Day: February 14, 2023

Two soldiers of the Darfur Joint Security Forces were killed, and three others were wounded, in an attack on their base in Kereinik in West Darfur on Sunday. A native administration leader warned that the incident could lead to new conflicts in the region. Shootings also took place in Central and North Darfur.

Jamaleldin Mohamed, the fersha (native administration leader) of Kereinik, told Radio Dabanga that the joint force, the Darfur Security Forces for the Protection of Civilians in full, that was stationed in the area of Gendernei was attacked by unknown armed men on motorcycles.

The attackers opened fire on the soldiers, killing two soldiers and injuring three others before they fled.

Mohamed condemned the incident and warned that it could lead to new conflicts in the region.

A number of joint forces have recently been deployed in Darfur in an attempt to combat the insecurity in the region. The joint forces consist of Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) army soldiers, paramilitaries of the Rapid Support Forces, former rebel fighters, and policemen.

In line with the Juba Peace Agreement, this new joint peacekeeping force was set up in Darfur last year with the aim of protecting civilians in the troubled region and uniting the different rebel movements and, as of lately, government forces.

North Darfur robbery

In North Darfur, an employee of the El Fasher Social Welfare Department was shot in an armed robbery in Saraf Omra on Friday.

The employee had delivered a workshop with two of his colleagues, both women, and the team was on its way back to the state capital El Fasher when their car was intercepted by two men on a motorcycle.

The attackers shot at Abubakar Yousef, wounding him in both legs, a source told Radio Dabanga. The attackers then robbed the passengers of their laptops, mobile phones, and money.

Yousef was transferred to the Saraf Omra Hospital and later to a hospital in El Fasher.

North and West Darfur security breaches

Radio Dabanga recently reported on the deteriorating security situation in West and North Darfur, specifically in Saraf Omra.

The Darfur Joint Security Forces were stationed in West Darfur to maintain security in the area after increased security breaches, including the gang rape of a 14-year-old girl in Kereinik one week ago.

Central Darfur shooting

Moez Haren (19) was shot in Nierteti, Central Darfur, on Sunday afternoon.

Speaking to Radio Dabanga, an eyewitness said that a group of unknown gunmen shot at Haren, wounding him in the left leg.

The incident was reported to the Nierteti Unified Police. The victim was taken to the Niereti Hospital and then transferred to Nyala Teaching Hospital.

Source: Radio Dabanga

Two fires broke out in the eastern part of North Darfur on Sunday, killing two children. Recently, a number of fires broke out in the west of North Darfur as well. The North Darfur governor decided to send a specialised team to investigate the currently unknown causes behind the frequent fires.

Two children named Munir and Ashraf Hamed, aged five and nine, died in a fire that broke out in a house in El Mashrot village in El Laeit on Sunday.

Earlier that day, a huge fire broke out in Hamari Endarab, part of the Haskanita Administrative Unit that El Mashrot also belongs to. At least 22 houses burned to the ground, without causing any loss of life.

Food crops of all kinds, a large number of livestock, two cars, and other property were lost in the flames.

Recently, a number of fires broke out in Saraf Omra too, in the west of North Darfur. Last year, three children died in a massive fire in the Taweisha locality.

Investigation team

Yesterday, North Darfur Wali (governor) Nimir Abdelrahman decided to send a technical team of geologists to Meleisa village to investigate the causes of the frequent fires there, in response to a complaint submitted by the villagers last week.

The source of the fires has been unknown.

The governor met with the heads of water departments, the Mining Coordination Council, and the General Authority for Geological Research yesterday in his office in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur.

After the meeting, Director General of the North Darfur Water Sector Abdelshafi Abdallah Adam said in a press statement that they recommended urgently sending a technical investigation team to Saraf Omra locality to investigate the fires.

Adam said that he expects that these fires, which date back to 2014, may have geological causes, such as the rocks and soil quality, thermal emission of phosphorous and methane gases, or old environmental waste and pollution.

The technical team is expected to return with soil samples. “The laboratory results will most probably provide a decisive answer.”

Source: Radio Dabanga

The Eastern Sudan Conference continued for the second day yesterday in the Friendship Hall in Khartoum with sessions on several important topics, including women’s issues and economic and social development. The conference was criticised for being poorly organised.

The conference participants discussed women’s issues, economic and social development, decentralisation, and the role of the native administration in promoting community peace as experts presented papers to the audience of the workshop sessions.

Hamrour Hussein, a leading member of the People’s Front for Liberation and Justice and member of the High Committee for the Preparation of the Eastern Sudan Conference, told Radio Dabanga that the papers were discussed extensively and that the workshop participants came up with important recommendations.

The conference, officially called ‘the roadmap conference for political stability, security, and sustainable development in eastern Sudan’, has been organised by the AU-IGAD-UNITAMS Trilateral Mechanism in cooperation with the mainstream Forces for Freedom and Change-Central Council (FFC-CC), taking place from February 12 to 15, and is thus set to conclude tomorrow.

He explained that hundreds of people from the three eastern Sudanese states, Red Sea state, Kassala, and El Gedaref, representing various social, cultural, and political groups, are taking part in the conference.

The workshop will produce important results to address the issues of eastern Sudan and promote societal peace, Hussein added.

The Eastern Sudan Conference is the latest step in discussions over five so-called thorny issues in the country. The last conference on the Juba Peace Agreement (JPA) explored drivers of conflict and ways to better implement and revitalise the agreement. The first conference, on the empowerment removal process, concluded in Khartoum on January 12.

Women issues

Renowned El Ahfad University Professor Belghis Badri presented a paper on women’s issues in eastern Sudan yesterday, in which she proposed the establishment of a number of funds to support women in the marginalised region.

The proposed funds include a Girls’ Education Fund, to be financed by Zakat (Muslim alms) chambers and supported by UN agencies, a Women’s Health Support Fund, funded by social responsibility funds of companies managed by relevant UN agencies, and an Economic Support Fund, financed by companies of Sudanese women residing abroad, “especially in countries overlooking the Red Sea”.

She further recommended training young eastern Sudanese women in the field of politics “to empower them politically” and to train young women from the region in media and tourism.

Criticism

El Gedaref activist Jaafar Khidir, who was detained several times during the regime of Omar Al Bashir, criticised the poor preparation and costs of the conference, organised by the Trilateral Mechanism in cooperation with the FFC-CC.

He told Radio Dabanga that the conference will contribute little to solving the region’s problems. “We hold them [the organisers] responsible for any problems caused by the conference.”

A large number of important regional actors did not receive an invitation, “even those affiliated with FFC-CC, due to the poor organisation,” Khidir explained.

He also noted the participation of affiliates of the disbanded National Congress Party of former dictator Omar Al Bashir and commanders of the infamous Rapid Support Forces in El Gedaref.

“The invitees were not notified of the conference’s agenda and its relationship to the Framework Agreement. The paper presenters were notified two days in advance to prepare their presentations,” Khidir complained.

“All in all, it is likely that the sole purpose of the conference is to have it happen in order to reach a final agreement with the military.”

He stressed the necessity of holding workshops in all localities in the three eastern Sudanese states, and of collecting their recommendations to be studied and agreed on at a more appropriate time.

Take revolutionary actors seriously

The Regional Centre for Civil Society Training and Development praised the participation of many stakeholders in the conferences on contentious issues in the country, but stressed the need “to ensure the participation of a wide spectrum of those who are committed to the goals of the revolution, and to take them seriously as well”.

The centre said in a statement yesterday that the political process needs to be transparent and inclusive with broad participation in order to agree on a new transitional constitutional document.

Source: Radio Dabanga