Latest news with #Darfur
Yahoo
25 minutes ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
UN working for ceasefire in besieged Sudan city
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Friday he has been in contact with the warring sides in Sudan to try to reach a ceasefire in the besieged and starving city of El-Fasher. Sudan's army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan has agreed in principle to such a humanitarian pause, his ruling Transitional Council said. But the opposing paramilitary side, led by al-Burhan's erstwhile deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, said it had received no truce proposal. Since April 2023, the army has been at war with Daglo's Rapid Support Forces, killing tens of thousands and tearing Africa's third-largest country in two. In the latest violence, paramilitary shelling of El-Fasher on Friday killed 13 people including three children, a medical source told AFP. Another 21 were injured. In a telephone conversation with al-Burhan, Guterres called for a weeklong ceasefire in El-Fasher to allow humanitarian aid to be delivered to civilians, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. The city has been besieged by the RSF for more than a year. "We are making contacts with both sides with that objective," Guterres told reporters. "We have a dramatic situation in El- Fasher," he said. "The people are starving in an extremely difficult situation, so we need to have an amount of time of truce for aid to be distributed, and you need to have it agreed with some days in advance to prepare a massive delivery in the El-Fasher." "I have a positive answer from General Burhan, and I am hopeful that both sides will understand how vital it is to avoid the catastrophe that we are witnessing in El-Fasher," he said. In a statement, the council that al-Burhan oversees said he had agreed to the truce proposal. But an RSF source told AFP Friday the paramilitary group had not received a ceasefire proposal. The RSF conquered nearly all of the vast western region of Darfur in the early months of the war, but has been unable to seize North Darfur state capital El-Fasher despite besieging the city for over a year. The UN has repeatedly warned of civilians trapped in the city with nearly no aid allowed in, and families forced to survive by eating leaves and peanut shells. At a Security Council meeting on Sudan on Friday, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Africa Martha Pobee suggested humanitarian pauses might be applied to other places in Sudan. "We are pursuing a predictable and time-bound humanitarian pause to facilitate safe humanitarian movements into and out of areas affected by ongoing fighting, beginning with El-Fasher, and allow civilians to leave voluntarily and securely," she said. Civilians report soaring prices and nearly all health facilities forced to shut due to fighting. A World Food Programme facility inside El-Fasher was damaged by repeated RSF shelling last month, and in early June five aid workers were killed in an attack on a UN convoy seeking to supply the city. The paramilitary has repeatedly attacked the city and its surrounding famine-hit displacement camps, killing hundreds of civilians and driving out hundreds of thousands of already displaced people. bur-abd/dw/acb
LBCI
6 hours ago
- LBCI
Thirteen killed, including three children, in Sudan paramilitary strikes on Darfur city: AFP
Paramilitary shelling of the besieged Darfur city of El-Fasher in western Sudan killed 13 people, including 3 children, on Friday, a medical source told AFP on condition of anonymity for their safety. "Another 21 people were injured due to the artillery shelling from the Rapid Support militia," the source said, referring to the Rapid Support Forces, at war with the regular army since April 2023. AFP
Arab News
12 hours ago
- Politics
- Arab News
13 killed including 3 children in Sudan paramilitary strikes in Darfur
KHARTOUM: Paramilitary shelling of the besieged Darfur city of El-Fasher in western Sudan killed 13 people including 3 children on Friday, a medical source told AFP as the United Nations announced it was seeking to secure a humanitarian pause in the city.'Another 21 people were injured due to the artillery shelling from the Rapid Support militia,' the source said, referring to the Rapid Support Forces, at war with the regular army since April RSF has besieged the North Darfur state capital since May of last year and has launched repeated attacks in an attempt to seize the city of an estimated million strike came hours after Sudan's ruling Transitional Sovereignty Council said army chief Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan's office had agreed in a phone call with UN chief Antonio Guterres to a 'week-long humanitarian truce in El-Fasher to support UN efforts and facilitate aid access to thousands of besieged civilians.'Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Friday said 'we are making contacts with both sides with that objective.'The UN has repeatedly warned of the plight of trapped civilians in the city, where hunger has pushed families to survive on eating leaves and peanut shells as nearly no aid is allowed report soaring prices and a near-total absence of health facilities, nearly all of which have been forced shut by the fighting.A World Food Programme facility inside El-Fasher was damaged from repeated RSF shelling last month, and in early June five aid workers were killed in an attack on a UN convoy seeking to supply the paramilitary has repeatedly attacked the city and its surrounding famine-hit displacement camps, killing hundreds of civilians and pushing hundreds of thousands of already displaced people to has described the situation as 'hell on earth' for at least 825,000 children trapped in and around RSF conquered nearly all of the vast western region of Darfur in the early months of the war, but has been unable to seize North Darfur state capital El-Fasher despite besieging the city for over a RSF source told AFP Friday the paramilitary had not received a ceasefire sources say an official famine declaration is impossible given the lack of access to data, but mass starvation has already taken hold of the a million people are on the brink of famine in North Darfur, according to the latest available UN the 10 million people currently internally displaced in Sudan — the world's largest displacement crisis — nearly 20 percent are in North Darfur.
Globe and Mail
18 hours ago
- Health
- Globe and Mail
Sudanese refugees brace for a new threat to life and limb
Arbab Sharif Ahmad, 33, survived a massacre during an ethnic cleansing campaign, but his five-year-old son was executed in front of him. As Mr. Ahmad fled from the Arab-led Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in El Geneina, the capital of West Darfur in Sudan, a bullet shattered his knee. Over a year later, he lies in agony on the dirt floor of a makeshift hut in the remote Farchana refugee camp in eastern Chad, unable to walk properly and still awaiting surgery. 'One of my daughters, when she sees my injured leg or the crutches, she becomes scared and doesn't want to come near me,' he explains, adding that he now spends most of his days hiding inside his hut to avoid frightening her. Mr. Ahmad's story is echoed throughout Sector P1 of the new Farchana camp – known locally as the 'wounded sector'– which houses around 250 households of injured Sudanese refugees, most from the Masalit ethnic group. These families represent only a fraction of the more than 17,000 Sudanese refugees in Chad living with disabilities or severe medical conditions, according to the United Nations Refugee Agency. For those who barely escaped the RSF, survival in Chad presents a new ordeal. The country's fragile health care system is overwhelmed by what humanitarian agencies now call the world's largest humanitarian disaster. Refugees with serious injuries are going without treatment. But the crisis is expected to worsen as critical healthcare programs face discontinuation. To support Chadian hospitals, the World Health Organization (WHO) and Doctors Without Borders (MSF) have brought in foreign surgeons, mainly from other African nations, says Dr. Blanche Anya, the WHO's representative in Chad. 'WHO funded emergency medical teams to provide care for the people that were wounded. But this is very expensive, so we cannot sustain it,' she says, noting that funding for the surgical teams is only guaranteed through June. Dr. Anya cites broader geopolitical forces that have worsened the crisis. U.S. President Donald Trump's withdrawal from the WHO, suspension of foreign aid and dissolution of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) have collectively drained critical resources. While U.S. contributions represent less than 10 per cent of WHO's Chad budget, according to Dr. Anya, she says they have a disproportionate impact on key programs such as maternal care and polio eradication, where the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also provided personnel. The cuts also affect NGOs working with WHO to deliver essential health services. '[If] those NGOs that were supported by the U.S. government do not have the capacity to continue providing health services, of course, this will have a big impact on lives and increase mortality,' she says, adding that a large part of the population will lose access to health services. 'The type of population that will be most affected will be the vulnerable population, children, women.' According to Dr. Anya, WHO Chad is now seeking alternative funding while also drafting a list that ranks programs by priority to determine which can be maintained and which may need to be cut. The RSF and the Sudanese Armed Forces have been at war since April 2023. It's a conflict that has displaced millions of people, killed thousands and seen famines declared in parts of the country. In January, then-U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken classified the RSF's actions in Sudan as genocide. Survivors describe targeted killings of Masalit and non-Arab civilians by the RSF during their ongoing campaign of ethnic cleansing in West Darfur. Those who remained behind have reportedly been forced to renounce their ethnic identity and identify as Arab. 'They are targeting people based on race. If you are Black, they will just kill you,' says Ayub Abdallah, 25, who was shot and stabbed seven times while fleeing the city of El Geneina in West Darfur. Khalil Ahmad Khalil, 30, was shot in the leg by RSF militants inside his home. One and a half years after fleeing to Chad, his leg remains fractured in the shin, essentially split into two pieces. Doctors told Mr. Khalil he needs surgery, but they lack the capacity to perform it. 'You can see it's not fixed. It just moves,' he says, pointing to the exposed bone beneath tattered dressings. 'I am suffering from a lot of pain . . . I stopped going to the doctors because, unfortunately, I've lost hope.' Jumah Bakhit, 31, the chief of the camp's P1 sector, warns that if more time passes, many cases will become untreatable, noting that some refugees have already died due to lack of care. In Farchana camp, the only health care facility is a small primary care clinic run by the International Rescue Committee (IRC). According to a USAID Chad report, the NGO received US$5.3-million in 2024 from the U.S. State Department's Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration for its operations in Chad. But even that hasn't been enough. In a statement to The Globe and Mail, IRC confirmed that the clinic had experienced staff shortages in the past. Meanwhile, the organization in Sudan continues to face challenges related to qualified human resources, adequate infrastructure and the supply of drugs, consumables and other medical supplies. Patients with serious conditions are supposed to be referred to hospitals in nearby Adré or the city of Abéché. But in practice, many wait months without transfer, and even then, appropriate care is often unavailable. Kaltouma Khamis Arbab, 56, still has metal rods in her leg from a bullet wound that shattered the bones. The surgical hardware should have been removed months ago. She was told that the only facility capable of performing the procedure is in N'Djamena, Chad's capital 865 kilometres away by road – a trip she cannot afford physically or financially. 'This iron has been in my body for 13 months. It should have been removed last August,' she says. 'If nothing happens, we will try to remove it ourselves.' The risks in the camps extend far beyond lack of surgical care. According to Dr. Anya, the camps face continuous outbreaks of diseases such as measles, hepatitis E, malaria and yellow fever – driven by a combination of overcrowding, poor sanitation, malnutrition, limited access to clean water and the constant arrival of new refugees. Dr. Anya noted that the U.S. aid suspension would lead to a reduction in services and medical supplies, increasing the risk of disease transmission and higher mortality rates. 'The crisis is continuing, and resources are becoming very rare,' she says. For now, the wounded and sick are left waiting.
The National
2 days ago
- Politics
- The National
RSF leader and army-backed PM offer conflicting narratives for war-torn Sudan
Addressing the nation, the commander of Sudan 's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the new army-backed Prime Minister painted a contrasting picture of a country that has effectively been partitioned. The RSF and the army have been at war since April 2023. The conflict has killed tens of thousands and displaced more than 13 million while leaving millions facing acute hunger or, in growing numbers, famine. RSF commander Gen Mohamed Dagalo and Prime Minister Kamil Idris spoke at about the same time one evening last week. Their styles and the content of their speeches highlighted a divided nation. The army, led by Gen Abdel Fattah Al Burhan, controls the capital Khartoum, as well as the northern, eastern and central regions of the vast Afro-Arab nation. The RSF, whose forerunner is a notorious militia known as the Janjaweed, controls the entire western Darfur region, except for one city held by the army, and parts of Kordofan to the south-west. The army and its allies have yet to make a concerted effort to retake Darfur and Kordofan from the RSF, where it maintains the bulk of its forces and has allies among powerful rebel groups. Gen Dagalo is a one-time cattle trader and Janjaweed fighter who rose to national prominence through the patronage of former dictator Omar Al Bashir. In contrast, Mr Idris is a former UN diplomat educated in Switzerland, Egypt and the US, as well as his native Sudan. RSF view In desert camouflage, Gen Dagalo told hundreds of his fighters that the army and its allies were nothing more than criminal gangs of thieves. He also repeated his long-standing charge that Gen Al Burhan was relying on Islamists loyal to the toppled regime of Al Bashir. Standing on the back of an all-terrain vehicle at an unspecified site in Darfur, Gen Dagalo appeared to underscore the de facto partition of Sudan, speaking of the region in terms more akin to an independent nation rather than an integral part of Sudan. The RSF's administration of Darfur – by far the worst-affected area of Sudan in terms of hunger and famine – would achieve self-sufficiency in food following the rainy season, he said. The RSF, he added, would also secure international humanitarian assistance for Darfur's ethnically diverse residents. He did not elaborate. Gen Dagalo sought to portray the RSF as a protector of the country. He spoke of the paramilitary's role in safeguarding Sudan's northern border after his fighters recently seized the area where the borders of Egypt, Sudan and Libya converge, with Chad's a short distance to the west. "If our control of the border triangle has not benefited our neighbours, at least it has brought them no harm," he said. "The triangle and the desert are a bastion of corruption, smuggling, terrorism and illegal migration," Gen Dagalo told his fighters. Sudanese political analyst Osman Fadlallah said the speech "transcended the language of war to become presidential-like". He added: "Dagalo is proceeding with growing confidence in presenting himself as a substitute to rule Sudan, or at least to enshrine a parallel role in areas under RSF control." Army view In sharply contrasting style, Mr Idris, in a dark business suit and tie, delivered his speech at a studio, using a prompter to paint a rosy picture of the future of the resource-rich but impoverished nation under his stewardship. He said his government would end nepotism and operate based on justice, transparency and rule of law, said Mr Idris, whose inaugural address to the nation last month included segments directed at the West that he delivered in English, French and Spanish. He called on top experts and professionals who want a place in his cabinet to send him their biographies through a social media address he said he would later publicise. "It will be called 'the government of hope'," he declared, and it would strive to achieve security, prosperity and a life with dignity for the Sudanese. Nearly a month after he was appointed Prime Minister, only two positions in his proposed cabinet of 22 have been filled: the interior and defence portfolios, whose occupants are traditionally picked by the military. "The government of hope is a fragile and elitist project," said Mr Fadlallah. "Idris seeks to formulate a new reality that's immune to the present situation, while Dagalo wants to enshrine the outcome of the war thus far." Sudan, a nation of 50 million, has been plagued by a series of civil wars and economic crises since its independence in 1956. Compounding its woes have been frequent military coups, ushering in authoritarian regimes invariably toppled by uprisings brought brief spells of democratic government. The current civil war in Sudan is, in large part, a continuation of that pattern. Gen Al Burhan and Gen Dagalo together staged a coup in 2021 that removed the transitional government that followed Al Bashir's downfall in 2019. The coup derailed the nation's shift to democratic rule and drew international sanctions that battered the economy, just as it was showing signs of recovery, albeit slowly. Differences between the two generals over the role of the army and the RSF in a democratic Sudan grew ominously tense in 2022 before violence broke out in April 2023. Both the army and the RSF are accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity during their war.
