Sudan

Intense fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and its allied militias on one side and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on the other has left at least seven dead and 45 injured near El Fasher, North Darfur. 

“The world is forgetting about the people of Sudan” the UN chief warned on Monday, calling for a boost in humanitarian funding and a global push for peace to end a year of brutal fighting between rival militaries. 

In a brief Eid al-Fitr address to the nation, Sudanese army chief Lt Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan declared a decisive break with the past. He stressed that the pre-war period, encompassing both al-Bashir’s regime and the transitional government, is over. Sudan is on a new path.

Over 8.5 million Sudanese have been forced to flee their homes in Sudan since the war between rival militaries erupted last April, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said on Tuesday. … Over 13,000 people are reported to have been killed, thousands more injured, and attacks on civilians, and conflict-related sexual and gender-based violence continue unabated.

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) delivered its first food and nutrition assistance to Darfur in months, reaching 250,000 people facing acute hunger. However, the agency warns of a worsening hunger crisis in Sudan unless aid flows consistently through all possible routes, including cross-border corridors and across conflict lines.

The United States warned on Thursday (March 28) that it would push the U.N. Security Council to take action to get aid to starving people in Sudan, possibly by authorizing cross-border deliveries from Chad, if the Sudanese armed forces do not restore full access.

U.S. Special Envoy for Sudan Tom Perriello announced on Tuesday that his country is pushing for the resumption of peace talks in Sudan by April 18th. … Perriello emphasized the need for inclusivity in the Saudi-hosted talks and the importance of participation from key regional players like the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, the East African bloc IGAD, and the African Union.

The United States hopes for a relaunch of talks aimed at ending the conflict in Sudan and opening up humanitarian access soon after Ramadan ends in mid-April, Washington's newly appointed envoy said on Thursday.

Eleven months of brutal fighting is driving a hunger crisis in Sudan, with some areas likely to experience catastrophic levels of food insecurity by the lean season in May, the UN Security Council heard on Wednesday. 

The head of Sudan's army has told troops it will press to take more ground after its most significant advance in an 11-month-old war against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), as a charity warned of a rising risk of hunger-linked deaths.