Darfur
UN: 40 people killed in ethnic clashes in West Darfur
At least 40 people have been killed in Sudan’s West Darfur region after three days of ethnic clashes that have prompted the government to declare a state of emergency, the United Nations announced Monday. The clashes in El Geneina, which is close to the border with Chad, also left at least 58 people wounded. Fighting among members of the Arabi Rizeigat and Masalit tribes in El Geneina began after armed men shot two people and wounded two others in the Masalit tribe, according to the U.N. While authorities have yet to determine the cause of the shootings, gunfire exchanges between the two tribes continued into Monday, claiming at least 40 residents. Residents told Agence France-Presse they heard fresh gunfire accompanied by loud explosions at dawn Monday as the violence spread to the suburb...
Sudan and rebel group sign agreement on separation of religion and state
The Sudanese government and a major rebel group from its southern Nuba Mountains on Sunday signed a document which paves the way for a final peace agreement by guaranteeing freedom of worship to all while separating religion and the state. The signing is viewed as a crucial step in efforts by the power-sharing government headed by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan to reach accords with rebel groups across the country and end decades of conflicts that left millions displaced and hundreds of thousands dead. Last year Sudan signed a peace agreement with many groups, including from the Western region of Darfur. But a key faction of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) led by Abdelaziz al-Hilu, did not join in last year’s agreement because it stuck to its demand that Sudan dispens...
Sudan announces new cabinet with ex-rebels as ministers
Sudan’s Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok announced Monday a new cabinet bringing in seven ex-rebel chiefs as ministers, following a peace deal in October aimed to end decades of war. Veteran rebel leader and economist Gibril Ibrahim, of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) – which played a major role in the Darfur conflict – was appointed as Sudan’s new finance minister. “We have reached consensus on over 25 ministries,” Hamdok said, during a press conference in Khartoum. “This line up aims to preserve this country from collapse… we know there will be challenges but we are certain that we will move forward.” Hamdok dissolved the previous cabinet on Sunday to make way for a more inclusive line up in government. Two ministers were selected from the military, with the remaining coming from th...
Gunmen kill 20 farmers in Sudan
File Photo Gunmen killed at least 20 people, including children, who were visiting their farms in Sudan’s war-torn Darfur region for the first time in years, a tribal chief said Saturday. “Two months ago the government organised a meeting between the original landowners and those who took their fields” during the long-running war in Darfur, Ibrahim Ahmad, told AFP by telephone. “An agreement was reached whereby the landowners would return to their fields — but armed men came on Friday and opened fire, killing 20 people, including two women and children.” The killings took place in Aboudos, some 90 kilometres south of Nyala, the capital of South Darfur province, the tribal chief said. Around 20 people were wounded in the attack, he said. The death toll “could well increase, because some of ...
