NAHUD The students of the University of West Kordofan in En Nahud have set a deadline until the end of next Thursday for the university administration to identify those responsible for the shooting that wounded 18…