Aid Groups Warn of Rise in Darfur Violence, Dozens Killed

Internally displaced Sudanese women carry water from a tap near their makeshift shelter within the Kalma camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Darfur, Sudan, April 26, 2019. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah
Internally displaced Sudanese women carry water from a tap near their makeshift shelter within the Kalma camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Darfur, Sudan, April 26, 2019. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah
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Aid Groups Warn of Rise in Darfur Violence, Dozens Killed

Internally displaced Sudanese women carry water from a tap near their makeshift shelter within the Kalma camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Darfur, Sudan, April 26, 2019. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah
Internally displaced Sudanese women carry water from a tap near their makeshift shelter within the Kalma camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Darfur, Sudan, April 26, 2019. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah

Dozens of people have been killed in violence this week in three separate areas of Sudan's West Darfur region and thousands of people have fled the violence, local medics said.

The West Darfur Doctors Committee said in statements on Wednesday and Thursday that attacks in the Kreinik area killed 88 and wounded 84, while renewed violence in the Jebel Moon area killed 25 and wounded four. Meanwhile, violence in the Sarba locality killed eight and wounded six.

"They have created a wave of displacement from the outskirts into the town, with a humanitarian situation that can be described at the very least as catastrophic," the committee said in a statement late on Wednesday, referring to Kreinik.

One resident said a camp of displaced people had been flattened and thousands of people had sought refuge in government buildings.

"The area is completely destroyed," the resident said, Reuters reported.

Analysts say a peace deal signed by some rebel groups in October 2020 was one cause of unrest as local groups jostled for power. A joint United Nations-African Union peacekeeping mission stopped patrolling in January.

Humanitarian groups said there had been a rise in conflict across the wider Darfur region recently.

The Coordinating Committee for Refugee and Displacement Camps, a local NGO, said on Wednesday there was renewed violence in the Jebel Moon area, where aid workers reported 43 people killed and 10,000 displaced in violence last month.

The Zamzam refugee camp was being encircled by militias on Wednesday and the Donki Shata area of North Darfur was also attacked, the committee said on Wednesday.

The early-2000s conflict in Darfur between rebel groups on one side and government forces and allied militias on the other has caused an estimated 300,000 deaths. About 2.5 million people live in displacement camps across Darfur, according to UN refugee agency UNHCR.

The Coordinating Committee and Darfur residents complain that the militias continue to carry out attacks on villages and camps.

Some 430,000 people have been displaced over the past year, a four-fold increase over 2020, aid groups say.

"National authorities and the international community must urgently deal with the bloody reality of this spiralling violence," Will Carter of the Norwegian Refugee Council said in a statement on Wednesday.



Kabbashi: Sudan War Nearing End, Arms Proliferation Poses Major Threat

Shams al-Din Kabbashi, a member of Sudan’s Sovereign Council and deputy commander of the army, said his government has no objection to delivering aid to other states, provided guarantees are in place (Sudan News Agency)
Shams al-Din Kabbashi, a member of Sudan’s Sovereign Council and deputy commander of the army, said his government has no objection to delivering aid to other states, provided guarantees are in place (Sudan News Agency)
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Kabbashi: Sudan War Nearing End, Arms Proliferation Poses Major Threat

Shams al-Din Kabbashi, a member of Sudan’s Sovereign Council and deputy commander of the army, said his government has no objection to delivering aid to other states, provided guarantees are in place (Sudan News Agency)
Shams al-Din Kabbashi, a member of Sudan’s Sovereign Council and deputy commander of the army, said his government has no objection to delivering aid to other states, provided guarantees are in place (Sudan News Agency)

The war in Sudan is nearing its end, a top military official said on Saturday, warning that the widespread availability of weapons could pose one of the biggest threats to the country’s stability in the post-war period.
Shams al-Din Kabbashi, a member of Sudan’s Sovereign Council and deputy commander of the army, told state governors in the temporary capital of Port Sudan that arms proliferation is a “major danger awaiting the state.”
“The areas that have been retaken must be handed over to the police for administration,” Kabbashi said, stressing that civilian policing, not military control, should take over in recaptured territories.
He also pointed to the need to redeploy troops currently stationed at checkpoints and security outposts in liberated regions. “We need these forces on other frontlines,” he said.
Kabbashi described the rise in hate speech triggered by the conflict as “unacceptable” and warned that Sudan would face deep social challenges once the fighting stops.
According to Kabbashi, the Sudanese armed forces are in a strong position after initial setbacks at the start of the war, as the military seeks to shift focus to restoring internal security and supporting civil governance in liberated areas.
“The situation of the armed forces and supporting units is more than good,” said Kabbashi. “We were in a bad place at the beginning of the war — now we are more than fine.”
Kabbashi added that army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan is highly focused on ensuring public safety across the country, calling security “a top priority, ahead of all other services.”
He warned, however, that Sudan faces deeper challenges beyond the battlefield. “The plot against Sudan is bigger than the militia we’re fighting — they are only the front,” Kabbashi said, referring to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) without naming them directly.
He pointed to rising crime, widespread weapons, and looting as major security threats that emerged during the war, saying state authorities would have a significant role to play in restoring order.
Kabbashi urged state governors to back police forces in their efforts to maintain law and order, emphasizing that police support is “urgently needed” during the current transitional phase.