KHARTOUM: Sudan’s Foreign Ministry on Saturday condemned the killing of 18 Sudanese people during an attack by an armed group from Chad, state media reported.
The killings took place on Thursday when Sudanese herders from West Darfur state were ambushed while following the trails of camels looted by the Chadians the day before, according to Sudan’s ruling Sovereign Council.
On Saturday, Sudan’s acting Foreign Minister Ali Al-Sadiq conveyed his country’s “protest and condemnation of the incident,” in a meeting with Chad’s ambassador to Khartoum.
He also “demanded that Chad exert an effort to arrest the assailants and to recover the stolen items,” according to Sudan’s official news agency.
Sudan has faced deepening unrest since army chief Gen. Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan led a military coup in October last year.
The putsch upended a transition to civilian rule put in place following the 2019 ouster of President Omar Bashir.
The power grab exacerbated political and economic turmoil in the country.
The security situation has deteriorated, with a spike in ethnic clashes in Sudan’s far-flung regions.
Thursday’s incident sparked anger among Sudanese living in Geneina, the capital of West Darfur state near the border with Chad.
The deputy head of the Sovereign Council, Mohammed Hamdan Daglo, had on Thursday been in N’Djamena where he discussed border security in a meeting with Chad’s leader Gen. Mahamat Idriss Deby.
On Friday, Daglo called for restraint and vowed during the funeral of the slain Sudanese herders to take actions to bring “the chaos” along the border under control.
Daglo commands the powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Forces which emerged from the Janjaweed militia unleashed in Darfur by the government of then-President Bashir.
A Bashir ally, Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman, is on trial at the International Criminal Court in the Hague for war crimes allegedly committed in Darfur roughly two decades ago when he was a Janjaweed commander.
Bashir is also wanted by the court.
Last month, Burhan pledged to step aside and make way for civilian groups to form a new government but Sudan’s main civilian bloc dismissed the move as a “ruse.”
Sudan government accuses Chad of cross-border attack
https://arab.news/n6jgp
Sudan government accuses Chad of cross-border attack
- Sudan has faced deepening unrest since army chief Gen. Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan led a military coup in October last year
UN chief condemns Israeli law blocking electricity, water for UNRWA facilities
- The agency provides education, health and aid to millions of Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria
United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres condemned on Wednesday a move by Israel to ban electricity or water to facilities owned by the UN Palestinian refugee agency, a UN spokesperson said.
The spokesperson said the move would “further impede” the agency’s ability to operate and carry out activities.
“The Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations remains applicable to UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East), its property and assets, and to its officials and other personnel. Property used by UNRWA is inviolable,” Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the secretary-general, said while adding that UNRWA is an “integral” part of the world body.
UNRWA Commissioner General Phillipe Lazzarini also condemned the move, saying that it was part of an ongoing “ systematic campaign to discredit UNRWA and thereby obstruct” the role it plays in providing assistance to Palestinian refugees.
In 2024, the Israeli parliament passed a law banning the agency from operating in the country and prohibiting officials from having contact with the agency.
As a result, UNRWA operates in East Jerusalem, which the UN considers territory occupied by Israel. Israel considers all Jerusalem to be part of the country.
The agency provides education, health and aid to millions of Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. It has long had tense relations with Israel but ties have deteriorated sharply since the start of the war in Gaza and Israel has called repeatedly for UNRWA to be disbanded, with its responsibilities transferred to other UN agencies.
The prohibition of basic utilities to the UN agency came as Israel also suspended of dozens of international non-governmental organizations working in Gaza due to a failure to meet new rules to vet those groups.
In a joint statement, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Japan, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom said on Tuesday such a move would have a severe impact on the access of essential services, including health care. They said one in three health care facilities in Gaza would close if international NGO operations stopped.
