The Inside Story | Crisis in Sudan

[Music] this week on the Inside Story crisis in Sudan generals at War take battle positions in the capital city cartoon how did we get here and what is Washington saying about the conflict new peace negotiations stand a chance or are they just theater plus why is the Russian paramilitary Wagner group arming the conflict now the Inside Story crisis in Sudan [Music] thank you [Music] hello and welcome to the inside story I'm Salem Solomon VOA Africa divisions senior editor to understand the conflict in Sudan you have to go back to 2019 when the Sudanese military ousted then president Omar Bashir following Nationwide protests another coup occurred in 2021 when an uneasy power sharing agreement between military and civilian leaders went sour that left a military Council in charge led by two generals each in charge of their own large contingent of Fighters those two generals in turn disagreed about how to move the country forward toward civilian rule their disagreement turned violent in April and despite a few ceasefires civilian debts widespread World condemnation and the threat of a massive humanitarian crisis the fighting continues the crisis in Sudan today on the Inside Story relax we start off this week with a story from Sudan's capital Khartoum they're fighting between rival military factions has the civilian population Under Siege as bloody battles threatened to spill into a second month here's a story we worked on with ibrahim's reporting from Khartoum and idrisafa and Carol VanDam contributing from Washington as rival military factions continue fighting parts of Sudan's capital city of Khartoum are on fire most residents are Sheltering in place while those who can flee the city are doing so and as Muhammad a student from white nail state in the south is leaving he says that his neighbor was shot and bullets were flying into his home forcing him to run there is no safe place in the capital now so we are forced to leave we wish peace and safety for those who are still going to stay in Khartoum and that no harm will happen to them we pray for them but I think it is better for them to leave for their safety the fighting in Sudan stems from a 2019 coup that ousted former leader Omar al-Bashir at the center of that coup were two Sudanese military groups one led by General Abdel fatah and the other by General Muhammad hamdan known as hemeti head of the paramilitary rapid support forces the two LED another cool in 2021 Austin that democratically elected prime minister and suspending the Constitution since then promises for a peaceful transition to a civilian government have been overshadowed by tensions between the two over who would lead a Consolidated military us as though they were part Partners in trying to build a transition when in fact they were doing everything they could to thwart the transition the former Sudanese ambassador to the U.S says the generals should prioritize the people they are serving stop the war protect civilians and provide the necessary humanitarian assistance and then of course try to put pressure on the belligerence to accept the return to a normal State what for us means is civilian government in the meantime residents seek safety as many face power outages and dwindling water and Food Supplies we are looking for a safe place to shelter Us in the absence of water and food in the difficult situations we are currently living in we ask God to be kind to us some civilians are desperate for any news about the cause of the fighting and prospects for peace from the beginning of these events we as civilians did not know what to do we do not know the truth about the party that controls matters and appeals for help are coming from some heartum residents who fled other conflicts in the region such as Rosa matama from Ethiopia who has lived in Sudan for seven years now we stay you without electric without water without bread without anything so we need somebody to help us please we can't help you nobody can help us you know my children now they didn't drink they don't eat anything we've seen how warring generals turned the Sudanese Capital into a war zone in mid-april but how did Khartoum become Ground Zero for this conflict and how did this conflict get here here's the inside story of the critical moments that helped shape today's political landscape in Sudan in April 2019 thousands of people crowded the streets of Sudan's capital cartoon to celebrate the ouster of longtime dictator Omar al-Bashir there was hope the country was entering a new era a civilian prime minister Abdullah hamdak was appointed to lead a transitional government made up of civilians and members of the military the goal was to prepare for an election and to return the country to democracy but by 2021 cracks had emerged the country's economy was in tatters with inflation topping 400 and shortages of key items like bread the military controlled large sectors of the economy including Banks mines and agricultural conglomerates the military refused to relinquish control as hamdock and other civilians tried to Institute reforms the military leadership resisted on October 25th 2021 hamdock was placed under house arrest and soon thereafter two generals took power one of them Muhammad hamdan degalo better known as hamidi commanded the rapid support forces a paramilitary group widely known for its brutality hamedi Rose to prominence in 2004 as the head of the johnjaweed a feared militia made up largely of men on Horseback they led a campaign in Darfur that caused the deaths of an estimated 300 000 people and resulted in al-Bashir being indicted by the international criminal court for crimes against humanity the other General Abdel fatah al-barhan was head of the and armed forces the two men entered into a tense power sharing agreement accorded support from different foreign powers albraham built close ties with Egypt hamedi sought support from Russia and the United Arab Emirates on April 15 2023 quite interrupted during the saf and the rsf it began near the Army Headquarters and the airport in cartoon but soon engulfed other parts of the city the saf used Jets to bomb the rsf who responded with anti-aircraft fire at least 528 people have been killed and about 4 600 wounded Sudan's Health Minister said though the real death toll is suspected to be higher the U.N Refugee agency unhcr said more than 128 000 people have left Sudan and about 900 000 are expected to flee to neighboring countries in the coming weeks the fighting has spread to other parts of the country including the fragile western region of Darfur experts warned that fighting in Darfur could reignite a deadly conflict from the early 2000s that included massacres the U.S recognized as genocide as foreign governments evacuated citizens a ceasefire between the two sides was repeatedly broken the U.N official coordinating relief efforts in the country Abdul Yang warned that it was devolving into a full-blown catastrophe the conflict in Sudan could have a significant impact on neighboring countries and cause Regional instability the influx of Sudanese refugees has put a strain on its neighbors resources particularly food water and shelter recently and following intense negotiations between the country's rival factions and Washington a tenuous ceasefire restored some semblance of normalcy but it remains shaky at best let's take a look at how diplomacy prevailed even for a brief moment in time after weeks of fighting that has killed hundreds and caught millions of ordinary people in the middle a long awaited break earlier this month the leaders of both of Sudan's armed factions announced the one-week ceasefire to allow for talks the state department says they have been seeking a ceasefire for weeks every time that this ceasefire is extended it allows us to continue to work hand in hand through the auspices of the Quad through the auspices of the Au igad and the U.N to get us to a durable cessation of hostilities that will hopefully take us back to what we believe is the is the will of the Sudanese people and that is the transitional government President Joe Biden had previously called the violence unconscionable and called for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire and unhindered humanitarian access the United States evacuated its Personnel last month and temporarily suspended Embassy operations the White House said it remains in gay aged we remain in close contact with the Sudanese military and civilian leaders to see what we can to help them identify patu a a to each a sustainable cessation secession pardon me of hostilities that include humanitarian arrangements and we are engaged at the highest levels regularly and then Addis Ababa the African Union said they too are hard at work on the problem Decades of U.S sanctions and testy relations between Washington and Khartoum has led U.S officials to say that Regional Partners need to be involved in brokering a solution we have agreed on the necessity to intensify collectively and individually all our effort to reach as soon as possible a complete unconditional efficient inclusive ceasefire all over Sudan but as the days take by without a peace the old many are wondering is this just a break or a breakthrough for Anita Powell at the White House I'm a rash arabisari VOA news reports emerged that the Kremlin Lake Wagner group could be supplying weapons to one of the warring parties in the conflict in Sudan the Wagner group is a Russian government-backed paramilitary group the reports come as the conflict in Sudan continues to escalate with both sides accusing each other of Human Rights abuses and war crimes the United Nations has warned that the situation could quickly spiral out of control new reports suggest that the kremlin-backed mercenaries with the Wagner group in Sudan may have offered weapons to one of the two rival Sudanese generals but as violence rages in the country high-level U.S officials have expressed concern that the group's involvement will only worsen the situation obviously we don't want to see this conflict expand or broaden and we certainly wouldn't want to see additional Firepower brought to bear that will just continue the violence and continue to escalate the tensions two generals are fighting for power General Abdel fatah burhan and general Muhammad hamdan dogolo or hemeti hemeti traveled to Russia last year and has sought to win support from Wagner committee and his rapid support forces are largely in control of the major gold mining regions in Sudan and have very likely been complicit in Gold smuggling for years thus the Wagner group is siding with the party they think is most likely to be able to continue to secure these interests particularly in opposition to any civilian-led government meant the Wagner group's history in Sudan dates back to the previous government of Omar al-Bashir Wagner's leader Evgeni pogosian had a close relationship with former autocratic leader al-Bashir after alvashir relinquished power due to a popular Uprising Wagner continued to have a close relationship with the Sudanese military particularly the paramilitary rapid support forces headed by hemeti it's a pattern analysts have seen before the Wagner group does seem to engage with African countries on a pretty predictable sort of pattern normally it starts with a cultivation of Elites or at least a subset of Elites and then that is followed up with a formal military technical agreement between the the states um and this could be something like you know Russia will supply arms in exchange for concessions that allow them to do mining or other kinds of resource extractions since the fighting began in April there have been unconfirmed reports saying that the Wagner Fighters are supporting the aggressive and supplying them with weapons and armor Russia sees Sudan as a strategic location with vast mineral wealth and are eager to help install a friendly leader say analysts we've seen a lot in recent months about Russia's efforts to gain us a port on the Red Sea in Sudan through an official military relationship and they've signed other official military relationships with other countries in the region Wagner's involvement in other parts of the continent like Libya the Central African Republic and Mali has in many cases been problematic says Ben Dalton of new America a washington-based think tank they've been associated with widespread atrocities everywhere they go you see you know civilian deaths and various atrocities um and you know Russia's interests are in extracting the continent's resources so that it can strengthen its own position and build a web to resist sort of international sanctions they don't really have the interests of Africans at heart and as the conflict rages civilians continue to pay the price [Music] foreign we've seen the numbers behind the conflict but few people are as well versed as the Sudanese ambassadors to the U.S VOA English to Africa's John tanza and Anthony labrudo spoke with current and former diplomats who said they hope the shaky ceasefire will eventually lead to long-term peace talks the government is committed to the to resume the the the political process if this car crisis is is is is solved and and uh and uh and uh and the political process should also uh lead to a civilian-led government that could lead a a transition and period expected also to end up with elections free and fair elections uh and that enables Sudanese people to elect their the the the their their leaders the sudanis are expecting a role of the U.S as a leader of the International Community to continue its pressure on the two belligerence in order to stop the war that the fair is a priority the second priority is to do everything possible in order to stabilize the situation uh and and come to the risky of the Sudanese people because the humanitarian situation as you know is is really catastrophic it's really there and there's urgent need for humanitarian action uh opening uh corridors in Italian corridors and reaching out to people uh those who can be reached in order to provide them with assistance the second the set point is that as I said earlier um resuming uh talks and including the civilians in whatever negotiations are going to take place not so we will never accept again power sharing between the military alone this will never be accepted because they prove that they are unfit to govern Sudan they have disqualified themselves but of course they have to be part of the negotiations and their roles should be assigned as it has we have started already within the framework agreement and see how we are going to have a single Army of the rsf and other groups are going to be integrated with the Army if it's not too old too late to do that and what kind of political process is going to uh to be uh you know uh done now in Somalia Somali government official officials continue to organize evacuation plans for residents trying to escape the war in Sudan in late April nearly 150 Somali residents many of them students returned safely back in their Homeland boas Muhammad has this report from Murad issue Somalia Somali government staffers are gathering information from localists about somalis waiting to be evacuated from Sudan the staffers come from several government agencies including somalia's foreign Ministry which has taken the lead in organizing evacuation flights for Somalian nationalists 148 somalis were flown home to Mogadishu on Sunday a top official with the Somali foreign Ministry says most somalis will be coming home soon we intend to continue evacuating more people in the future while in meantime our Embassy in Sudan and Ethiopia are also providing service to our citizens who are fleeing Sudan via Ethiopia the recent week is of combat between rival military forces in Sudan have significantly impacted Somalia as the two countries have a strong cultural and educational connections when the Somali government collapsed in the early 90s money somalis took refuge in Sudan it became their second home and money Somali students took advantage of his scholarship offers to get their education in Sudan among those who studied in Sudan was politician ahmedi who now Service as somalia's interior minister according to Fergie Sudan was the only country that opened its doors to somalis during a difficult time after I graduated secondary school I hope to start at a university in Somalia however the civil war broke out and I fled to Sudan for Education Sudan welcomed us and allowed us to be admitted to the prestigious universities of the country which have been the dream of many students an Alumni network of somalis who is studied in Sudan known as samsur is responsible for building and running schools hospitals and Recreation centuries including this one Ahmed Osman known as lore is part of the Alumni network when we return to Somalia from Sudan we became the only group that came from different tribes yet at the same time created joint ventures and shareholder businesses regardless of the tribes and that's what led our company to a new height when we trusted one another and this civilization and knowledge we acquired from Sudan contributed to our success many of the students who traveled to Sudan for their education came from the hammer boarding school a secondary school in Mogadishu a current teacher at the school who studied in Sudan says the prospect of future scholarship is from Khartoum appears them now are interconnected in multiple aspects of their relationship especially in the area of education and most of those in the Somali education sector prayed for peace in Sudan about eight thousand remain in Sudan about 3 000 of them are students many of whom may come home in the next few weeks Somalia the conflict in Sudan is happening amid a backdrop of humanitarian crisis across the continent as a result of extended droughts the U.N says more than 4 million people in Nigeria's Northeast are facing severe food shortages AS Global Aid is stretched thin the United Nations office for the coordination of humanitarian Affairs took journalists through the region to see the worsening situation Timothy of yazu files this report from maiduguri in Nigeria's Borno State this bosland city does not reflect the terror that lurks on the fringes islamist militants at war with the government but even here young kids are reeling from the impact of devastating food shortages worsened by conflict days ago been to Hassan's two-year-old son arrived at this Hospital Ward wasted and hypoglycemic she says she's already suffered too much loss I gave birth to four children but two died due to malnutrition I have two left and this one is also sick I was referred to this place more than 700 000 kids in bornu adamawa and Yuba States suffer from severe acute malnutrition according to the United Nations the UN says the situation could get worse between June and September the so-called hunger Gap period when footstocks from the previous Harvest traditionally run out last year's bumper Harvest was disrupted by Nigeria's worst flooding in a decade with six hundred thousand eight hectares of Farmland destroyed washed away their will in the immediate future be serious food shortages and there isn't enough food Aid to go around this is ran a community near Nigeria's border with Cameroon residents say no Aid has arrived here in eight months says without much food she couldn't breastfeed her baby and she became malnourished when I gave birth to this baby there was not enough breast milk to feed the baby with and the baby started vomiting and also had diarrhea the food shortage isn't part a result of Russia's war in Ukraine and the recent crisis in Sudan but officials say Nigeria's inflation and recent currency reform policy also constrained people's ability to buy food UNICEF nutrition manager Karen via Singh says despite crucial Aid diverted to other Global emergencies Nigeria is still getting food supplies the global package for different because of different emergencies in the world is shrinking but presently we are well placed but of course we would need continued support Nigerian security forces have significantly degraded the fighting Power of the militants but the country is still at War and until that is over millions will be fighting a different type of War hunger Timothy obesity for viewing news maiduguri born estate Nigeria that's all for now stay up to date with all the news at VOA news.com follow us on Instagram and Facebook at VOE news follow me on Twitter at solemn underscore Solomon catch up on past episodes at our free streaming service VOA Plus for all those behind the scenes who brought you Today's Show on Salem Solomon we'll see you next week for the Inside Story [Music] thank you [Music]

Channel: Voice of America

Views: 20,083

Keywords: Sudan crisis

Id: MRiGl6_6Jyg

Length: 25min 0sec (1500 seconds)

Published: Thu May 11 2023