♦ This week’s news in brief ♦

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

♦ Cholera: Dead, infections in eastern Sudan's El Gedaref

March 21 – 2017 EL GALLABAT More than 47 people have been infected with cholera in El Gallabat locality in eastern Sudan, between Friday and Monday. A patient succumbed to the disease on Thursday.

The woman died in El Jinan, El Gallabat West locality, where three people were also infected with the disease. A source in the health sector of El Gedaref state reported that from Friday to Monday, 30 cases of cholera were reported in El Saraf El Ahmer, and more than seventeen cases in El Mahalla; both in El Gallabat locality. There have been no deaths among the newly infected people, he told Radio Dabanga.

Another two cases emerged in El Saboni in El Gallabat on Thursday, after a hospital received three infected people in El Gallabat East on Wednesday. On Monday, state health authorities deployed teams of doctors and nurses to the affected areas in an attempt to curb the spreading of infections.

The first week of March showed a slight decrease in the number of cholera infections in El Gedaref, although a child died of cholera in El Gallabat East.

“Infection rates will be growing in the coming rainy season if the Ministry continues to ignore its outbreak,” a health source predicted last month. Starting the prevalence of cholera infections in parts of eastern Sudan and El Gezira seven months ago, the Sudanese Health Ministry has persisted in calling the disease 'acute watery diarrhoea' instead of cholera.

♦ Pupil dies, 48 wounded in traffic in Darfur

March 20 – 2017 ROKORO / NYALA A traffic accident claimed the life of a pupil and caused injuries to 48 other children in central Jebel Marra on Saturday, as they were being relocated to the school exam location.

A convoy of vehicles carried 976 pupils from Rokoro to Zalingei locality so they could safely partake in the Sudanese certificate exams, which started this week. One of the vehicles suffered a sudden malfunction because of the rugged road, a teacher reported, leading it to overturn and land upside down. The accident resulted in the death of one of the children. 48 pupils, including several in a critical condition, were transferred to Nyala hospital. Six children remained in the hospital for treatment on Monday.

People in central Jebel Marra are reportedly “in shock” by the news, the teacher told Radio Dabanga. Each March, basic and secondary school children participate in Sudan's examinations, and schools in the conflict areas of Jebel Marra usually transfer their pupils to localities in South or Central Darfur for the duration of the examination period. For example 2,100 pupils were transferred from Deribat to Nyala because of the worsening security situation, an education official told Radio Dabanga. The Jebel Marra Mountains span North, Central and South Darfur, and last year were the scene of clashes between government forces and a rebel faction, displacing tens of thousands of people.

More highlights from Radio Dabanga:

USAID, WFP receive aid shipments for South Sudan

March 20 – 2017 PORT SUDAN The American Chargé d'Affaires to Sudan appealed to armed movements in Sudan to allow the private delivery of humanitarian aid in South Kordofan and Blue Nile states. A large shipment of aid…

SPLM-N deputy chairman resigns

March 20 – 2017 SUDAN Deputy chairman of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) Abdelaziz El Hilu resigned from the rebel group on Friday. The chairman has denied that the resignation results from changes…

Darfur prosecutor: 35 rapes reported thus far in 2017

March 19 – 2017 DARFUR Darfur Criminal Prosecutor, El Fatih Tayfur has revealed registering 35 complaints for cases of rape in Darfur during the first two and a half months of this year. In a press statement, Yayfur said that most of the other crimes…

‘Sudanese partners open to dialogue on religious diversity’: EU envoy

March 18 – 2017 KHARTOUM Jan Figel, Special Envoy for the Promotion of Freedom of Religion or Belief outside the European Union, who visited Sudan from the March 14 to 17, says that the exchanges he had during his…

Central Darfur bandits rob shoppers, one wounded

March 17 – 2017 NIERTETI Gunmen attacked a group of people east of Nierteti in Central Darfur on Thursday. Several sustained injuries. The attackers, riding on horses and camels, attacked the people as they were on their way…

SPLM-N head: ‘Are chemical weapons allegations being ignored in Sudan?’

March 16 – 2017 SUDAN Yasir Arman, Secretary-General of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), has issued a statement asking whether allegations by Amnesty International on the usage of chemical weapons…

Three violent deaths in South Kordofan

March 16 – 2017 KADUGLI Three people have been killed and others wounded in separate incidents at El Hijeirat west of Kadugli over the past three weeks. Callers told Radio Dabanga that the area west of Alaunams has seen…

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