Tag: Sudan

North Africa
libya

Libya expels aid groups amid xenophobic backlash

Libya’s Tripoli-based Government of National Unity (one of two rival governments) has accused aid groups of planning to settle African migrants in the country, to “change the demographic composition of the country” and threaten “the balance of Libyan society.” The government reportedly has ordered them to stop work. There are more than 824,000 refugees and migrants in Libya, and more than 240,000 Sudanese refugees have arrived in the country since the civil war broke out in Sudan two years ago. (Map: Perry-Castañeda Library)

Africa
Sudan

Internationalization of South Sudan conflict seen

Amnesty International expressed concern over ongoing violations of international human rights law in South Sudan amid escalating violence from both internal and cross-border actors. Reports indicate mounting attacks on civilians, political repression, and increasing risk of a wider war. The Uganda People’s Defense Forces (UPDF) has confirmed the deployment of special forces in South Sudan to support President Salva Kiir, citing “growing insecurity in the country.” Amnesty said Uganda may have violated the 2018 UN Security Council arms embargo by entering South Sudan with armored units. Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) also fought a two-day battle near the border in Upper Nile state against the Sudan People’s Liberation Army in Opposition (SPLA-IO), the South Sudanese faction led by Vice President Riek Machar, who has now been placed under arrest. (Map via PCL)

Africa
Darfur

Sudan sues UAE for complicity in Darfur genocide

Sudan instituted proceedings against the United Arab Emirates (UAE) before the International Court of Justice, charging that the UAE has directly supported the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and its associated militia in West Darfur state, violating the Genocide Convention. Sudan’s claim is based on weapons seized by the Sudanese Armed Forces in active war zones. Sudanese forces reportedly discovered several passports of Emirati nationals inside armored personnel carriers and 4×4 combat vehicles that originated in the UAE. According to Sudan, this reveals illegal military and logistical support that has allowed the RSF to commit genocidal acts in West Darfur, including the killings of civilians, and the deprivation of access to medical care and basic necessities. (Map via Radio Tamazuj)

Africa
wagner group

Wagner-trained forces commit atrocities in CAR

A UN report finds that armed groups operating in the Haut Oubangui region of the Central African Republic (CAR) have been carrying out attacks against Muslim communities and Sudanese refugees, resulting in grave human rights violations. The report, prepared jointly by the UN Human Rights Office and the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA), mainly attributes these attacks to Wagner Ti Azande (WTA), a militia affiliated with the national army. The WTA received training last year from the Russian private military company Wagner Group, from whom it takes its name. (Photo of CAR troops wearing the Wagner Group insignia via Corbeau News Centrafrique)

Africa
Gezira

Sudan’s army advances, abuses multiply

The Sudanese army appears close to retaking the capital city Khartoum from the paramilitary-turned-rebel Rapid Support Forces (RSF) as momentum continues to swing in its favor following nearly two years of conflict. Reports suggest the army has been advancing on multiple fronts, having broken a bruising siege on its Khartoum headquarters last month. It has also won back significant territory in other parts of central Sudan, including Gezira state. Military control, however, has come at a significant cost, with the UN reporting that soldiers and allied militia have been carrying out summary executions of civilians they accuse of being RSF collaborators. Workers in self-organized “mutual aid” groups—the backbone of the humanitarian response in Sudan—have also been targeted in the reprisals. (Map: Sudan War Monitor)

Africa
Sudan

Sudan: US holds RSF responsible for ‘genocide’

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken declared that Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and allied militias have committed genocide during the country’s ongoing civil war. This would mark the second genocide Sudan has seen in less than three decades, following the Darfur genocide of the early 2000s. Blinken’s statement outlined atrocities perpetrated by the RSF, including ethnically targeted massacres of men, boys and infants, as well as widespread sexual violence inflicted upon women and girls. In tandem with the genocide determination, the US imposed sanctions on RSF leader Mohammad Hamdan Daglo Mousa, also known as Hemedti, and seven RSF-linked companies based in the UAE. Hemedti, a former leader of the Janjaweed militia responsible for the Darfur genocide, faces visa restrictions barring him and his immediate family from entering the US. The sanctions also target the RSF’s alleged smuggling of gold to fund operations. (Map: PCL)

Africa
Fasher

Sudan: escalating humanitarian crisis in El Fasher

The United Nations raised alarms over the worsening humanitarian situation in El Fasher, capital of Sudan’s North Darfur state, where a months-long siege by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has devastated lives and infrastructure. According to the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) report, more than 782 civilians have been killed and 1,143 injured since May 2024, with thousands more trapped in the city. Testimonies gathered by the OHCHR reveal the indiscriminate nature of the attacks, including the deliberate targeting of civilian areas and healthcare facilities. Accounts from survivors depict a city under constant bombardment, with residents forced to abandon their homes amid extensive looting and violence by RSF forces. (Photo: Shaqra Emergency Response Room via TNH)

Africa
Sudan

Sudan: worst humanitarian crisis ever recorded

The International Rescue Committee declared that Sudan is currently experiencing the worst humanitarian crisis ever recorded. The report states that approximately 30.4 million people—over half of Sudan’s population—are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance, a staggering figure that accounts for 10% of all people globally requiring aid, despite Sudan representing less than 1% of the world’s population. Health services have been critically impacted, with more than 70% of healthcare facilities nonfunctional and widespread outbreaks of diseases like cholera and malaria threatening already vulnerable populations.(Map: PCL)

Africa
El Fasher

Russia vetoes UN resolution on Sudan ceasefire

Russia vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution aimed at protecting civilians in Sudan amid the country’s ongoing conflict. The resolution, which called on the warring factions to cease hostilities and engage in dialogue in good faith, was blocked despite widespread support—including from China, which frequently votes in a bloc with Russia. Introduced by the United Kingdom and Sierra Leone, the draft resolution demanded that the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) honor and fully implement their pledges in the “Declaration of Commitment to Protect the Civilians of Sudan,” which was signed by both sides in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in May 2023. Russia said the resolution did not sufficiently respect Sudan’s sovereignty in justifying its veto, which was assailed by international human rights organizations. Sudan’s government rejected the resolution for failing to condemn the United Arab Emirates for backing the RSF—an accusation the UAE has consistently denied. (Photo: Roman Deckert via Wikimedia Commons)

Africa
Sudan

Sudan war drives continued refugee exodus: UN

The war in Sudan is driving continued refugee flight, leading to a deepening humanitarian crisis in the greater region, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported. The agency said that more than 3 million people have fled Sudan, seeking safety in neighboring countries, since the war began in April 2023. The refugees are faced with challenges of food shortages and continued rights violations such as killings, sexual violence and looting, as well as natural disasters such as flooding. In October, around 60,000 Sudanese escaping the escalated fighting in Darfur arrived in Chad, which is facing a resource shortage due to its increasing refugee population, now at over 1.1 million. The refugees there face an overwhelmed healthcare system, scarce food, and no education for their children who have already been out of school for two years. (Map: PCL)

Africa
Gezira

New atrocities by RSF reported in Sudan’s Gezira

Brutal attacks by the Rapid Support Forces on villages and towns in Sudan’s Gezira state, south of Khartoum, have displaced around 120,000 people over the past two weeks, resembling the kind of violence used by the paramilitary group in the Darfur region beginning last year. The attacks were triggered by the defection to the army of the RSF’s top commander in Gezira, Abu Aqla Kayka; villages under his control were reportedly targeted. The UN said the attacks left at least 124 people dead and resulted in more than 27 women and girls being raped, though these numbers are likely a massive undercount given survivor testimonies, activist reports, and videos that show rows of bodies wrapped in shrouds. The attacks are among the worst to take place in Gezira since the RSF took over the state in December 2023. The state is considered the country’s breadbasket, but farmers have been forced to flee and cropland has been deliberately burnt. (Map: Sudan War Monitor)

Africa
Darfur

Sudan: Fur leaders reject RSF-backed ’emirate’

Leaders and activists from the Fur people in Sudan’s Central Darfur state voiced their rejection of the Rapid Support Forces’ establishment of a new “emirate” in the ethnicity’s traditional territory for an Arab group that has migrated from the neighboring Central African Republic. They warned of an agenda of demographic change and the empowerment of outside groups at the expense of the indigenous population. The response came after platforms affiliated with the RSF published a video of a celebration held by a group called “Awlad Baraka & Mubarak,” marking the establishment of the “emirate.” RSF Brig. Gen. Mohamed Adam Bangoz addressed the event. (Map via Radio Tamazuj)