A Sudanese army claim that its troops had come under attack by rebels in South Kordofan adds a new and troubling layer to the Sudan conflict, which is threatening to engulf the entire Afro-Arab nation, analysts have said.
Residents of the city of Kadugli in south-west Sudan, where the attack is supposed to have taken place on Wednesday, began fleeing the city on Thursday as tension escalated between the army and members of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North, witnesses said.
The army has since April 15 been locked in a bitter war with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, whose forerunner is the notorious Janjaweed militia.
The conflict has been centred in the capital Khartoum but has also spilt over into Darfur, where a genocidal civil war raged in the early 2000s. The root causes of the conflict remain in play to this day.
The current war has killed at least 3,000 civilians and injured twice as many, and has sparked a major humanitarian crisis.
At least 2.5 million people have been displaced by the war, including 500,000 who fled to neighbouring countries, mainly Egypt, Chad and South Sudan.
The violence in Khartoum and Darfur is part of a list of long-running conflicts, both dormant and active, in most of Sudan, including the regions of South Kordofan and the southern Blue Nile.
The violence also strengthens the potential for conflict in eastern Sudan, where inhabitants have long complained of discrimination by the Khartoum government and recently threatened to take up arms.
Sudan has been devastated by civil wars since the 1950s, mainly caused by the perceived political, economic and military monopoly enjoyed by the northern Sudanese establishment over the rest of the impoverished country.
In some cases, the cause of conflict is rooted in competition for land, water and pastures between rival ethnic groups. Some of these wars, such as the one that led the mainly animist and Christian south to secede in 2011, have lasted decades.
“The war in Khartoum has the potential to multiply into other wars and recent calls for civilians to arm themselves in Khartoum and in Darfur are only making that a real possibility,” said Sami Saeed, a Sudan expert based in Stockholm.
“Moreover, most of Sudan's neighbours can potentially be drawn into the conflict.”
In a statement on Wednesday night, the army said troops from an infantry division stationed in Kadugli came under a “treacherous” attack by rebels belonging to the SPLM-N, with whom the military has had a years-long ceasefire agreement.
“Our forces responded to the rebels and repelled the attacks and inflicted heavy losses. We also lost a number of martyrs and sustained injuries,” the army said.
South Kordofan is home to Sudan's main oilfields and borders West Darfur State as well as South Sudan.
The SPLM-N, which has strong ties to South Sudan, also attacked the army in the South Kordofan city of Al Dalanj on Wednesday, as did the RSF, Reuters reported on Thursday, quoting residents.
Residents of Kadugli said the army had redeployed forces to protect its positions in the city on Thursday, while the SPLM-N was gathering in areas on the outskirts, Reuters said.
It was not immediately clear what motivated the SPLM-N's Wednesday attack, but the timing appeared to be an attempt to take advantage of the security vacuum created by the war to consolidate or expand the group's territory.
South Kordofan has for many years been the epicentre of an anti-government rebellion demanding an end to what rebels see as discrimination by the nation's traditional elite in the Muslim and Arabised north.
“They have their long-standing demands and now they think wresting control of more territory gives them a better bargaining position when they sit and negotiate a deal with the military or the government,” said Sudanese analyst Osman Al Mirghani.
A flare-up in fighting between the army and the SPLM-N would signal a second and serious spillage of the war from the Sudanese capital. It could also be a prelude to fresh rebellions or the revival of old ones elsewhere in the vast nation of more than 40 million.
Last week, reports and images emerged of genocidal attacks by the RSF and allied Arab militias against members of an ethnically African tribe in the West Darfur city of Al Geneina, where activists say 1,100 people have been killed and tens of thousands forced to flee to Chad.
Activists and witnesses said men, women and children from the Masalit tribe making their way on foot to Chad were not spared, with many randomly gunned down by the RSF and militiamen. Bodies littered the streets of Al Geneina alongside torched homes and businesses, they said.
“It was an act of ethnic cleansing similar to what happened in Rwanda in 1994,” said Mr Al Mirghani, alluding to the massacre of an estimated 800,000 Rwandan Tutsis at the hands of the Hutu rival ethnic group.
Raising the potential for the Sudan conflict to expand and even draw in outside powers is the fragility of many of the nation's neighbours as well as the tribal and ethnic ties binding Sudanese with kinsmen across the border in places such as Chad, South Sudan and Ethiopia, according to Mr Saeed.
There is also the fact that some of Sudan's neighbours are torn by their own internal conflicts or are at odds with Sudan and could use the current war to forcibly settle long-running territorial disputes.
“This war in Sudan is very, very dangerous for the region,' said Mr Saeed. “Internally, the longer it goes on the bigger the possibility of new rival factions surfacing; and the weaker the central government becomes.”
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7.30pm: Al Ain Mile Group 3 (PA) Dh350,000 1,600m
8pm: Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 1,600m
Amith's selections:
5pm: AF Sail
5.30pm: Dahawi
6pm: Taajer
6.30pm: Pharitz Oubai
7pm: Winked
7.30pm: Shahm
8pm: Raniah
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
How much do leading UAE’s UK curriculum schools charge for Year 6?
- Nord Anglia International School (Dubai) – Dh85,032
- Kings School Al Barsha (Dubai) – Dh71,905
- Brighton College Abu Dhabi - Dh68,560
- Jumeirah English Speaking School (Dubai) – Dh59,728
- Gems Wellington International School – Dubai Branch – Dh58,488
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- Dubai English Speaking School – Dh51,269
*Annual tuition fees covering the 2024/2025 academic year
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The specs
Engine: 3-litre twin-turbo V6
Power: 400hp
Torque: 475Nm
Transmission: 9-speed automatic
Price: From Dh215,900
On sale: Now
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
The specs: 2018 Mercedes-Benz GLA
Price, base / as tested Dh150,900 / Dh173,600
Engine 2.0L inline four-cylinder
Transmission Seven-speed automatic
Power 211hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque 350Nm @ 1,200rpm
Fuel economy, combined 6.4L / 100km
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Miss Granny
Director: Joyce Bernal
Starring: Sarah Geronimo, James Reid, Xian Lim, Nova Villa
3/5
(Tagalog with Eng/Ar subtitles)
The%20specs
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Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
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- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Recent winners
2002 Giselle Khoury (Colombia)
2004 Nathalie Nasralla (France)
2005 Catherine Abboud (Oceania)
2007 Grace Bijjani (Mexico)
2008 Carina El-Keddissi (Brazil)
2009 Sara Mansour (Brazil)
2010 Daniella Rahme (Australia)
2011 Maria Farah (Canada)
2012 Cynthia Moukarzel (Kuwait)
2013 Layla Yarak (Australia)
2014 Lia Saad (UAE)
2015 Cynthia Farah (Australia)
2016 Yosmely Massaad (Venezuela)
2017 Dima Safi (Ivory Coast)
2018 Rachel Younan (Australia)
Profile of Whizkey
Date founded: 04 November 2017
Founders: Abdulaziz AlBlooshi and Harsh Hirani
Based: Dubai, UAE
Number of employees: 10
Sector: AI, software
Cashflow: Dh2.5 Million
Funding stage: Series A
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
MATCH DETAILS
Chelsea 4
Jorginho (4 pen, 71 pen), Azpilicueta (63), James (74)
Ajax 4
Abraham (2 og), Promes (20). Kepa (35 og), van de Beek (55)
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Marathon results
Men:
1. Titus Ekiru(KEN) 2:06:13
2. Alphonce Simbu(TAN) 2:07:50
3. Reuben Kipyego(KEN) 2:08:25
4. Abel Kirui(KEN) 2:08:46
5. Felix Kemutai(KEN) 2:10:48
Women:
1. Judith Korir(KEN) 2:22:30
2. Eunice Chumba(BHR) 2:26:01
3. Immaculate Chemutai(UGA) 2:28:30
4. Abebech Bekele(ETH) 2:29:43
5. Aleksandra Morozova(RUS) 2:33:01
Five ways to get fit like Craig David (we tried for seven but ran out of time)
Start the week as you mean to go on. So get your training on strong on a Monday.
Train hard, but don’t take it all so seriously that it gets to the point where you’re not having fun and enjoying your friends and your family and going out for nice meals and doing that stuff.
Think about what you’re training or eating a certain way for — don’t, for example, get a six-pack to impress somebody else or lose weight to conform to society’s norms. It’s all nonsense.
Get your priorities right.
And last but not least, you should always, always chill on Sundays.
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Other must-tries
Tomato and walnut salad
A lesson in simple, seasonal eating. Wedges of tomato, chunks of cucumber, thinly sliced red onion, coriander or parsley leaves, and perhaps some fresh dill are drizzled with a crushed walnut and garlic dressing. Do consider yourself warned: if you eat this salad in Georgia during the summer months, the tomatoes will be so ripe and flavourful that every tomato you eat from that day forth will taste lacklustre in comparison.
Badrijani nigvzit
A delicious vegetarian snack or starter. It consists of thinly sliced, fried then cooled aubergine smothered with a thick and creamy walnut sauce and folded or rolled. Take note, even though it seems like you should be able to pick these morsels up with your hands, they’re not as durable as they look. A knife and fork is the way to go.
Pkhali
This healthy little dish (a nice antidote to the khachapuri) is usually made with steamed then chopped cabbage, spinach, beetroot or green beans, combined with walnuts, garlic and herbs to make a vegetable pâté or paste. The mix is then often formed into rounds, chilled in the fridge and topped with pomegranate seeds before being served.
Scoreline
Al Wasl 1 (Caio Canedo 90 1')
Al Ain 2 (Ismail Ahmed 3', Marcus Berg 50')
Red cards: Ismail Ahmed (Al Ain) 77'
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
MATCH INFO
Day 2 at the Gabba
Australia 312-1
Warner 151 not out, Burns 97, Labuschagne 55 not out
Pakistan 240
Shafiq 76, Starc 4-52
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
How much sugar is in chocolate Easter eggs?
- The 169g Crunchie egg has 15.9g of sugar per 25g serving, working out at around 107g of sugar per egg
- The 190g Maltesers Teasers egg contains 58g of sugar per 100g for the egg and 19.6g of sugar in each of the two Teasers bars that come with it
- The 188g Smarties egg has 113g of sugar per egg and 22.8g in the tube of Smarties it contains
- The Milky Bar white chocolate Egg Hunt Pack contains eight eggs at 7.7g of sugar per egg
- The Cadbury Creme Egg contains 26g of sugar per 40g egg
360Vuz PROFILE
Date started: January 2017
Founder: Khaled Zaatarah
Based: Dubai and Los Angeles
Sector: Technology
Size: 21 employees
Funding: $7 million
Investors: Shorooq Partners, KBW Ventures, Vision Ventures, Hala Ventures, 500Startups, Plug and Play, Magnus Olsson, Samih Toukan, Jonathan Labin
