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☆ Sudan's army chief, the warlord and a feud that risks civil war
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Michael Georgy | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

ABANDONING THEIR BENEFACTORAmid the bloodshed, Hemedti captured the attention of Bashir, a general who came to power in a 1989 coup. Bashir also gave his family and associates free rein to sell Sudan's gold, helping him amass a fortune. In the aftermath, Hemedti secured the post of deputy head of state, a position that technically reports to Burhan. Like Sudan's army, the RSF deployed fighters to Yemen where Gulf Arab states have fought a proxy war for years against Iranian-backed Houthis. The military wants the RSF integrated into the regular army and under its controls, two military sources said.

☆ Russia's private Wagner Group denies it is operating in Sudan
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] People gather outside PMC Wagner Centre, which is a project implemented by the businessman and founder of the Wagner private military group Yevgeny Prigozhin, during the official opening of the office block in Saint Petersburg, Russia, November 4, 2022. REUTERS/Igor Russak/File PhotoApril 19 (Reuters) - The Russian private military Wagner Group on Wednesday denied it was operating in Sudan and said it had nothing to do with battles rocking the giant impoverished African state. Western diplomats in Khartoum said in March 2022 that Wagner was involved in illicit gold mining in Sudan, among other activities. Sudan denied this was the case. Companies associated with Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin have no financial interests in Sudan, it added, saying the conflict was a purely internal Sudanese affair.

“According to the information we have in Khartoum, 50% of hospitals have been out of action in the first 72 hours,” said Abdalla Hussein, the Médecins Sans Frontière operational manager for Sudan. On Wednesday, Japan said it was preparing to send its military to evacuate nationals from Sudan. Smoke rises during clashes between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Khartoum, Sudan, on Wednesday. The RSF denied the claims, blaming Sudan’s armed forces for committing the crimes while wearing RSF uniforms. The armed forces have denied involvement in the violations, and reiterated accusations that the RSF has committed crimes against humanity.

☆ US diplomatic convoy fired on in Sudan, prompting warning from Blinken
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( Humeyra Pamuk | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Smoke rises over buildings during clashes between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the army in Khartoum, Sudan April 17, 2023. "I can confirm that yesterday we had an American diplomatic convoy that was fired on," Blinken said at a news conference in the Japanese resort town of Karuizawa where he attended a meeting of the Group of Seven foreign ministers. The people in the diplomatic convoy were safe, he said. "We have deep concerns of course about the overall security environment as it affects civilians, as it affects diplomats, as it affects aid workers," he said. The United States was in close coordination other countries that have influence in Sudan, including the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Britain, he said, as well as the African Union and other international organisations.

☆ Top US diplomat says fighters opened fire on a clearly marked US Embassy convoy during a bloody battle in Sudan that has left nearly 200 people dead
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

An American diplomatic convoy was fired on during intense fighting in Sudan this week. No one was hurt during the attack, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters Tuesday. But this action was reckless, it was irresponsible, and of course unsafe — a diplomatic convoy with diplomatic plates, a US flag, being fired upon." "This particular incident is still being investigated in terms of understanding exactly what happened," Blinken told reporters. People walk past shuttered shops in Khartoum, Sudan, Monday, April 17, 2023.

Stringer/ReutersThe RSF denied those reports, telling CNN in a statement that it “will never assault any UN staff or employees. Meanwhile, tense efforts to establish a ceasefire have ramped up, with the UN calling for rival factions to end their hostilities. Satellite imagery of the smoke plume at Khartoum International Airport on Sunday. The Sudanese Armed Forces later issued conflicting statements on a proposed 24-hour ceasefire, intended to go into effect later on Tuesday. Both sides had previously agreed to a three-hour ceasefire on Sunday, and again on Monday, with fighting resuming afterward, Perthes said.

Many other hospitals were also reported to have come under attack on Monday, the third day of fighting in Sudan. Russia has also been trying to make inroads in Sudan, and members of the Kremlin-affiliated Wagner private military company are posted there. Leaders from around the world called for a cease-fire, but it was not clear who, if anyone, was in control of Sudan, Africa’s third-largest country, by area. “Everyone is afraid,” said Ahmed Abuhurira, a 28-year-old mechanical engineer who went out to try to charge his cellphone. “The humanitarian situation in Sudan was already precarious and is now catastrophic,” he said.

From a vantage point in his home, Motasim said that earlier on Tuesday he could see RSF troops aiming anti-aircraft missiles from the street below. Residents from other districts said shops had been looted and people ejected from homes by armed men. In the well-heeled Khartoum 2 district, an area that is home to embassies and RSF offices, residents said RSF troops had stormed homes and raided supermarkets. RSF buildings and bases are dispersed across the capital, often in densely populated areas that have become a focus for fighting. Elsewhere in the capital area, several people told Reuters they saw RSF troops dispersing quickly into streets of residential districts when airstrikes began.

The regular army and the rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) issued statements accusing each other of failing to respect the ceasefire. "We have not received any indications here that there's been a halt in the fighting," United Nations spokesman Stephane Dujarric told a news briefing in New York. The fighting has triggered what the United Nations has described as a humanitarian catastrophe, including the near collapse of the health system. Fighting also raged in the west of the country, the United Nations said. [1/7] Satellite image shows a closer view of a burning building at the Merowe Airbase, Sudan, April 18, 2023.

☆ Heavy gunfire quickly shatters Sudan truce deal pushed by U.S.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

"We have not received any indications here that there's been a halt in the fighting," United Nations spokesman Stephane Dujarric told a news briefing in New York. The ceasefire deal will not extend beyond the agreed 24 hours, Army General Shams El Din Kabbashi, a member of Sudan's ruling military council, said earlier on al Arabiya TV. A Reuters reporter in Khartoum said he heard tanks firing shortly after the truce was due to take hold. In video verified by Reuters, RSF fighters could be seen inside a section of the army headquarters in Khartoum. Maxar satellite imagery of destroyed fuel trucks at fuel depot in Khartoum, Sudan.

Jet fighters and military helicopters roared in the skies above Sudan’s capital and residents sheltered at home from gunfire and explosions, as a lethal power battle between the country’s top generals dragged into a third day Monday. The Committee of Sudanese Doctors, a medical union, said its members had counted at least 97 civilians killed and nearly 1,000 people injured across Sudan since Saturday, when tensions that had been building for weeks between Lt. Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the country’s de facto head of state, and his deputy, Lt. Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo , erupted into warfare.

Smoke rises from the tarmac of Khartoum International Airport in an image from a video. Jet fighters and military helicopters roared in the skies above Sudan’s capital and residents sheltered at home from gunfire and explosions, as a lethal power battle between the country’s top generals dragged into a third day Monday. The Committee of Sudanese Doctors, a medical union, said its members had counted at least 97 civilians killed and nearly 1,000 people injured across Sudan since Saturday, when tensions that had been building for weeks between Lt. Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the country’s de facto head of state, and his deputy, Lt. Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo , erupted into warfare.

☆ Opinion: How Sudan went from revolution to civil war
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( Justin Lynch | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN —Four years ago, almost to the day, the people of Sudan were celebrating a revolution after overthrowing longtime dictator Omar al-Bashir. On one side are the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), led by Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan. On the other side are the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemeti. Hamdok found that the legacy of 30 years of dictatorship meant that Sudan’s political and economic models were dilapidated. The lesson from Sudan is that a revolution is only the start of change, not the end.

[1/3] Smoke rises from the tarmac of Khartoum International Airport as a fire burns, in Khartoum, Sudan April 17, 2023 in this screen grab obtained from a social media video. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said an immediate ceasefire was needed, saying that view was shared by the international community. By Sunday it appeared that the army was gaining the upper hand in the fighting in Khartoum, using air strikes to pound RSF bases. Sudan has been affected by rising levels of hunger in recent years as an economic crisis has deepened. The WFP says it reached 9.3 million people in Sudan, one of its largest operations globally.

KHARTOUM, April 17 (Reuters) - Fighting has erupted across Khartoum and at other sites in Sudan in a battle between two powerful rival military factions, engulfing the capital in warfare for the first time and raising the risk of a nationwide civil conflict. Tension had been building for months between Sudan's army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which together toppled a civilian government in an October 2021 coup. The friction was brought to a head by an internationally-backed plan to launch a new transition with civilian parties. Smoke rises from the tarmac of Khartoum International Airport as a fire burns, in Khartoum, Sudan, April 17. Gulf states have pursued investments in sectors including agriculture, where Sudan holds vast potential, and ports on Sudan's Red Sea coast.

☆ World Food Programme halts Sudan operations, 3 workers killed
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

CAIRO,April 16 (Reuters) - The United Nations' World Food Programme (WFP) said on Sunday it had temporarily halted all operations in Sudan after three of its employees were killed in clashes between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) a day earlier. "While we review the evolving security situation, we are forced to temporarily halt all operations in Sudan," WFP executive director Cindy McCain said in a statement. The incident has seriously impacted the organisation's ability to move humanitarian workers and aid in Sudan, he said. Earlier on Sunday, the United Nations condemned the killing of the WFP employees, saying they died while carrying out their duties. The fighting broke out on Saturday between army units loyal to General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), led by General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti.

The Sudanese Doctors' Union earlier reported at least 25 people were killed and 183 wounded in battles that erupted on Saturday between the military and the RSF. The army told soldiers seconded to the RSF to report to nearby army units, which could deplete RSF ranks if they obey. The military and RSF, which analysts say is 100,000 strong, have been competing for power as political factions negotiate forming a transitional government after a 2021 military coup. The RSF shared a video that it said showed Egyptian troops who "surrendered" to them in Merowe. Clashes also erupted between the RSF and army in the Darfur cities of El Fasher and Nyala, eyewitnesses said.

CNN —Fierce fighting across Sudan has left hopes for a peaceful transition to civilian rule in tatters. An international outcry saw Bashir formalize the group into paramilitary forces known as the Border Intelligence Units. They commanded separate battalions of Sudanese forces, who were sent to serve with the Saudi-led coalition forces in Yemen. He said that RSF leader Dagalo had “mutinied” against the state, and if captured, would be tried in court of law. CNN has previously reported on how Russia has colluded with Sudan’s military leaders to smuggle gold out of Sudan.

☆ Sudan Rivalry Between Powerful Generals Erupts in Warfare
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-15 | by ( Nicholas Bariyo | Gabriele Steinhauser | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Smoke rises during clashes Saturday between the Paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the army in Omdurman, Sudan. Heavy fighting broke out in Sudan’s capital between the national army and a powerful militia—a dangerous escalation of tensions between the country’s top two generals, who worked together to oust the longtime dictator, Omar al-Bashir , in 2019. In competing statements, the army, commanded by Lt. Gen. Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, the leader of Sudan’s military junta, and the Rapid Support Forces, a state-sponsored militia led by Gen. Burhan’s deputy, Lt. Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo , blamed each other for starting the conflict.

☆ Sudan's military leader ready to take any step to end paramilitary standoff - mediators
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

KHARTOUM, April 15 (Reuters) - Sudan's head of state and army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan is prepared to take any step to solve an ongoing standoff with the powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a group of mediators including leaders of other paramilitary groups said in a statement early on Saturday. "We reassure citizens that the crisis is on the way to being solved," they said. Tension between the army and RSF escalated on Thursday after the RSF moved some of its forces near a military airport in the northern city of Merowe, following weeks of deployments, moves the army said happened without its consent. Reporting by Nafisa Eltahir and Muhammad Al GebalyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Sudan's RSF says it's ready to cooperate over Egyptian troops
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin AbdallahCAIRO, April 15 (Reuters) - The head of Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) said on Saturday that his forces were ready to cooperate with Egypt to ease the return of Egyptian troops who had handed themselves over to the group in the northern Sudanese town of Merowe. Two Egyptian security sources said Egyptian officials were able to make contact with the leader of the Egyptian unit to confirm they were safe. The video showed a number of men dressed in army fatigues crouched on the ground and speaking to members of the RSF, Sudan's main paramilitary group, in an Egyptian Arabic dialect. A mobilisation of RSF forces towards Merowe's military airport on Wednesday prompted an army statement a day later that described recent RSF moves as illegal, bringing long-bubbling disagreements to the surface. It strongly supports Sudan's army and has recently promoted negotiations with pro-army political parties, in parallel to a plan for a transition towards elections backed by Hemedti.

☆ Fighting Erupts in Sudan’s Capital
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-15 | by ( Declan Walsh | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

NAIROBI, Kenya — Gunshots and explosions rang out on Saturday morning in several parts of Sudan’s capital, Khartoum, as residents reported clashes between rival factions of the armed forces. The military, which seized power in a coup 18 months ago, had agreed to hand that power to a civilian-led government this month. Intensive diplomatic efforts to prevent the tensions from escalating into violence appeared to collapse on Saturday. A resident living near a Rapid Support Forces camp in the Soba district said it was under attack from regular army forces. Videos circulating on social media showed soldiers and armored vehicles moving through the deserted streets of residential areas against a backdrop of intensive gunfire.

The Sudanese air force is conducting operations against the RSF, the army said. Footage from broadcasters showed a military aircraft in the sky above Khartoum, but Reuters could not independently confirm the material. A Reuters journalist saw cannon and armoured vehicles deployed in streets, and heard heavy weapons fire near the headquarters of both the army and RSF. The RSF, which analysts say is 100,000 strong, said its forces were attacked first by the army. Civilian political parties that had signed an initial power-sharing deal with the army and the RSF called on them to cease hostilities.

Satellite images showing a smoke plume in Khartoum Airport and Soba Camp. Khartoum Airport Area of Military Headquarters Smoke Khartoum Airport Soba military camp University Sudan Sports City Smoke Khartoum Airport Area of Military Headquarters Smoke Khartoum Airport Soba military camp University Sudan Sports City Smoke Khartoum Airport Soba military camp University Area of Military Headquarters Sudan Sports City Smoke Smoke Khartoum Airport Source: Satellite images by Planet Labs, captured on Saturday morning The New York TimesDeadly clashes broke out in Sudan’s capital on Saturday when rising tensions between rival factions of the military turned violent. By Saturday evening, fighting had spread beyond the capital, Khartoum, and it was unclear who was in control of the country. Here’s what videos show about the fighting and what we know about the locations of the violence. Elsewhere in SudanBy Saturday evening, fighting had spread far beyond Khartoum.

☆ Factbox: Who are Sudan's Rapid Support Forces?
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

KHARTOUM, April 13 (Reuters) - Here are some facts about Sudan's main paramilitary group, the Rapid Support Forces, which said on Saturday it had taken control of the presidential palace and the country's international airport in an apparent coup attempt. International Criminal Court prosecutors accused government officials and janjaweed commanders of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur. [1/2] Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, head of the Rapid Support Forces, greets his supporters as he arrives at a meeting in Aprag, Sudan, June 22, 2019. Rights groups have also accused RSF soldiers of tribal violence. * The Sudanese army as well as pro-democracy groups have demanded the RSF's integration into the regular armed forces.

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