Following the independence of South Sudan, Insight on Conflict will be producing a weekly round-up of the news. To subscribe to receive the updates via email, please contact joel@insightonconflict.org or complete the form below.
News roundup
- The Satellite Sentinel project says it has evidence of a mass movement of North Sudanese troops into Blue Nile state. The Satellite Sentinel Project believe a major attack against the rebel-held town of Kurmuk is imminent. Earlier in the week North Sudan say they won a major victory and drove SPLM-N rebels from a key town, the rebels deny this and say they are still in control.
- There has been more fighting in South Kordofan. Three parliamentarians representing South Kordofan have quit the National Assembly in Khartoum over the continuing violence.
- In North Sudan hundreds have protested and clashed with police after two people died when police tried to remove illegally built shelters. Human Rights Watch says political repression in the North is worsening.
- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visited North Sudan on a trip aimed at strengthening ties between the two countries.
- A UN human rights expert has expressed concern over the situation in both North and South Sudan.
- At the UN General Assembly, South Sudanese President Salva Kiir appealed for help from the international community in building a new state. He said after decades of conflict the South is so poor there is nothing “worth rebuilding”.
- South Sudan has announced a new plan to fight corruption.
- Two South Sudanese police officers have been suspended over the assault of a UN staff member.
- President Omar al Bashir has appointed the leader of the former-rebel group, the Liberation and Justice Movement, as head of the Darfur Regional Authority. Sudanese army and rebels in Darfur have clashed along the Libyan border.
- Fighting between nomads and farmers in Darfur has left five dead.
- The Sudanese Liberation Movement, one of the largest Darfur rebel groups, has criticised UNAMID, saying they don’t believe them to be a neutral mediator.
News in detail
Darfur
Sudan Tribune: SLM rebels say UNAMID chief is "no longer a neutral and valid interlocutor” 19 Sept: Darfur rebels the Sudan Liberation Movement led by Abdel Wahid al-Nur (SLM-AW) slammed the head of the hybrid UN/African Union peacekeeping operation (UNAMID) and temporary peace mediator, Ibrahim Gambari, saying he is no longer a neutral interlocutor in the eight year conflict in Darfur. Read more
AFP: Sudan army 'attacks rebels' on Darfur-Libya border 21 Sept: The Sudanese army have attacked a heavily armed convoy of Darfur rebels near the war-torn region's border with Libya, killing one and seizing a truck load of weapons, the army spokesman said on Tuesday. Read more
Sudan Tribune: Sudan’s President appoints LJM leader as head of Darfur regional authority 21 Sept: Sudanese president Omer Hassan al-Bashir today appointed the leader of the Liberation and Equality Movement (LJM) Tijani el-Sissi at the head of Darfur Regional Authority (DRA). Read more
AFP: Sudan army attacks Darfur villages, 7 killed: rebels 24 Sept: The Sudanese army attacked two villages in North Darfur, killing seven of their inhabitants, a spokesman for one of the region's main rebel factions said on Friday. Read more
AFP: Deadly Darfur clash between farmers and nomads: UN 25 Sept: A deadly gunbattle in Darfur, which rebels had blamed on the Sudanese army, was between nomads and farmers trying to stop them crossing their land, the UN said Sunday, revising the toll down to five. Read more
North Sudan
Reuters: Sudan waives food tax, duties to fight inflation 21 Sept: Sudan will temporarily waive taxes and custom duties on a range of basic food items to fight spiralling inflation, a government official said on Tuesday, after price rises triggered a rare call to boycott meat. Read more
AFP: Sudan political repression 'worsening' 22 Sept: Sudan's government has intensified its crackdown on political opponents in recent weeks, banning opposition parties, arresting hundreds of their members and stifling press freedom, a rights group has warned. Read more
Reuters: Hundreds protest after two killed in east Sudan 22 Sept: Sudanese police used teargas to disperse a protest by hundreds of tribesmen in east Sudan on Thursday after two people died during clashes with police, residents said. Read more
South Kordofan
AFP: Heavy fighting in Sudan border region - rebel leader 20 Sept: Heavy fighting in Sudan's war-torn border region saw rebels drive the army back at a key garrison town, one of its leaders said Monday, as the United Nations warned the conflict could jeopardise peace between north and south. Read more
AFP: Heavy fighting across Sudan conflict state, 'dozens killed' 22 Sept: Clashes between troops and rebels in Sudan's war-torn state of South Kordofan Thursday killed dozens of people, UN and rebel sources said, with an NGO worker reportedly among the dead. Read more
BLue Nile
Reuters: Sudan says seizes strategic city in Blue Nile, rebels deny 22 Sept: Sudan government forces have seized control of a strategic city in Blue Nile state after fighting with rebels allied with South Sudan, a military spokesman said on Wednesday. Read more
AFP: Sudan 'set for major attack' in Blue Nile 24 Sept: Fresh satellite images appear to show the Sudanese army preparing to launch a major assault on the rebel-held border town of Kurmuk in the embattled state of Blue Nile, US monitors said on Friday. Read more
Sudan Tribune: Sudan’s rebels report air attacks in border states 25 Sept: The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement North (SPLM-N) has claimed that aerial bombardment carried out by the Sudanese army in Blue Nile State has displaced half of the population there, urging international organizations to aid the victims. Read more
South Sudan
VOA: Southern Kordofan Lawmakers Quit Sudan's National Assembly 20 Sept: Three Southern Kordofan members of National Assembly in Khartoum have resigned, citing the humanitarian crisis in their constituencies as the sole reason for stepping down. Amar Amoun who heads the committee on transport and communication in the assembly said villages in Southern Kordofan are being bombed daily, civilians are living in caves and exposed to hunger and diseases. Read more
Sudan Tribune: S. Sudan Police suspends two officers over assault on UN staff 20 Sept: South Sudan Police Service (SSPS) has suspended two of its officers and resolved to punish another four over a recent incident in which they were accused of assaulting a senior human rights officer with United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS). Read more
BBC: South Sudan's President Salva Kiir to fight corruption 21 Sept: Newly independent South Sudan has announced a series of measures to combat corruption. Read more
VOA: South Sudan President Meets With Obama 22 Sept: U.S. President Barack Obama has pledged to remain committed to helping the people of South Sudan, but called on President Salva Kiir to work on resolving issues remaining with neighboring Sudan. Read more
Reuters: South Sudan seeks funds to develop oil assets 22 Sept: South Sudan is taking control of vast oil resources previously managed by the North but the poor, two-month-old state needs urgent funds to boost infrastructure, a top oil ministry adviser told Reuters on Wednesday. Read more
DAWN: South Sudan’s chronic food shortages to worsen - UN 23 Sept: The United Nations said on Thursday that a drop in South Sudan’s food production could leave 1.2 million people facing severe shortages in 2012, amid internal and border insecurity, erratic rains and returns from the north. Read more
North-South Relations
AFP: Sudan border disputes risk prolonging unrest - UN expert 23 Sept: Several outstanding border disputes risk prolonging the conflict between North and South Sudan, the independent expert on the human rights situation in the Sudan told the UN's rights body Monday. Read more
International
UN: Human rights in Sudan and South Sudan remain precarious, UN expert warns 20 Sept: The human rights situation remains precarious in Sudan and newly independent South Sudan, a United Nations independent expert said today, calling for full fundamental freedoms in the former and concrete steps to protect civilians in violence-torn parts of the latter. Read more
AFP: Ahmadinejad visit to bolster Iran-Sudan ties: envoy 25 Sept: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is due to arrive in Khartoum late on Sunday for a brief visit aimed at bolstering political and economic ties between the allied Islamic nations. Read more
AFP: South Sudan: there's nothing 'worth rebuilding' 24 Sept: The president of newly independent South Sudan appealed to the world for help Friday, saying his country is so poor it has nothing "worth rebuilding" after suffering decades of war. Read more
