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☆ Sudan’s Warring Groups Agree to 7-Day Cease-Fire
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-21 | by ( Abdi Latif Dahir | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Sudan’s warring parties have agreed to a seven-day cease-fire beginning on Monday, Saudi Arabia and the United States announced late Saturday, the first truce to be signed by both parties in a conflict that has raged for over a month, leaving millions of people across the northeast African nation in a dire humanitarian crisis. On Saturday, the sides promised to stop their forces from occupying new areas; to refrain from detaining or threatening civilians; and not to impede aid groups and workers from providing lifesaving assistance. The warring groups also agreed not to loot civilian properties or humanitarian supplies, nor to seize critical infrastructure such as electricity, fuel and water installations. Before the announcement, the two sides had signed a pact only to protect civilians but not to suspend fighting altogether, leaving their soldiers clashing across Sudan. Previous cease-fire announcements, including one brokered by the United States and another by South Sudan, have faltered, leading to a mounting death toll and a vast displacement of people.

☆ ‘We Don’t Want This War’: Trapped in Khartoum as Combat Rages
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Abdi Latif Dahir | Cora Engelbrecht | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Nurses maneuver through gunfire and shelling to make house calls, delivering babies and providing care to those who can’t reach hospitals. Families barely eat in order to conserve dwindling food and water supplies, as temperatures rise. And the few good Samaritans who venture out to help the elderly or put out a blazing fire face intimidation and arrest by the fighters in the streets. The Sudanese capital, Khartoum, has endured the most intense fighting, prompting embassies and the United Nations to evacuate their nationals and staff members — leaving behind millions who now face shortages of water, food, medicine and electricity. The clashes — between the Sudanese Army and the paramilitary group known as the Rapid Support Forces — have continued despite repeated cease-fires purportedly agreed to by both sides.

☆ Warring Parties in Sudan to Hold Talks in Saudi Arabia
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Edward Wong | Abdi Latif Dahir | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON — Representatives of two warring Sudanese generals are expected to meet in Saudi Arabia on Saturday to discuss terms of a cease-fire and mechanisms for allowing humanitarian aid into the country, U.S., Saudi and Sudanese officials said on Friday. The U.S. State Department and the Saudi foreign ministry have helped organize the meeting, which would take place in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on the Red Sea across from Sudan. The Saudi government has been running evacuation ships between Jeddah and Port Sudan. The two generals have agreed to cease-fires in recent days, but their troops have violated those. The Sudanese army confirmed in a post on Facebook that its delegation left for Jeddah on Friday evening to discuss “specific details of the armistice,” which is aimed at “securing and creating appropriate conditions for dealing with the humanitarian situation of our citizens.”A senior State Department official said the discussions in Jeddah would not include negotiations over the volatile issues around integration of the armed forces and chain of command that led to the start of fighting on April 15 between Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who controls the Sudanese military, and Lt. Gen. Mohamed Hamdan, who leads the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.

☆ More Than 100,000 Have Fled Sudan to Neighboring Countries
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Abdi Latif Dahir | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

More than 100,000 people have fled Sudan for neighboring countries and more than 300,000 have been internally displaced, according to figures released by United Nations agencies on Tuesday, as the fighting between rival generals threatened to undermine regional stability and tear apart Africa’s third-largest nation. More than 450 people have died and more than 4,000 have been injured, according to the World Health Organization. On Tuesday morning, residents in parts of the capital, Khartoum, reported intense clashes and heavy shelling throughout the night. Many residents of the capital are without electricity and worried about dwindling food and water. Given the deteriorating situation, the United Nations said it was preparing for a mass exodus from Sudan, a nation of more than 45 million people that was already facing dire humanitarian crises before the latest fighting.

☆ Cease-Fire Is Extended in Sudan, but Bombardments and Gunfire Ensue
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Abdi Latif Dahir | Cora Engelbrecht | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Civilians continued to flee renewed clashes in Sudan on Friday, as a three-day extension of an already-tenuous truce got off to a fitful start, and foreign countries ramped up evacuations after warning of an escalation of violence in the coming days. Gunfire and loud explosions rocked at least two neighborhoods in the capital, Khartoum, residents said, as the battle between Sudan’s army, led by Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, led by Lt. Gen. Mohamed Hamdan, entered its 14th day. Clashes also continued in the western region of Darfur, aid workers said, even as the African Union, the United Nations and countries including the United States welcomed the decision to extend a fragile cease-fire for an additional 72 hours. “What I am seeing is thick smoke. What I am hearing is shelling and gunshots,” said Ahmad Mahmoud, a Sudanese resident of Khartoum who witnessed a massive bombardment of the Burri neighborhood in the capital.

☆ Looting, Roadblocks: Paramilitary Is a Scary Neighbor in Sudan’s Capital
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Lynsey Chutel | Abdi Latif Dahir | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In the 12 days since war broke out in Sudan, the residents in the capital of Khartoum have learned to survive, living side by side with armed fighters. The fighters have moved into homes and taken over stores and hospitals, alternatively terrifying and wooing civilians. In another, they invited community members to share in the spoils of their looting. Many residents try to avoid the faction as much as possible. “Apparently they don’t have anyone that gives them orders so they’re just doing their thing,” said Dania Atabani, who lives in Khartoum.

☆ Mystery of Ex-Dictator’s Whereabouts Adds to Crisis in Sudan
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Abdi Latif Dahir | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

As Sudan is ripped apart in a battle between rival generals, one question was swirling around the country on Wednesday: Where is the former dictator Omar Hassan al-Bashir? Mr. al-Bashir is wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. In Sudan, he still faces charges related to the 1989 coup that propelled him to power, and he faces a death sentence or life in prison if convicted. Amid the chaos, it was thought that Mr. al-Bashir, 79, was being held in the Kober prison in Khartoum, the capital, serving a two-year sentence for money laundering and corruption. But then a former official being held with Mr. al-Bashir said on Tuesday night that he had left the prison along with some other, unnamed officials, without mentioning the former dictator.

☆ Civilians Flee Fighting in Sudan for Troubled Neighboring Countries
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Abdi Latif Dahir | Lynsey Chutel | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Civilians fleeing the fighting between two rival generals in Sudan streamed into neighboring countries on Monday, raising concerns about a humanitarian crisis spreading to countries already grappling with conflict, hunger and dire economic straits. The heavy gunfire, shelling and airstrikes that have rocked Sudan for 10 days prompted foreign countries to begin evacuating diplomatic staff and nationals over the weekend. It also has driven thousands of Sudanese and other people across borders into Chad, Egypt and South Sudan, aid workers said. Sudan, a country of 45 million people and the third-largest by area in Africa, is surrounded by seven countries racked by poverty and instability. Most of those were South Sudanese returning home after having fled Khartoum in cars and on the backs of trucks, carrying whatever they could on the 280-mile journey south.

☆ Sudan Army Chief Commits to Civilian Rule, but Not a Cease-Fire for Ramadan’s End
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Abdi Latif Dahir | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Sudan’s army chief said on Friday morning that the military under his leadership was committed to a peaceful transition to civilian rule, in his first public remarks since a weeklong conflict between his troops and a powerful paramilitary force upended life in Africa’s third-largest nation. But the army commander, Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who is Sudan’s de facto leader, did not say whether the army would commit to the latest cease-fire that its rival, the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group, said it had agreed to on Friday. The cease-fire would allow people to gather for the Eid holiday marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan. General al-Burhan said the clashes had led to serious casualties, major destruction of property and displacement of families across the country.

☆ ‘We Will Hunt You’: Ugandans Flee Ahead of Harsh Anti-Gay Law
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Abdi Latif Dahir | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In a spartan safehouse with flimsy curtains and no furniture northwest of the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, people from neighboring Uganda clung to the few valuables they could snatch while fleeing harsh new legislation targeting them back home. A gay man clutched the white rosary that he took to church every Sunday. A transgender woman brought her favorite shimmering blue dress. A lesbian couple clenched the one smartphone that held photos from happier days, going on dates and dancing in clubs. They began leaving after Uganda’s Parliament passed a sweeping anti-gay bill in late March that threatens punishment as severe as death for some perceived offenses, and calls for life in prison for anyone engaging in same-sex relations.

☆ Fighting in Sudan Traps Families as Generals Fail to Keep a Cease-Fire
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( Abdi Latif Dahir | Elian Peltier | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Street battles and rocket strikes deepened the chaos across Sudan on Tuesday as a cease-fire between the country’s two warring generals fizzled, paralyzing the capital and trapping civilians in their homes for fear of the crossfire. Parents and children, doctors and students, officials and high-profile diplomats all have come under attack since the fighting broke out over the weekend. So did a diplomatic convoy carrying American citizens, and a senior E.U. At least 185 people have been killed and more than 1,800 injured in the past four days, United Nations officials said, though the true toll is most likely far higher. General Hamdan then called for a 24-hour cease-fire to allow civilians to evacuate or obtain desperately needed supplies.

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.

☆ Sudan Live Updates: Civilians Feel Strain as Blasts Rock Capital
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( Abdi Latif Dahir | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

A policeman in 2011 in Abyei, a dividing line between northern and southern Sudan that was the site of a long-running standoff. For decades, Sudan’s military has waged brutal conflicts in the south, east and west of the country. The two sides ultimately negotiated a peace agreement that split the country in 2011 after southerners voted in a referendum for South Sudan to become a new nation. Image Celebrations in Juba, Sudan, on the eve of independence for South Sudan in 2011. Credit... Tyler Hicks/The New York TimesWithin South Sudan, infighting in the government led to clashes in 2013 and ultimately triggered a violent feud between the two biggest ethnic groups. Nuba Mountains conflictClashes between government forces and rebel Nuba fighters in Sudan’s South Kordofan State broke out in the aftermath of South Sudan’s secession, with Nuba fighters supporting South Sudan.

☆ As New Wave of Violence Hits Sudan’s Capital, Civilians Feel the Strain
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( Abdi Latif Dahir | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

NAIROBI, Kenya — As a new wave of violence swept the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, on Monday, millions of residents hiding in their homes felt the growing strain from the battles, and doctors and hospitals were struggling to cope with casualties and get the supplies and staff members that they needed. The forces of rival generals battling for control of Sudan clashed for a third day in Khartoum, threatening to worsen a humanitarian crisis in a nation already facing dire economic straits, growing hunger and widespread unemployment. Some were too afraid to venture out for food or other supplies. A doctors’ group said that hospitals remained understaffed and were running low on supplies as wounded people streamed in. And the World Health Organization said that the insecurity in the capital was impeding medical workers and ambulances from reaching those in need of critical care.

☆ Sudan Fears ‘Ghost of Civil War’ as Explosions Rock Capital
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-16 | by ( Declan Walsh | Abdi Latif Dahir | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Fighter jets screamed over Khartoum, the capital, on Sunday, firing rockets into a city of millions. Artillery barrages slammed into the military headquarters, reducing it to a tower of flames. Civilian planes were bombed at the city’s airport, where terrified passengers cowered on the terminal floors. And when their relationship disintegrated into violence this weekend, it set off a breathless descent that appeared the realization of many people’s worst fears. One of the factions even captured and held Egyptian soldiers, along with seven Egyptian warplanes, threatening to suck a powerful neighbor into the fight and raising the specter of a regional conflagration.

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