31 August-6 September Sudan News Summary: Deadly landslide, disease spreading in central Sudan, siege of El Fasher continues

8 Sept

Arabic news roundup

By William Greenwood

More than 1,000 people were killed in a massive landslide that wiped out an entire village in the Darfur region of western Sudan, in what has been described as one of the worst natural disasters in Sudan's modern history.
Massive and devastating landslides led to the complete destruction of the village of Tarsin, east of Jebel Marra, near the Soni area, killing its entire population of more than 1,000 men, women, and children, with only one survivor according to preliminary information.
Darfur Governor Minni Arko Minawi stressed that what happened in Tarsin was a "humanitarian tragedy" that transcended the region.
The harsh conditions experienced by the people of the region, the rugged roads, and the difficult security conditions resulting from the fighting, make it difficult for rescue teams and humanitarian aid to reach the affected areas.
This incident is part of a series of increasing natural disasters that Sudan has witnessed since the beginning of the year, in which floods and torrential rains have caused human and material losses in several states amid a failure to provide an effective response due to the ongoing conflict.

Queues in Khartoum hospitals after alarming rise in fevers

Hospitals operating in Khartoum state are experiencing severe overcrowding, with people standing in line for intravenous fluids, amid the increasing spread of fevers.
The Ministry of Health acknowledged on Tuesday the difficulty of combating disease vectors due to their widespread prevalence.
A Ministry of Health official, who requested anonymity because he was not authorised to speak, revealed that nearly two and a half million cases of malaria have been recorded in Khartoum recently.

The Gezira Centre for Human Rights said that Madani, Al-Managil, Al-Hasahisa, and several villages in the project are experiencing widespread dengue fever, in addition to an alarming outbreak of hepatitis B and C.
The Gezira Observatory for Human Rights explained in a report released on Friday that one in three people in the city of Al-Hasahisa has contracted dengue fever, with uncounted deaths, reflecting the seriousness of the situation.
The Observatory confirmed that the main cause of this dangerous health situation is environmental degradation, lack of awareness, and poor living conditions, which have exacerbated the rapid spread of these diseases among citizens.
The Al-Kanabi Conference in Sudan said that field reports indicate hundreds of deaths in Gezira due to malaria and dengue fever.
Citizens in Gezira State revealed the mysterious deaths of a large number of rats in various locations.

Price of ambaza rises in El Fasher amid fears of worsening food shortages

The closure of crossings in El Fasher has led to a rise in the price of animal feed, known as ambaza, which has become the staple food for most of the city, amid fears of worsening food shortages.
El Fasher is suffering from a severe humanitarian crisis resulting from shortages of medicine and food, which has forced residents to eat ambaza to survive.
Ambaza prices are constantly rising, with the price of a sack of good quality reaching 600,000 Sudanese pounds with flour, up from 30,000 pounds previously, while a sack of lower-quality Ambaze has reached 400,000 pounds, amid occasional scarcity of the former.
Most of the besieged residents of El Fasher cannot afford to purchase ambaza—the leftover peanuts after oil extraction—at these prices, given the halt to all income-generating activities in the city.
The price of an ambaza ball has risen to 10,000 Sudanese pounds, up from 1,000 Sudanese pounds less than a month ago.
The Abu Shouk camp emergency room said on Saturday that the humanitarian situation in the camp is continuing to deteriorate.

By Samuel Hunt

Sudan has appealed for international aid after a landslide destroyed an entire village in the western Darfur region, killing more than 1,000 people.
The International Organisation for Migration called for safe access to a region already beleaguered by war, and the scaling up of support to the area on Tuesday.
The village was “completely levelled to the ground,” the Sudan Liberation Movement-Army said as it appealed to the U.N. and international aid groups for help to recover the bodies.

The risks to anyone trying to escape El Fasher have compelled hundreds of thousands of people to stay in the city until the RSF is repelled or the city falls.
Some have been able to escape to nearby Tawila, but the risks on the road are great. Those fleeing are forced to pay the RSF $300 and hand over any valuable personal belongings.
On the road, men have frequently been detained and killed after being suspected by the RSF of being fighters, while women and children have been abducted.
Even if civilians did want to escape, the RSF have created a barrier around the city approximately 31km long.

The mission found that rival forces in Sudan are deliberately targeting the devastated nation’s civilian population, committing atrocities, including war crimes, on a large scale.
“Our findings leave no room for doubt: civilians are paying the highest price in this war,” said Mohamed Chande Othman, chair of the Fact-Finding Mission.

Bill Greenwood