Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdel Ati said today (Monday) that his country is holding daily talks with Iranian officials.
Abdel Aty added, during a joint press conference with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, that these talks come within “the framework of avoiding the expansion of the conflict, which will have serious repercussions on the region and the entire world.”
A delegation of representatives of the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement countries visited the Iranian capital, Tehran, to meet with senior Iranian officials. The Saudi Foreign Ministry said that this visit comes within the framework of “continued efforts by the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement countries to reduce escalation between the parties to the current crisis, encourage dialogue and diplomatic solutions, and support the mediation efforts undertaken by the State of Qatar and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.”
The United Kingdom announced sanctions against 15 military commanders from both sides of the conflict in Sudan suspected of “committing atrocities.” “Including conflict-related sexual violence,” at the time of the fall of El Fasher.
This announcement comes in the wake of a report published by the Center for Resilience against Disinformation, funded by the United Kingdom, revealing a systematic campaign of starvation and conflict-related sexual violence against civilians in Sudan from both sides of the war, according to a statement issued by the British Foreign Office, Monday. These sanctions come in the wake of five rounds of British sanctions related to the Sudan war, targeting those suspected of committing atrocities in Sudan and the networks that support them.
The Foreign Ministry statement said: “One year after the fall of El Fasher, the United Kingdom announces the date for a package of measures to highlight the horrific violence we witnessed during the siege of that city, and to help survivors rebuild their lives. It imposes sanctions on 15 senior leaders from both the Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese army. They are suspected of involvement in atrocities, including conflict-related sexual violence.”
She added, “Among those subject to the sanctions is Hussein Abu Jalak, a colonel in the Rapid Support Forces linked to atrocities committed during the siege of El Fasher, and Al-Nur Ahmed Adam (Al-Qubba), whose presence and prominent role in the siege and attack on the city of El Fasher are noted,” explaining that “these sanctions include preventing those included in them from traveling to the United Kingdom and freezing their assets, while at the same time ensuring that the horrors that occurred in El Fasher are revealed so that they are known to the world.”
Miliband: There must be accountability
Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said, “The war in Sudan has caused a humanitarian catastrophe,” adding that, “One year after the atrocities were committed in El Fasher, investigations funded by the United Kingdom revealed the continued use of rape and starvation as weapons of war against the Sudanese people.”
Miliband stressed, “These are crimes against our humanity, and their perpetrators must be held accountable, and all external supporters of the warring parties must stop their support.” The El Niño phenomenon may exacerbate an already deteriorating situation. But the intensification of the famine was caused by the Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese Armed Forces, and both sides must stop attacking aid convoys and allow food to reach needy communities.”
15 million pounds sterling
He announced that “the United Kingdom will also allocate £5 million in support of survivors of conflict-related sexual violence in Sudan. This amount will fund a range of services and supplies for survivors, including sexual and reproductive health care, maternal health services, psychosocial support, and providing safe spaces for women and girls.”
He continued: “Also, a package amounting to 10 million pounds sterling will be allocated to support the ongoing response to the increasingly deteriorating humanitarian situation in Sudan, against the backdrop of an increased risk of famine due to attacks on markets, health centres, displacement camps and other infrastructure, obstruction to the arrival of aid, and drought due to the El Niño phenomenon.”
“Resilience” report
A year ago, following an eighteen-month siege that caused thousands of civilians to starve, the city of El Fasher fell into the hands of the Rapid Support Forces. In the days that followed, civilians were massacred, women and girls were subjected to horrific sexual violence, and entire communities were destroyed.
Now, a year later, another report published by the Center for Resilience against Disinformation, with support from the UK, reveals that the brutal practices used during the siege of El Fasher are still widespread across Sudan.
The report continued, “Siege practices, attacks by marches on civilian infrastructure and humanitarian operations, and systematic obstruction of the entry of aid, are all practices that are constantly used as weapons of war. A video recording published by the Center for Resilience in the Face of Disinformation also documented fighters from the Rapid Support Forces discussing shutting off the water supply to El Fasher and preventing merchants from bringing in food into the city,” stressing that “sexual violence is widespread, and women and girls are repeatedly kidnapped and raped. They are held in conditions that amount to sexual slavery.”
On Monday, the Rapid Support Forces launched a coordinated attack with marches on five power stations, causing a power outage in large areas of eastern Sudan, according to a government official.
An Agence France-Presse correspondent in Gezira State, where two power stations were targeted, in addition to three other stations in Gedaref and White Nile states, reported that there had been a power outage since before dawn.
Yesterday morning, the Sudanese army’s air defenses shot down drones that were likely targeting the “Umm Alila” fuel depots, located a few kilometers from the city of Wad Madani, the capital of Al-Jazeera State in central Sudan.
Sources reported that 4 drones flew over the sky of the town of Umm Alila, east of the state, minutes before the sound of anti-aircraft fire was heard.
Media platforms reported that the Sudanese army confronted the marches before carrying out their attack, while it was not possible to verify this information from other sources, in the absence of any immediate official comment.
During the past few days, more than 300 people were killed in air strikes by drones targeting a number of civilian sites in Darfur, Kordofan, Blue Nile and Khartoum, in an escalation of mutual attacks between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces, according to UN reports.
The marches have become one of the most prominent fighting tools in the Sudanese war, with both sides increasingly relying on them to target locations far from the direct confrontation lines.
