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Hard Numbers: China launches Taiwan drills, Former Scottish leader dies, Sudanese military kills civilians, Ukraine raids bars for holdouts
125: China launched major military drills around Taiwan on Monday, including a single-day record of 125 aircraft, an aircraft carrier, and other naval assets, in response to Taiwanese President William Lai's National Day speech framing Taiwan as a separate country from China. In addition to the drills, Beijing is threatening to impose further economic sanctions on the island it considers a breakaway province.
69: Former Scottish First Minister Alex Salmonddied at age 69 on Saturday, shortly after giving a speech in North Macedonia. Salmond, who is believe to have succumbed to a massive heart attack, was a heavyweight in Edinburgh for three decades, having led the Scottish National Party to become a dominant force and pressed for independence after the reestablishment of the Scottish Parliament in 1999.
23: At least 23 Sudanese civilians died this weekend after armed forces struck a market in the capital Khartoum, where it recently launched an offensive to dislodge the rebel Rapid Support Forces. More than 25 million people — half of Sudan’s population — are in severe need of food and medicine as the ongoing civil war has no end in sight.
25-60: Ukrainian authorities have reportedly begun raiding bars and concert venues looking for men aged 25-60 who have not complied with conscription laws. Ukraine is facing a severe manpower shortage and is intensifying efforts to find and induct able-bodied soldiers to hold the line against Russia’s superior manpower reserves.Plumes of smoke rise during clashes between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the army in Khartoum, Sudan, September 26, 2024.
Sudanese Army launches offensive to retake capital
Residents of Khartoum awoke Thursday to dawn airstrikes and artillery shelling as the country’s armed forces launched an offensive against the rebel Rapid Support Forces militia. The Sudanese Armed Forces have reportedly captured two bridges connecting Khartoum, on the east bank of the Nile, to Omdurman on the west, and are pushing toward the presidential palace amid heavy fighting.
What’s the outlook? Sudan’s military counts on air superiority and artillery, but the RSF’s infantry has historically outmatched them. The RSF also enjoys considerable backing from the United Arab Emirates — a significant military power — as well as Libyan warlord Khalifa Belqasim Omar Haftar and the Russian mercenaries formerly known as the Wagner Group.
Sudan’s armed forces can count on less outside backing: Russia’s involvement has led to a limited deployment of Ukrainian special forces, and Iran has provided some drones (which, ironically, Tehran also provides Russia to fight against Ukraine). Even if they do manage to push the RSF out of Khartoum, Sudan’s military faces steep odds for regaining the whole country.
Is there a chance for peace? Only through negotiation, according to Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, the head of Sudan’s military. He called for the end to hostilities and a holistic peace process when he spoke at the United Nations General Assembly in New York Thursday. However, his speech was hardly an olive branch: He accused the RSF of genocide for their slaughter of Black ethnic groups in Darfur province and even alleged that women and children had been sold as chattel in RSF-controlled markets.
We’re watching for who wins the fight in Khartoum, and whether the result of the battle might bring relief closer for the long-suffering Sudanese population.
A child, suffering from malnutrition, is treated at Port Sudan Paediatric Centre, during a visit by WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus to the country, in Sudan, on Sept. 7, 2024.
Hard Numbers: Cholera spreads in Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo turns to an unlikely source to boost tourism, Mass executions held in Iraq, Gunman hijacks bus in LA
430: Over 430 people have died from cholera in Sudan in the past month, according to the country’s health ministry, and the devastating civil war there is making it hard to provide treatment. Doctors Without Borders recently described the health system in Sudan as “decimated” and warned that the humanitarian response amid the cholera outbreak is “regularly obstructed by both warring parties.”
3: AC Milan, one of Italy’s top soccer teams, is reportedly in talks with the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo for a three-year sponsorship deal that would see the club promote the African country as a tourism destination. But there’s an ongoing war in the DRC. Vacationing in a war zone – what could go wrong? The Italian ambassador to the country was killed there just three years ago when the convoy he was traveling with was ambushed, making it no surprise that Italy currently advises people against visiting the country.
21: Iraq executed 21 people, including a woman, on Wednesday, with most reportedly charged with terrorism. Rights groups like Amnesty International have fiercely criticized Iraq for convicting people on “overly broad and vague terrorism charges,” and they have urged the Iraqi government to halt executions.
7: A bus was hijacked by a gunman in Los Angeles on Wednesday and traveled nearly seven miles before coming to a stop after police used spike strips and punctured one of the tires. One passenger reportedly died from gunshot wounds. The suspect has surrendered, but the motive remains unclear.
A destroyed car stands in front of a house full of bullet holes in Sudan.
Sudan accuses UAE of exploiting, prolonging war
The Sudanese government used Wednesday’s UN Security Council meeting — convened to vote on extending an arms embargo in Sudan’s western Darfur region — to accuse the United Arab Emirates of arming the Rapid Support Forces, extending the country’s 17-month-long civil war, and profiting from illegal sales of Sudanese gold. The UAE strongly denied the accusations and blamed Sudan for refusing to show up at the August peace talks.
Death in Darfur: Sudan says the UAE is supporting the RSF’s atrocities in the Darfur by airlifting weapons to remote airfields in Chad, where militants exploit border openings meant for fleeing refugees to move arms. The RSF, directly descended from the ethnic Arab Janjaweed militias that carried out the brutal 2003-05 genocide in Darfur, is again targeting the region’s Black ethnic groups for systematic murder, rape, and displacement.
The Sudanese Armed Forces, meanwhile, are accused of war crimes, including reckless targeting of residential areas and execution of civilians, though not ethnic cleansing.
What’s next? The world has paid pitifully scant attention to Sudan’s war, despite the deaths of 20,000 people, the displacement of a staggering 13 million civilians, mass hunger verging on famine, and compelling evidence of systematic rape and the recruitment of child soldiers. The UN is seeking $2.7 billion to address the humanitarian needs but has received only 41% of what it needs.
The Security Council voted unanimously to extend the arms embargo — but can the holes be sufficiently plugged to stem the flow of weapons to the region?
FILE PHOTO: A volunteer distributes food to people in Omdurman, Sudan, September 3, 2023.
UN launches probe into Sudan aid officials
The United Nations World Food Programme has reportedly launched an investigation into allegations of fraud and breaking rules around neutrality in war zones against two of its top officials in Sudan amid its ongoing civil war. The probe will scrutinize WFP’s deputy director for Sudan, Khalid Osman, as well as Mohammed Ali, an area manager, and the list of investigation targets is expected to grow.
What are the accusations? Officials are reportedly believed to have misled donors about the roles of each side of the civil war in preventing delivery of aid, casting more blame on the Rapid Support Forces than the Sudanese Army. For example, Osman is alleged to have hid the fact that Sudanese Army officials prevented 15 trucks to carry aid to South Darfur in June of this year, where many communities are at risk of famine. Ali is also specifically being investigated for the disappearance of more than 200,000 liters of fuel being warehoused by the UN.
What happens now? Osman has been placed on a de facto suspension, and Ali’s status is not clear. Osman allegedly controlled which WFP staff could access the organization’s activities in Sudan, and more of his affiliates are likely to come under observation.
That’s scant comfort for the 46 million Sudanese caught in the crossfire, particularly in Darfur, where Black ethnic groups are systematically targeted for genocide, displacement, and weaponized rape. Over half the country’s population are near starvation, and over 10 million are displaced from their homes.Rapper Macklemore performs during the opening ceremony of the Invictus Games, in Duesseldorf, Germany.
Macklemore cancels Dubai concert, takes stand against UAE’s role in Sudan war
American rapper Macklemore has called off an upcoming October concert in Dubai over the United Arab Emirates’ role in the war in Sudan. The UN has accused the UAE of providing the Rapid Support Forces, the paramilitary group fighting the Sudanese Army, with weapons to such a degree that without their alleged involvement, the conflict driving the world’s worst ongoing humanitarian crisis would already be over.
While the UAE has repeatedly denied arming the RSF, UN experts reported “credible” evidence they have sent weapons several times a week from northern Chad. To read our full explainer of why the UAE, and other countries like Russia and Iran, are fueling the war, click here.
Macklemore’s decision comes after the rapper publicly declared his support last spring for Palestinians by dropping a song called “Hind’s Hall” about the Columbia University building student protesters took over and briefly “renamed” after Hind Rajab, a young girl killed in Gaza by Israeli forces.
Addressing his fellow artists, Macklemore says he’s not judging those who choose to perform in the UAE but asks: “If we used our platforms to mobilize collective liberation, what could we accomplish?” It’s worth noting, however, that the rapper performed at the Saudi Arabia-owned LIV Golf tournament in June. The Saudis are suspected of supporting the Sudanese Army, which is also accused of committing war crimes.
A damaged army tank is seen on the street, almost one year into the war between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), in Omdurman, Sudan, April 7, 2024.
Sudan ceasefire talks collapse
Will there be a cease-fire or not? In recent days much of the attention to that question has focused on Gaza, but just across the Red Sea, another devastating conflict is raging without an end in sight.
US-led talks to end Sudan’s brutal 15-month civil war – which pits the army against the paramilitaries of the Rapid Support Forces, or RSF – began in Switzerland on Wednesday. But there’s a catch: neither side is showing up.
The Sudanese army says the RSF hasn’t complied with earlier agreements to withdraw from territory, and it’s unhappy about the attendance of the UAE, which the generals say backs the RSF. The RSF, for its part, arrived in Switzerland but at the last minute ditched the talks without giving a reason.
This naturally bodes poorly for ending a conflict that has driven 10 million people from their homes and created a humanitarian disaster.
Is US influence dwindling? We can’t say for sure, but the chaotic, polarized state of affairs in Washington, exacerbated by uncertainty about who will be in power next year, could be undermining US credibility as a broker. Whether it’s Gaza or Sudan, how confident can combatants really be in Washington’s word right now?
Residents wait to collect food in containers from a soup kitchen in Omdurman, Sudan March 11, 2024. Nearly five million people in the country are close to famine as Sudan's civil war passes the one-year mark.
Long-feared famine arrives in Sudan
Famine has officially hit Sudan’s Darfur region in Zamzam, a displacement camp with a population of roughly 500,000, as the civil war in the country continues to wreak havoc on the civilian population.
Zamzam is near the city of Al Fasher, home to 1.8 million people and the last significant holdout in Darfur against the RSF, withboth sides of the conflict accused of blocking aid deliveries and using hunger as a weapon.
The top global authority on hunger crises, the Famine Review Committee of the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, said, “The scale of devastation brought by the escalating violence in Al Fasher is profound and harrowing.”
This is just the third time a famine classification has been made since the system was set up 20 years ago. It means that at least 20% of the population suffers extreme food shortages, 30% of children are acutely malnourished, and two people in every 10,000 die daily from starvation or malnutrition and disease.
On Tuesday, Sudan’s governmentconditionally accepted an invitation to attendUS-sponsored peace talks in Geneva. The effectiveness of the talks is highly uncertain in a region prone to failed cease-fire conversations.