Airstrikes reported in Sudanese capital; paramilitary group claims to seize palace
Source: Washington Post
Airstrikes slammed into neighborhoods in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum and three planes were set aflame in the main airport as the military and a heavily armed paramilitary force battled in the streets on Saturday, pushing the troubled Horn of Africa nation to the cusp of a civil war.
The outbreak of violence follows years of ratcheting tensions between the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a major paramilitary group led by Vice President Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo — universally referred to as Hemedti — and the military, headed by Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, the nation’s president.
Shooting broke out around 9 a.m., residents said, and fighting quickly escalated as artillery, armored vehicles and then fighter jets were deployed. Bridges were blocked and three planes at the international airport were hit, witnesses said.
The RSF claimed it had taken control of sites including the presidential palace, Khartoum International Airport, and the airport in Merowe, north of the capital. The Sudanese Armed Forces dismissed RSF statements as “lies.” Both sides blamed the other for attacking first.
Evidence Emerges of Russia’s Wagner Arming Militia Leader Battling Sudan’s Army
by Nima Elbagir, Gianluca Mezzofiore, Tamara Qiblawi and Barbara Arvanitidis.
Updated April 21, 2023
Introduction:
London CNN —
The Russian mercenary group Wagner has been supplying Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces with missiles to aid their fight against the country’s army, Sudanese and regional diplomatic sources have told CNN.
The sources said the surface-to-air missiles have significantly buttressed RSF paramilitary fighters and their leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo as he battles for power with Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, Sudan’s military ruler and the head of its armed forces.
In bordering Libya, where a Wagner-backed rogue general, Khalifa Haftar, controls swathes of land, satellite imagery supports these claims, showing an unusual uptick in activity on Wagner bases
The powerful Russian mercenary group has played a public and pivotal role in Moscow’s foreign military campaigns, namely in Ukraine, and has repeatedly been accused of committing atrocities. In Africa, it has helped to prop up Moscow’s growing influence and seizing of resources.
Dagalo and Burhan had been jockeying for power in negotiations over restoring civilian leadership in Sudan before talks broke down, erupting into some of the worst violence the country has seen in decades.
Sudan: First flight evacuating British nationals has left amid ceasefire, Downing Street confirms
Tuesday 25 April 2023 at 4:35pm
The UK government has said urgent rescue efforts are underway to rescue thousands of trapped British nationals in Sudan, Romilly Weeks reports
Downing Street has confirmed the first British military flight evacuating UK nationals has left Sudan after a 72-hour ceasefire was agreed, with two more trips to take place overnight.
After growing criticism of its failure to help civilians trapped in the country as violence escalates, the government later confirmed it would run evacuation flights for UK nationals from an airfield outside Khartoum.
The prime minister's official spokesperson said on Tuesday: "The first flight has left and you can expect that there will be at least two more flights overnight tonight but that is subject to change."
The situation is “fast-moving” but the flight that has already left is expected to arrive in Cyprus later.
U.S. Navy Sea Base to Reposition Off Sudan For Evacuation Contingency by Joseph Trevithick
April 24 , 2023
Introduction:
(The Drive)The U.S. Navy's Expeditionary Sea Base ship USS Lewis B. Puller is on its way to take up a position off the coast of Sudan where it could support evacuation efforts if required. The ship's unique abilities to support these kinds of operations are among the exact reasons why the Navy began working to acquire vessels of this type more than a decade ago.
Pentagon spokesperson Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder announced that Puller was headed for Sudan earlier today at a routine press conference. The Navy had already deployed the Arleigh Burke class destroyer USS Truxtun to the area, where it is also on call, if necessary. The deployment of Puller follows a U.S. military operation this weekend to help American diplomats and their dependents evacuate Sudan's capital Khartoum, which you can read more about in The War Zone's past reporting on the crisis here.
UN Refugee Agency Warns More Than 800,000 May Flee Sudan May 1, 2023
Introduction:
(Al Jazeera) More than 800,000 people may flee Sudan as a result of the ongoing conflict, the United Nations refugee agency has said, including Sudanese nationals and thousands of existing refugees living temporarily in the country.
“In consultation with all concerned governments and partners, we’ve arrived at a planning figure of 815,000 people that may flee into the seven neighbouring countries,” Raouf Mazou, UNHCR assistant high commissioner for refugees, told a member-state briefing in Geneva, Switzerland.
Some 73,000 have already left Sudan, he added.
Mazou’s estimate includes approximately 580,000 Sudanese, while the others are refugees who had settled in the country for safety.
UNHCR chief Filippo Grandi later said the planning figure was indicative. “We hope it doesn’t come to that, but if violence doesn’t stop we will see more people forced to flee Sudan seeking safety,” he said in a tweet.
Humanitarian Agreement Announced in Sudan by Nolan Stout
May 12, 2023
Introduction:
(Courthouse News) — The United States and Saudi Arabia announced a humanitarian agreement from the warring factions in Sudan on Thursday night as senior State Department officials rebuffed speculation over what contribution U.S. foreign policy decisions had in the fighting.
Representatives for the warring Sudanese Army (SAF) and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary have been meeting since Saturday in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, to establish a ceasefire and facilitate humanitarian aid.
The U.S. and Saudi Arabia stepped in to facilitate negotiations after a Western-backed agreement to transition to a civilian government unraveled last month into the ongoing conflict. The U.S. largely evacuated its personnel from Sudan almost three weeks ago, as did other countries, when fighting broke out and the State Department has facilitated the departure of more than 2,000 people from the country since that time.
An announcement on the agreement from the U.S. State Department says it “recognizes the obligations of both sides under international humanitarian and human rights law to facilitate humanitarian action to meet the emergency needs of civilians."
It seeks to promote the safe delivery of humanitarian aid, restoring essential services, withdrawing forces from hospitals and clinics, and allowing respectful burial of casualties.
Sudan’s Army, Rapid Support Forces Sign 7-day Ceasefire May 21, 2023
Introduction:
(Al Jazeera) Warring factions in Sudan have agreed to a seven-day ceasefire following talks in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah, according to a statement from Washington and Riyadh, as fighting that has killed hundreds and displaced more than a million entered its sixth week.
The ceasefire agreement was signed late on Saturday.
It will take effect 48 hours after, at 9:45pm local time (19:45 GMT) on Monday, the sponsors of the talks, the United States and Saudi Arabia, said in their joint statement.
Numerous previous ceasefire agreements were violated. However, this agreement will be enforced by a US-Saudi and international-supported monitoring mechanism, the statement said without providing details.
The agreement also calls for distributing humanitarian assistance, restoring essential services and withdrawing forces from hospitals and essential public facilities.
Fire razes school dormitory in Guyana, killing at least 19 children, many of them Indigenous
Source: AP
By BERT WILKINSON an hour ago
GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AP) — A nighttime fire raced through a dormitory in Guyana early Monday, killing at least 19 students and injuring several others at a boarding school catering to remote, mostly Indigenous villages, authorities said.
“This is a horrific incident. It’s tragic. It’s painful,” President Irfaan Ali said, adding that his government was mobilizing all possible resources to care for the children.
The fire broke out shortly before midnight in the dormitory building of a secondary school in the southwestern border town of Mahdia, a gold and diamond mining community about 200 miles (320 kilometers) south of the capital, Georgetown, the government said in a statement.
Officials initially said 20 students were killed but later updated the toll to 19, with several others injured. National Security Adviser Gerald Gouveia said the figure was revised after doctors revived a very critical patient that “everyone thought was dead.”
