{"id":108214,"date":"2021-01-01T15:36:12","date_gmt":"2021-01-01T07:36:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.namnewsnetwork.org\/?p=108214"},"modified":"2021-01-01T15:36:13","modified_gmt":"2021-01-01T07:36:13","slug":"sudan-peace-mission-in-darfur-ends-stoking-fears-of-new-clashes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/?p=108214","title":{"rendered":"Sudan: Peace mission in Darfur ends, stoking fears of new clashes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"\/<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

KHARTOUM, Jan 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The United Nations and African Union on Thursday ended a 13-year mission to keep the peace in the vast Sudanese region of Darfur, even as recent violent clashes leave residents fearful of renewed fighting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fighting erupted in Darfur in 2003, when ethnic minority rebels rose up
against the Arab-dominated government in Khartoum, which responded by
recruiting and arming notorious Arab-dominated militia known as the
Janjaweed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A total of 300,000 people were killed and 2.5 million displaced, according
to the United Nations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe peacekeeping mission ended on Thursday December 31 at midnight in
Darfur,\u201d UNAMID\u2019s spokesman Ashraf Eissa said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs of 1 January 2021, UNAMID\u2019s troops and police personnel will focus on
providing security for the mission\u2019s drawdown activities, personnel, and
assets.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said the phased withdrawal of the mission\u2019s approximately 8,000 armed
and civilian personnel will be completed inside six months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Sudanese government \u201cwill take over responsibility for the protection
of civilians in the area,\u201d UNAMID said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Darfur\u2019s bitter conflict has largely subsided in recent years and longtime
autocrat Omar al-Bashir \u2014 wanted by the International Criminal Court for
genocide and other alleged crimes in the western region \u2014 was deposed last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the country\u2019s transitional government is fragile, and ethnic and tribal
clashes still periodically flare, including clashes last week that left at
least 15 people dead and dozens wounded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Darfuris, many of whom remain in camps years after they fled their homes,
have held protests in recent weeks against the mission\u2019s imminent departure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Protesters held up banners reading: \u201cWe trust UN protection for IDPs
(internally displaced people),\u201d and \u201cwe reject UNAMID\u2019s exit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

UNAMID spokesman Ashraf Eissa sought to allay those fears.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe understand the concerns of the Darfuri population especially IDPs and
other vulnerable groups, but the situation has improved a great deal over the past few years,\u201d Eissa said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe responsibility now lies with the transitional government and the
Sudanese people themselves to enhance peace and security in Darfur.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A UN political mission \u2014 the United Nations Integrated Transition
Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS) \u2014 will be installed in Darfur after
UNAMID\u2019s departure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It will be tasked with assisting Sudan\u2019s transition, peace-building, and
aid disbursement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following last week\u2019s clashes, Sudanese authorities said government troops
will be deployed to the region to contain any violence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Thursday, acting foreign minister Omar Qamareddine said UNAMID
\u201ccontributed to acheiving peace.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s true that its tenure was marred by some obstacles but it was,
overall, good,\u201d the minister told a Khartoum press conference, adding that
the deployment of government troops across the region will be completed by March.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But many are sceptical.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf the protection of internally displaced people is assigned to the
government forces, it will be like handing Darfuris to the forces that
committed massacres and rape against them,\u201d said 25-year-old Darfuri Intisar Abdelhay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thousands of Janjaweed militiamen were incorporated into Sudan\u2019s powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, whose head Mohamed Hamdan Daglo is a key figure in the transitional government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Janjaweed stand accused by human rights groups of carrying out
widespread killings and rapes as part of a broader campaign of \u201cethnic
cleasing\u201d in the early years of the conflict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bashir was deposed by the army in April last year following unprecedented
mass protests against his iron-fisted rule.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In August 2019, the military rulers who ousted him agreed a precarious
power sharing transition with civilians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The transition government has pushed to build peace with rebel groups in
all three of Sudan\u2019s main conflict zones, including Darfur.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But two rebel groups refused to join the deal, including the Sudan
Liberation Movement (SLM) faction led by Abdelwahid Nour, which is believed to maintain considerable support in Darfur.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clashes still flare in the region over land and access to water, mainly
pitting nomadic Arab pastoralists against settled farmers from non-Arab
ethnic groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere is not yet full and comprehensive peace in Sudan,\u201d said Kalma
resident Mohamed Hassan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd until there is, we are against the end of the UNAMID mission.\u201d — NNN-AGENCIES<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KHARTOUM, Jan 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The United Nations and African Union on Thursday ended a 13-year mission to keep the peace in the vast Sudanese region of Darfur, even as recent violent clashes leave residents fearful of renewed fighting. Fighting erupted in Darfur in 2003, when ethnic minority rebels rose upagainst the Arab-dominated government in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":108215,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[213],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108214"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=108214"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108214\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/108215"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=108214"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=108214"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=108214"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}