KHARTOUM: Sudan’s transitional government ordered the immediate closure of the nation’s borders with Libya and Central African Republic on Thursday, citing unspecified security and economic “dangers.”
A statement by the Sovereign Transitional Council said vehicles had been illegally crossing the borders with the two nations, which have both been mired in violence. The council did not give further details about what the “dangers” were.
The announcement followed a meeting between the council and the government of South Darfur State, part of Sudan’s western Darfur region that has suffered from violence since 2003 when a conflict erupted between mainly non-Arab tribes and the Arab-led national government of ousted President Omar Hassan Al-Bashir.
Sudan has often complained about arms trafficked through its borders with Libya and Central African Republic. Conflicts in both nations have left their governments with little or no control of security over swathes of their territory.
The statement did not mention Chad, which has a long border with Sudan’s Darfur region. Chad and Sudan have security pacts in place and joint forces patrol the boundary.
Sudan closes borders with Libya, Central African Republic
Sudan closes borders with Libya, Central African Republic
- The Sovereign Transitional Council said vehicles had been illegally crossing the borders with the two nations
Syria army’s clashes with Kurds ‘setback’ to Turkiye peace process: PKK spokesman
- “The developments in Syria and the larger Middle East have a direct effect on the peace process in Turkiye,” said Hiwa
- The attacks “against the Kurds are a plot and conspiracy against the peace process”
BAGHDAD: Recent clashes between Syria’s military and Kurdish forces are a “setback” and a “plot” to derail the PKK peace process with Turkiye, a spokesman for the Kurdish militant group told AFP on Tuesday.
“The developments in Syria and the larger Middle East have a direct effect on the peace process in Turkiye,” said Zagros Hiwa, spokesman for the political wing of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party.
The attacks “against the Kurds are a plot and conspiracy against the peace process and they indicate a setback in the process,” he said.
Syria’s government and Kurdish forces on Saturday extended a truce by 15 days after the Kurds lost large areas to government forces during weeks of clashes.
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) find themselves now restricted to Kurdish-majority areas in the country’s north.
Turkiye is a close ally of Syria’s new leadership that overthrew Bashar Assad in December 2024, and which is now seeking to extend state control across Syria.
Ankara is simultaneously leading a drive to reach a settlement with the PKK — listed as a terror group by Turkiye and its Western allies.
Last year, the PKK said it was ending its four-decade insurgency in favor of democratic means but the process has largely stalled amid the stand-off in Syria.
Turkiye accuses the Syrian Kurdish forces of being an offshoot of the PKK.
Hiwa said the PKK’s “commitment to the peace process is a strategic issue.”
But he added that “the new strategy does not exclude the urgency of self-defense against genocidal attacks.”
