What’s happening in Sudan after three months of war? | Start Here

let's talk about Sudan because the war there has dipped out of the headlines and the countries basically collapsing fighting started in mid-april it's been unrelenting and it's spreading there's always the sound of bonfires anywhere there's always a sound of artillery waking you up the war literally has not spared anyone the scale and speed of Sudan's descent into death and destruction is unprecedented so if you've not been following what's going on in Sudan here are five things you need to know let's start with who's fighting who there are two main players you've got General Abdel fatah al-braham he's the head of the Sudanese armed forces and then there's General Muhammad hamdan dagalo also known as hemeti he leads the rapid support forces the rsf there are powerful paramilitary group the quick backstory here is that General Abraham and hemeti actually used to be on the same side in 2019 there were big pro-democracy protests against President Omar al-Bashir who'd been in power for three decades and the two generals kind of hijacked those protests to overthrow albashir but the protesters didn't want the military in power either so they kept up the pressure eventually a caretaker government was set up with a plan to transition sit down to a democracy the two generals were part of that but in 2021 they staged another coup albraham took control of the government and hamenty remained in a powerful position over time though a power struggle developed between them especially over a plan to bring hametti's forces the rsf under the Army's command and in April that rivalry turned into a full-on war they're trying to not just win but trying to eradicate the other in order to have complete control over the country and its resources okay so how are things looking right now well a lot of the fighting is concentrated in and around the capital hartum is a war zone but is not really clear which side has got the upper hand the Army has managed to hold on to its spaces and they've also got planes but the rsf controls more territory and some key infrastructure they're in facilities like oil refineries and water plants and power plants some government institutions they have more agile vehicles that enable them to maneuver cartoon streets they also have a lot more troops deployed in cartoons about 1.4 million have fled the capital in nearby cities according to the UN that's around 15 percent of the population there it means a lot of people are still trapped civilians are getting killed in the fighting whether it's from Street battles artillery fire or air attacks the rsf have also been accused of terrorizing people homes have been robbed and looted and destroyed occupied vandalized and in this sexual violence so it's just one big ball of uncertainty for everyone what's going to happen to me tomorrow is it going to be an asteroid will the rsf come and try to displace me from my home are they going to try to Rob uh my house looking for money and and gold and cars you just never know and the city is barely functioning Banks and most businesses are shut hospitals have been attacked and looted parts of Khartoum have had no electricity for weeks in one horrific incident at least 71 children and babies in an orphanage died over several weeks because of hunger and fever they were trapped because of the fighting that's the reality of the situation in Khartoum right now and the fighting between the rsf and the Army has spread to other parts of the country too but the next thing you need to know about is what's happening in Darfur especially in West Darfur one of its five states an ethnic conflict has flared up again and the UN says the violence could constitute crimes against humanity what's happening in Dark Forest is not the same it's much worse it's an old conflict being reignited again in 2003 there was a rebellion in Darfur it was mostly led by non-arab tribes who felt discriminated against by the Arab dominated government of President Omar al-Bashir he responded by recruiting fighters from Arab tribes to fight back they became known as the janjaweed and they were effective in stopping that Insurgency but at an enormous human cost they killed raped burned massively displaced up to a third of the population of Darfur as a whole keep in mind that Omar al-Bashir was later indicted by the international criminal court because of what happened in Darfur the janjaweed were led by hemeti in 2013 they were rebranded as the rsf a few years later they were officially recognized as a paramilitary force and their links to Darfur have remained strong they're aligned with local Arab militias there and the rsf controlled many gold mines a lucrative source of revenue for them now while the rsf and the Army are fighting against each other in Khartoum and other parts of Sudan in Darfur the Army seems to have retreated and the rsf and Arab militias have been able to pick up their old fights there those militias continue to have the same mindset the same mentality and based on that they continue targeting the same people they've been targeting since 2003. there are particularly harrowing reports coming from elginina the capital of westar4 including footage of bodies lining the streets the Sudan doctors union says more than a thousand people have been killed there local tribe leaders say it's more like 5 000. we work with the community researchers across Sudan and right at the beginning of this conflict what has come across from our colleagues and Janina was quite Vivid the situation is catastrophic this is in essence nothing short of a really A Renewed genocidal campaign they rob and pillage and they kill especially those who are unable to run the elderly handicapped and the blind the Arabs don't leave us alone when they come they kill and rape and burn and we're vulnerable if we let them they'll burn our houses with the people inside like Noor thousands of people have fled from West R4 into Chad just across the border 180 000 people from Sudan have arrived in chat so since the conflict started according to the U.N but it's one of the poorest countries in the world and doesn't have the infrastructure to deal with a refugee crisis on this scale there are no camps people are trying to set up their own camps using you know the clothes or the Fabrics that they've brought with them if they're able to they're looking for shade everywhere water is an issue food is an issue unhcr is here they are doing assessments and someone told us that they have never seen it this bad that they are incredibly underfunded they do not have enough money to help people here with anything and this brings us to our next point the war in Sudan has created an immense need for humanitarian Aid and is not being met about half the population of Sudan 25 million people now need some kind of help aid groups working in the country say they need three billion dollars this year but have only received 446 million donors recently promised another 1.5 billion still it's only half of what's needed there hasn't been I think a wake-up call across the world that this is something that could destabilize an entire region and we have seen this to some degree in the ways in which you know different countries have pledged Aid if you compare that with other conflicts particularly of course Ukraine you'll see that the amounts pledged fall far short of what's been committed there there's another huge challenge with Aid in sedan and that's how you actually get it to the people who need it most it's not just because there's fighting going on both the Army and rsf have been accused of restricting access to Aid and stealing it dozens of offices and warehouses belonging to Aid groups have been looted and their vehicles have been stolen and what's happening especially in Khartoum is that Sudanese people are coming together to do whatever they can groups of activists known as resistance committees which were set up during the pro-democracy protests are stepping in they've been playing the role as you know the de facto government I would say better than any other body on the ground here they've been able to set up you know clinics and and help run those clinics those with medical experience have been volunteering it's members of the resistance committees that are trying to connect power grids in parts of the capital our final point is that there really doesn't seem to be any resolution to the war in sight there have been some efforts to get the two sides talking the African Union and an East African Regional group known as igad have been trying to mediate but the main push so far has been from Saudi Arabia and the U.S who've mediated a few rounds of talks and Jetta the main priorities have been to negotiate ceasefires and humanitarian corridors so that Aid can get in but it's not worked we haven't seen um the two sides even honor the ceasefires and actually ceasefires have been used by both sides um as an opportunity to re-arm um and to ensure that supply lines are running both sides see this as an existential struggle neither side is ready to to to give tactical concessions when they think that they might um lose lose ground on the battlefield or might forgo an opportunity for winning as for the people of Sudan they say this isn't their War what they're focused on is surviving nobody knows when it's going to end nobody knows how it's going to end they don't know if they're even going to survive tomorrow so they're no longer even thinking about the end of the conflict they're now worried about their own tomorrow if there's going to be a tomorrow [Music] if you want some more background on politics in Sudan there's a good explainer in our episode about the 2021 coup and make sure to subscribe to this channel so you don't miss future episodes of start here [Music]

Channel: Al Jazeera English

Views: 341,806

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Id: yic2M_YLbes

Length: 10min 20sec (620 seconds)

Published: Mon Jul 10 2023