Day: September 25, 2022

Sudanese authorities confirmed on Sunday three new cases of monkeypox in a camp for Ethiopian refugees in eastern Sudan.

 

Osman Abdallah, the commissioner of the locality of Al-Mafaza in Gadaref state disclosed to Sudan Tribune that the new cases of the viral disease were identified in Tunaydbah camp which اhas hosted Ethiopian refugees since January 2021.

 

“Three cases of the disease have been confirmed among the residents of the camp,” Abdallah told Sudan Tribune. Later in the evening, Gadaref State’s Ministry of Health issued a statement confirming the monkeypox cases.

 

 

The Tunaydbah camp, which is located in the western part of Gedaref, hosts more than 24,890 refugees, according to the statistics of the refugee commission.

 

The commissioner said they took the decision to confine the camp to prevent the spread of the disease to the other areas in Gederaf state, particularly the Tunaydbah town located five km from the camp.

 

The authorities have started implementing health measures including “environmental sanitation, control of entry to the camp, and campaigns to raise awareness among the refugees about the dangers of contracting the disease and how to protect themselves,” he added.

 

According to the World Health Organization, Monkeypox spreads through close contact with a contaminated person, skin-to-skin, mouth-to-mouth, or mouth-to-skin contact.

 

The Ministry of Health in Gedaref stated that it had received reports of 60 suspected cases from a humanitarian group in the camp. In addition, there are two suspected cases in Um Rakuba camp where they are over 21,000 refugees.

 

Anouar Banga, Director of the Health Emergencies and Epidemic Control Department in the state, said that they would convene a meeting with the humanitarian assistance groups and relevant authorities to discuss ways to control the disease.

 

On September 20, the federal authorities said that seven cases have been confirmed in Sudan including one in Kassala of eastern Sudan and another in Khartoum state.

 

The first case of monkeypox disease in Sudan appeared in West Darfur state.

 

 

 

Source: Sudan Tribune

An air strike in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region hits a WFP aid vehicle on Sunday, credible sources from the war-torn region told Sudan Tribune.

 

Today’s drone strike was carried out in an area near Shire city.

 

According to the sources, the air strike seriously wounded a WFP worker who was driving a vehicle carrying humanitarian aid to people in need in the western part of the region.

 

 

The UN worker was taken to a nearby hospital in Shire city this afternoon.

 

The WFP is yet to comment on the attacks.

 

The latest attack is one in a series of air strikes being carried out by the Ethiopian military since fighting between Tigray and the government and allied Eritrean forces resumed late last month.

 

On September 13, one person was injured in drone strikes on Mekelle University and a TV station in the Tigray region.

 

Since fresh fighting resumed on August 24, ending a five-month-old ceasefire, there have been at least seven air strikes against the region.

 

Ethiopian authorities have not yet commented on today’s air strikes.

 

 

 

Source: Sudan Tribune

Sudan and South Sudan have vowed to cooperate with the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Abyei (UNISFA), stressing the importance of peace and stability in the disputed oil-producing region.

 

South Sudan’s Vice President for Services Cluster, Hussein Abdelbagi Akol and the chairman of Sudan’s Transitional Sovereign Council Gen. Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan made the assurances while addressing the 77th UN General Assembly last week.

 

Both leaders agreed to cooperate and work together to put a model for peace and development through improving the oil fields, including those in the disputed region.

Al-Burhan, at a meeting with the UN Secretary General, reviewed the overall developments in Sudan and progress of the country’s political transition process.

 

He affirmed the Sudan Armed Forces’ (SAF) withdrawal from the political process.

 

For his part, the UN Secretary General affirmed the world body’s support for Sudan’s efforts towards democratic transformation, praising the decision of the head of the Sovereign Council to keep the armed forces away from politics.

 

He called on the Sudanese political forces to agree on the formation of a civilian government to lead the country during the transitional period.

 

South Sudan seceded from Sudan in 2011 following a self-determination referendum.

 

In 2012, Sudan and South Sudan signed nine agreements in Addis Ababa, including an oil deal stipulating transitional financial arrangements that include transit and export fees of South Sudanese oil through Sudan’s territory. The border issue represents one of the biggest obstacles hindering the settlement of differences between the two nations, revolving around five border areas, including Abyei.

 

 

 

Source: Sudan Tribune

Sudanese Navy intercepted a boat inside its territorial waters of the Red Sea smuggling weapons and ammunition from Yemen.

 

“On September 24, members of the Navy managed to seize a boat and four Yemenis on board inside the territorial waters near the Sabbat Islands,” read a statement issued by the Sudanese army spokesman

 

The boat was loaded with 90 Kalashnikov rifles, 162 boxes of Grinov submachine guns and 182 boxes of various calibres of ammunition, 43 cartons of detonating cord, and 45 cartons of explosion-proof fuses, further said the Sudanese army

 

 

The short military statement did not provide further details about the identity of the Yemeni smugglers. If they are simply weapons traffickers or if the operation was politically motivated.

 

Somali authorities had seized boatloads of arms destined for al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabab or Islamic State militant groups. Also, weapon traders were seized in the Red Sea.

 

In the past, the Israeli army carried out several clandestine operations to destroy weaponry heading from Iran to Palestinian Hamas in the Gaza strip through the Sudanese coasts or eastern Sudan.

 

 

Source: Sudan Tribune