Sudan conflict puts Darfur’s history of ethnic bloodletting on rewind

Special Sudan conflict puts Darfur’s history of ethnic bloodletting on rewind
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Chadian cart owners transport belongings of Sudanese people who fled the conflict in Sudan's Darfur region, while crossing the border between Sudan and Chad in Adre, Chad, on August 4, 2023. (REUTERS/File Photo)
Special Sudan conflict puts Darfur’s history of ethnic bloodletting on rewind
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Chadian cart owners transport belongings of Sudanese people who fled the conflict in Sudan's Darfur region, while crossing the border between Sudan and Chad in Adre, Chad, on August 4, 2023. (REUTERS/File Photo)
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Updated 16 September 2023
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Sudan conflict puts Darfur’s history of ethnic bloodletting on rewind

Sudan conflict puts Darfur’s history of ethnic bloodletting on rewind
  • The UN has received credible reports of at least 13 mass graves in El-Geneina and its surrounding areas
  • UN officials sound the alarm over“identity-based attacks,” with civilians “targeted on the basis of race”

NAIROBI, Kenya: Darfur, a part of Sudan that is no stranger to ethnic violence and genocide, is once again making similar headlines, following the discovery of mass graves amid a prolonged power struggle between two Sudanese generals that has reduced entire cities to rubble and triggered a humanitarian crisis of epic proportions.

The UN Joint Human Rights office said it has received credible reports of at least 13 mass graves in the city of El-Geneina and the surrounding areas, the head of the UN’s Sudan mission said on Wednesday.

The graves are believed to contain the bodies of victims of attacks by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and allied Arab militias on civilians, the majority of whom were from the Masalit community, Volker Perthes told the UN Security Council.




People place bodies into a mass grave in Nyala, Sudan, on August 23, 2023, in the aftermath of a strike near a bridge that killed dozens of people. (Handout via REUTERS)

This latest bout of bloodletting is partly the result of political rivalries compounded by simmering racial tensions. Darfur first gained international notoriety in the early 2000s when ethnic cleansing, economic disparities, and competition for resources sparked a conflict between the Arab-dominated government and non-Arab rebel groups.

Between 2003 and 2005, tens of thousands of civilians in Darfur were systematically killed, marking the first genocide of the 21st century. There are fears that the current conflict, between the RSF and the Sudanese Armed Forces, which is entering its sixth month, could reach similar levels of brutality.




A man stands by as a fire rages in a livestock market area in al-Fasher, the capital of Sudan's North Darfur state, on September 1, 2023, in the aftermath of bombardment by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. (AFP)

“These tensions have been exacerbated by factors such as desertification, political instability since Sudan’s independence, economic stagnation, the proliferation of arms from internal and external conflicts, proxy-led battles, and international polarization,” Ahmed Khair, a researcher at the Sudan Research and Consultancy Group, told Arab News.

While the root causes of conflict remain unchanged, the allegiances of the warring parties have steadily shifted.

“New political parties, actors, coalitions, and even a transformation of existing political entities, have emerged, adapting to the ever-shifting political dynamics,” said Khair.

Prominent examples of these groups are the Justice and Equality Movement, the Sudan Liberation Movement-Minni Minnawi, and the Sudan Liberation Movement Abdel Wahid.




Fighters of the Sudan Liberation Movement-Minni Minnawi ride in vehicles moving in a convoy accompanying the governor of Sudan's Darfur State during a stopover in the eastern city of Gedaref while on the way to Port Sudan on August 30, 2023. (AFP)

According to Khair, they are all motivated by the prospect of “empowering their regions and the citizens living there.”

The current crisis in Sudan began on April 15 when a long-running power struggle between the SAF and the RSF escalated into violence, much of which has been focused around Darfur and the capital, Khartoum. About 4 million people have been internally displaced by the conflict and a further 1.1 million have fled to neighboring countries, primarily Chad and Egypt.

In Darfur, the conflict has taken on an appearance that is both different from previous hostilities yet at the same time all-too familiar, with the RSF and allied militias targeting specific ethno-linguistic groups.

The western region of Darfur, an area about the size of France and home to a quarter of Sudan’s population, had already seen some of the worst unrest during the conflict before the violence further intensified last month. More than 50,000 people fled the city in the space of 10 days in August, according to the UN.




A picture taken on June 16, 2023, shows bodies strewn outdoors near houses in the West Darfur state capital El Geneina, prompting warnings that the conflict between two generals in war-torn Sudan had “taken on an ethnic dimension, resulting in targeted attacks based on people’s identities and subsequent displacement of communities”. (AFP)

Alice Wairimu Nderitu, the UN’s special adviser on the prevention of genocide, sounded the alarm over the increased incidence of “identity-based attacks,” warning that civilians “are being targeted on the basis of race” in Darfur.

Perthes, who this week announced he will step down from his role as head of the UN mission to Sudan, told the UN Security Council on Wednesday, during his final briefing, that the conflict in the country is likely to escalate.

Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, the head of the SAF and Sudan’s de facto ruler, has repeatedly accused the UN envoy of bias toward the RSF, and Perthes has been persona non grata since he denounced possible “crimes against humanity” in Darfur.




Sudanese Armed Forces chief General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan greets supporters as tours a neighborhood in Port Sudan (Sudanese Army photo/AFP)

The Sudanese government repeatedly called for him to be dismissed from his role but UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had reiterated his support for the envoy. On Wednesday, however, Guterres accepted the resignation of Perthes, saying that the envoy “has very strong reasons” for stepping down.

“I am grateful to the secretary-general for that opportunity and for his confidence in me but I have asked him to relieve me of this duty,” Perthes said, as he warned that the conflict “could be morphing into a full-scale civil war.”

He added that the warring sides “cannot operate with impunity and there will be accountability for the crimes committed.”

In early September, the US imposed sanctions on Abdelrahim Hamdan Dagalo, the brother of RSF chief Mohammed Hamdan “Hemedti” Dagalo, over “the massacre of civilians, ethnic killings, and use of sexual violence.”




An image grab taken from a handout video posted on the Sudanese paramilitary Rapid Support Forces page on Twitter, rebranded as X, on July 28, 2023 shows its commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo addressing RSF fighters at an undisclosed location. (Rapid Support Forces photo/AFP)

In South Darfur, a region historically associated with RSF influence, the feuding factions are locked in a fierce struggle for control of the country. While the RSF and its allied Arab militias hold sway over much of South Darfur’s capital, Nyala, the SAF is relying on its artillery and air force to assert its presence in an area that had long been neglected.

Civilians, and the aid workers trying to assist them, have found themselves caught in the crossfire. Sixty were killed and 285 wounded during 12 days of intense fighting in Nyala alone on August 22, according to a recent report by local monitoring group the Darfur Cinema Center. And an air raid on Wednesday killed at least 40 civilians, a medical source told the Agence France-Presse news agency.

On Aug. 21, the SAF reportedly shelled a market in Nyala, killing 24 civilians. The SAF denies being responsible for that incident but residents said they suspect the presence of RSF fighters nearby was the reason for the fatal bombardment.

A similarly harrowing incident occurred two days later when about 30 civilians, most of them women and children, were caught in the crossfire between the RSF and SAF.




Bodies of civilians were buried in mass graves by local residents in Nyala, Darfur. (Supplied)

According to locals and observers who spoke to Arab News, the actual death tolls resulting from incidents such as these are likely much higher than the reported figures.

The conflict has disrupted communications infrastructure in the region, which is making it difficult for medics to accurately record deaths. In many cases, grieving families have no choice but to bury their dead without officially registering their deaths.

Services at hospitals and clinics in conflict zone have also been affected. Rescue operations have been hampered by the closure of medical facilities, and healthcare workers are at constant risk of being targeted by the warring factions, in breach of international humanitarian law.

The fighting has also disrupted food supplies and “food scarcity is a pressing concern across Darfur, further exacerbating the humanitarian crisis,” William Carter, the country director for Sudan at the Norwegian Refugee Council, told Arab News.

“It’s all very difficult and complex; the safety situation but also logistics, getting across borders from eastern Chad, through the rainy season across huge distances,” he added. “This is one of the most critical areas of the country to make sure a response gets to.”

 

 

The scarcity of food and safe drinking water often forces civilians to take extreme risks, placing themselves in the line of fire as they search for supplies.

“The situation is urgent,” Mohammed Adam Hassan, executive director of the Darfur Network for Human Rights, told Arab News. “We, as human rights organizations, continue to document civilian casualties, property destruction and widespread suffering.”

He called on the international community to intervene in the conflict and speed up the humanitarian response.

“The sanctions are a step in the right direction but more must be done to address the complex crisis on the ground,” he added. “Such an intervention should prioritize the protection of civilians and the creation of safe zones and humanitarian corridors to facilitate aid delivery.”

 

 

Khair, the researcher with the Sudan Research and Consultancy Group, agreed about the urgent need for urgent external intervention, but added that efforts need to align with the political realities on the ground.

“While coordination in areas controlled by the Sudanese government continues through established mechanisms, challenges arise in areas controlled by armed movements like the RSF,” he said.

Khair identified Minni Arko Minnawi, Darfur’s governor, as a potentially pivotal figure in this process, in light of the fact he has tacit approval from key parties.

“To bridge this gap, initiating dialogue and creating emergency coordination structures must happen,” Khair added.




Minni Minnawi (C), governor of Sudan's Darfur State, is greeted by locals during a stopover in the eastern city of Gedaref while on his way to Port Sudan on August 30, 2023. (AFP)

Efforts to address the crisis through regional diplomatic channels, such as the African Union and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, have faced serious obstacles. Al-Burhan has threatened to withdraw Sudan from organizations that continue to communicate with representatives of the RSF.

Washington’s recent announcement of sanctions on RSF leader Dagalo might suggest the US is taking a side in the conflict but it could simply be a move designed to coax the warring parties back to the negotiating table in Jeddah.

Regardless of the measures taken so far, Hassan said that “accountability and justice are of the highest importance,” and that thorough investigations by organizations such as the International Criminal Court will ultimately be required to ensure the perpetrators of abuses are held to account.

 


Hamas says offered to hand over remains of hostage baby, family

Hamas says offered to hand over remains of hostage baby, family
Updated 01 December 2023
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Hamas says offered to hand over remains of hostage baby, family

Hamas says offered to hand over remains of hostage baby, family
  • “Throughout the night, indirect negotiations unfolded to extend the truce,” the Palestinian militant group said
  • “Hamas also offered to transfer the Bibas family’s bodies and release their father for their burial, along with two Zionist detainees”

JERUSALEM: Hamas on Friday said it had offered to hand over the bodies of a mother and her two sons — one of them a baby — in talks to extend a now-expired truce.
Shiri Bibas, her 10-month-old son Kfir and his four-year-old brother Ariel, along with their father Yarden, have become emblematic of the October 7 attacks due to the age of baby Kfir.
Earlier this week, Hamas’s armed wing announced that Shiri, Kfir and Ariel had been killed in an Israeli bombing before the now-lapsed truce went into effect — a claim Israel’s military has said it is investigating, but has yet to confirm.
Combat between Israel and Hamas resumed in the Gaza Strip Friday morning after an agreement could not be reached on prolonging the seven-day pause in fighting.
Under the terms of the temporary truce, Hamas had returned scores of Israeli hostages in exchange for the release of more than 200 Palestinian prisoners.
“Throughout the night, indirect negotiations unfolded to extend the truce,” the Palestinian militant group said in a statement Friday.
“Hamas also offered to transfer the Bibas family’s bodies and release their father for their burial, along with two Zionist detainees,” it added.
Israeli authorities “remained unresponsive,” it said.
The Israeli prime minister’s office meanwhile told AFP “Israel will not address propaganda-based reports coming from Hamas.”
As of Thursday, reports of the deaths of the three Bibas family members remained unconfirmed, according to army spokesman Daniel Hagari.
The army has previously said “Hamas is wholly responsible for the security of all hostages.”
Government spokesman Eylon Levy on Friday blamed Hamas for the collapse of the truce, accusing it of “having failed to provide a list of more hostages for release.”
He said Hamas was still holding 137 hostages taken on October 7, including the Bibas family.
The family were among the roughly 240 hostages dragged back to Gaza after militants streamed into Israel in an attack that left 1,200 people dead, most of them civilians, according to Israeli officials.
Israel’s ensuing war against the group has killed more than 15,000 people, also mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run government in Gaza.


UN chief ‘deeply regrets’ collapse of Gaza truce

UN chief ‘deeply regrets’ collapse of Gaza truce
Updated 01 December 2023
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UN chief ‘deeply regrets’ collapse of Gaza truce

UN chief ‘deeply regrets’ collapse of Gaza truce

GENEVA: United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Friday he regretted that military operations had resumed in Gaza after the collapse of a week-long truce between Israel and Hamas.
“I deeply regret that military operations have started again in Gaza,” Guterres wrote on the X social media platform.
“The return to hostilities only shows how important it is to have a true humanitarian cease-fire.”


Israel resumes combat as truce expires, accuses Hamas of violation

Israel resumes combat as truce expires, accuses Hamas of violation
Updated 01 December 2023
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Israel resumes combat as truce expires, accuses Hamas of violation

Israel resumes combat as truce expires, accuses Hamas of violation
  • Seven-day pause began on Nov. 24 and was extended twice
  • Qatar, Egypt have been making intensive efforts to extend truce

GAZA/TEL AVIV: Israel’s military said it had resumed combat against Hamas in Gaza on Friday after accusing the Palestinian militant group of violating a seven-day temporary truce by firing toward Israeli territory.
The seven-day pause, which began on Nov. 24 and was extended twice, had allowed for the exchange of dozens of hostages held in Gaza for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and facilitated the entry of humanitarian aid into the shattered coastal strip.
In the hour before the truce was set to end at 7 a.m. (0500 GMT), Israel said it intercepted a rocket fired from Gaza.
Further sirens warning of rockets sounded again in Israeli areas near Gaza just minutes before the deadline, the Israeli military said.
Palestinian media reported Israeli air and artillery strikes across the enclave after the truce expired.
There was no immediate comment from Hamas or claim of responsibility for the launches.
Qatar and Egypt have been making intensive efforts to extend the truce following the exchange on Thursday of the latest batch of eight hostages and 30 Palestinian prisoners.
Israel had previously set the release of 10 hostages a day as the minimum it would accept to pause its ground assault and bombardment.
“We’re ready for all possibilities.... Without that, we’re going back to the combat,” Mark Regev, an adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said on CNN ahead of the expiry of the truce.
Israel has sworn to annihilate Hamas, which rules Gaza, in response to the Oct. 7 rampage by the militant group, when Israel says gunmen killed 1,200 people and took 240 hostages.
Israel retaliated with intense bombardment and a ground invasion. Palestinian health authorities deemed reliable by the United Nations say more than 15,000 Gazans have been confirmed killed.

These children are pictured in the courtyard of a government school in Gaza’s Rafa. The UN estimates that 1.7 million of Gaza’s 2.4 million people have been displaced by the fighting. (AFP)

Hostages head home
Thursday’s releases brought the totals freed during the truce to 105 hostages and 240 Palestinian prisoners.
Among those released were six women aged 21 to 40 including one Mexican-Israeli dual national and 21-year-old Mia Schem, who holds both French and Israeli citizenship.
Photos released by the Israeli prime minister’s office showed Schem, who was captured by Hamas along with others at an outdoor music festival in southern Israel on Oct. 7, embracing her mother and brother after they were reunited at Hatzerim military base in Israel.
The other two newly released hostages were a brother and sister, Belal and Aisha Al-Ziadna, aged 18 and 17 respectively, according to the Israeli prime minister’s office. They are Bedouin Arab citizens of Israel and among four members of their family taken hostage while they were milking cows on a farm.
One of Qatar’s lead negotiators, career diplomat Abdullah Al Sulaiti, who helped broker the truce through marathon shuttle negotiations, acknowledged in a recent Reuters interview the uncertain odds of keeping the guns silent.
“At the beginning I thought achieving an agreement would be the most difficult step,” he said in an article that detailed the behind-the-scenes efforts for the first time. “I’ve discovered that sustaining the agreement itself is equally challenging.”
 

The warring sides had agreed a further extension to the pause in fighting, but soon after that ended Israeli troops resumed their attacks. (FILE/AFP)

Israel agrees to protect civilians Blinken says
The truce had allowed some humanitarian aid into Gaza after much of the coastal territory of 2.3 million people was reduced to wasteland in the Israeli assault.
More fuel and 56 trucks of humanitarian supplies entered Gaza on Thursday, Israel’s defense ministry and the Palestinian Red Crescent Society said.
But deliveries of food, water, medical supplies and fuel remain far below what is needed, aid workers say.
At an emergency meeting in Amman, Jordan’s King Abdullah on Thursday urged UN officials and international groups to pressure Israel to allow more aid into the beleaguered enclave, according to delegates.
When the cease-fire first came into effect a week ago, Israel was preparing to turn the focus of its operation to southern Gaza after its seven-week assault to the north.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in Israel during his third visit to the Middle East since the war began, said he told Netanyahu that Israel cannot repeat in south Gaza the massive civilian casualties and displacement of residents it inflicted in the north.
“We discussed the details of Israel’s ongoing planning and I underscored the imperative for the United States that the massive loss of civilian life and displacement of the scale that we saw in northern Gaza not be repeated in the south,” Blinken told reporters in Tel Aviv.
“And the Israeli Government agreed with that approach,” he said. This would include concrete measures to avoid damaging critical infrastructure such as hospitals and water facilities and clearly designating safe zones, he said.


Israel dismissed advance warning of Hamas attack — NYT

Israel dismissed advance warning of Hamas attack — NYT
Updated 01 December 2023
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Israel dismissed advance warning of Hamas attack — NYT

Israel dismissed advance warning of Hamas attack — NYT
  • The warnings did not suggest that Hamas was likely to carry out the plan imminently
  • A military assessment last year determined it was too soon to say the plan had been approved by Hamas

NEW YORK: Israeli officials had intelligence that Palestinian militant group Hamas was preparing a wide-ranging attack before its October 7 assault but dismissed the reports, The New York Times reported Thursday.
The newspaper said a document obtained by Israeli authorities “outlined, point by point, exactly the kind of devastating invasion that led to the deaths of about 1,200 people.”
The document, which was reviewed by the newspaper, did not specify when the attack might happen, but provided a blueprint that Hamas appears to have followed: an initial rocket barrage, efforts to knock out surveillance, and waves of gunmen crossing into Israel by land and air.
The Times said the document, which included sensitive security information about Israeli military capacity and locations, circulated widely among the country’s military and intelligence leaders, though it was not clear if it was reviewed by senior politicians.
But a military assessment last year determined it was too soon to say the plan had been approved by Hamas, and when an analyst with the country’s signals intelligence warned the group had carried out a training exercise in line with the plan, she was dismissed.
She warned it was a “plan designed to start a war,” the newspaper said, but a colonel reviewing her assessment suggested: “let’s wait patiently.”
The warnings did not suggest that Hamas was likely to carry out the plan imminently, and the intelligence community continued to believe that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was not pursuing war with Israel, the Times said, likening the intelligence failure to those in the United States before the September 11, 2001 attacks.
The Hamas attack killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and saw around 240 people taken hostage, according to Israeli officials.
Israel’s retaliatory ground and air offensive in Gaza has killed more than 15,000 people, also mostly civilians, according to Hamas authorities.


Israel dismissed advance warning of Hamas attack: NYT

Israel dismissed advance warning of Hamas attack: NYT
Updated 01 December 2023
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Israel dismissed advance warning of Hamas attack: NYT

Israel dismissed advance warning of Hamas attack: NYT
  • The warnings did not suggest that Hamas was likely to carry out the plan imminently
  • A military assessment last year determined it was too soon to say the plan had been approved by Hamas

NEW YORK: Israeli officials had intelligence that Palestinian militant group Hamas was preparing a wide-ranging attack before its October 7 assault but dismissed the reports, The New York Times reported Thursday.
The newspaper said a document obtained by Israeli authorities “outlined, point by point, exactly the kind of devastating invasion that led to the deaths of about 1,200 people.”
The document, which was reviewed by the newspaper, did not specify when the attack might happen, but provided a blueprint that Hamas appears to have followed: an initial rocket barrage, efforts to knock out surveillance, and waves of gunmen crossing into Israel by land and air.
The Times said the document, which included sensitive security information about Israeli military capacity and locations, circulated widely among the country’s military and intelligence leaders, though it was not clear if it was reviewed by senior politicians.
But a military assessment last year determined it was too soon to say the plan had been approved by Hamas, and when an analyst with the country’s signals intelligence warned the group had carried out a training exercise in line with the plan, she was dismissed.
She warned it was a “plan designed to start a war,” the newspaper said, but a colonel reviewing her assessment suggested: “let’s wait patiently.”
The warnings did not suggest that Hamas was likely to carry out the plan imminently, and the intelligence community continued to believe that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was not pursuing war with Israel, the Times said, likening the intelligence failure to those in the United States before the September 11, 2001 attacks.
The Hamas attack killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and saw around 240 people taken hostage, according to Israeli officials.
Israel’s retaliatory ground and air offensive in Gaza has killed more than 15,000 people, also mostly civilians, according to Hamas authorities.