Dubai:

US rapper Macklemore has announced he is cancelling an upcoming show in Dubai over the UAE’s involvement in the conflict in Sudan, charges the Gulf state has denied. 

The rapper best known for hits like 2012’s “Thrift Shop” made the announcement in a post on social media on Saturday.

“I have decided to cancel my upcoming show in Dubai this October,” he said.

“Over the last several months I’ve had a number of people reach out to me, sharing resources and asking me to cancel the show in solidarity with the people of Sudan,” he said.

“Until the UAE stops arming and funding the RSF I will not perform there,” Macklemore added, referring to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces that have been battling the Sundanese army.

War has raged since April 2023 between the Sudanese army, under the country’s de facto ruler Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the RSF, which is commanded by Burhan’s former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo. 

For months, the army has accused the UAE of supporting the RSF.

In June, Sudan’s ambassador to the United Nations Al-Harith Idriss al-Harith Mohamed called Abu Dhabi’s financial and military support for the RSF the “main reason behind this protracted war”.

The UAE has denied allegations of RSF support as “disinformation”, saying that it’s efforts are focused exclusively towards de-escalation and alleviating Sudan’s humanitarian suffering.

Macklemore has released socially aware music in the past, supporting LGBTQ+ rights while also criticising ills including poverty and consumerism.

In his latest track released in May, Macklemore voices support for Palestinians and also praises students across the United States protesting against Israel’s war in Gaza.

The song, “Hind’s Hall”, is named after a building at Columbia University that students recently occupied and renamed after Hind Rajab, a six-year-old Palestinian girl killed in Gaza.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Khartoum:

At least 80 people were killed in an attack by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on a village in Sinnar state in central Sudan, a volunteer group said.

“The RSF launched a bloody attack yesterday (Thursday) on the Jalqni village of (Abu Hujar locality) in Sinnar state, after a five-day siege, killing at least 80 people,” the Sinnar Youth Gathering said on Friday in a statement.

“The attack came after the RSF tried to kidnap girls from the village, which the residents resisted, leading to this massacre,” the statement said.

It added that the “RSF militia” responded to the citizens’ resistance by opening fire indiscriminately and storming homes, Xinhua news agency reported.

The RSF has not yet issued any comment on the incident.

Since June, the RSF has controlled large parts of Sinnar state, including the state’s capital city of Singa, while the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) controls the eastern Sinnar area.

According to the International Organisation for Migration, the fighting in Sinnar state has displaced more than 725,000 people.

Sudan has been witnessing a deadly conflict between the SAF and the RSF since April 15, 2023, which has resulted in the loss of at least 16,650 lives.

An estimated 10.7 million people are now internally displaced in Sudan, with nearly 2.2 million others seeking refuge in neighbouring countries, according to recent UN data.

Ceasefire talks began on Wednesday in Switzerland, hosted by US, Saudi and Swiss mediators, though the Sudanese army refused to take part.

Previous rounds of negotiations in Jeddah in Saudi Arabia have failed to produce an agreement to end the fighting.

The RSF, which since April 2023 has been battling Sudan’s regular army, captured the Sennar state capital of Sinja in June.

The state connects central Sudan to the army-controlled southeast, where hundreds of thousands of people have sought refuge.

The RSF controls most of the capital Khartoum, the central state of Al-Jazira, the vast western Darfur region and large swathes of Kordofan in the south.

The war pits Army Chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan against the RSF led by his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.

It has pushed the country of 48 million to the brink of famine, according to the United Nations, and killed tens of thousands of people, with some estimates of up to 150,000, according to US envoy to Sudan Tom Perriello.

More than 10 million people are currently displaced across Sudan, most in areas facing worsening humanitarian conditions as fighting spreads.

Both sides have been accused of war crimes, including deliberately targeting civilians and blocking humanitarian aid.

Despite the Sudanese army’s no-show at the Switzerland negotiations, Perriello told AFP the talks were having some success, simply by casting international focus on Sudan at a time “when the world was turning its attention away”.

Burhan’s authorities have announced that the western Adre border crossing with Chad was set to reopen for humanitarian deliveries.

Opening the crossing “has been an essential demand for months now, to move humanitarian aid into some of the parts of Darfur that have had the most acute starvation and hunger,” Perriello said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Across Sudan, survivors have reported debilitating physical injuries as a result of sexual assault, including by several fighters at once.  File
| Photo Credit: AP

Sudan’s warring parties have committed widespread sexual violence against women and girls aged between nine and 60, and prevented survivors from accessing healthcare in the capital, Human Rights Watch said on July 29.

In a new report titled ‘Khartoum is Not Safe for Women’, the rights watchdog recorded testimonies from 42 healthcare workers and first responders on sexual violence and forced and child marriage since war erupted in April 2023 between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.

Between April and February 2024, 18 healthcare providers alone treated a total of 262 survivors of sexual violence in greater Khartoum, which includes the city of Omdurman just across the Nile River.

However, according to first responders, the number of reported cases is only a fraction of the real figure, with most survivors unable or unwilling to seek emergency care.

The RSF “have raped, gang raped, and forced into marriage countless women and girls in residential areas in Sudan’s capital,” said Laetitia Bader, HRW’s deputy Africa director.

“The armed group has terrorised women and girls and both warring parties have blocked them from getting aid and support services, compounding the harm they face and leaving them to feel that nowhere is safe.”

The 88-page report also details “conditions that could amount to sexual slavery”.

Though sexual violence has been primarily identified as a systematic weapon used by the RSF, there have also been reports of sexual violence at the hands of army soldiers.

HRW says there has been “an uptick in cases” reported since the army “took control of Omdurman in early 2024”.

No access to care

Across Sudan, survivors have reported debilitating physical injuries as a result of sexual assault, including by several fighters at once.

Among those treated by healthcare workers HRW spoke to, “at least four of the women died as a result” of their injuries.

Women whose assault results in pregnancy have little to no access to abortion care and are at risk of further violence and social repercussions. Some have been abandoned by their families, HRW said.

With the army imposing an effective siege on RSF-controlled areas – restricting even medical and humanitarian relief supplies for over a year – local volunteers in emergency response rooms have played “the leading role in responding to sexual violence”.

Also Read:The Sudan conflict explained in 8 charts

Volunteers themselves have been routinely targeted by both sides, with RSF fighters even committing “sexual violence against the service providers”, HRW reported.

The rights group said the RSF’s widespread sexual violence constitutes “war crimes and crimes against humanity”, while both sides’ attacks on healthcare are considered “war crimes”.

They called on the African Union and the United Nations to “urgently deploy a civilian protection force” in the northeast African country.

The war has killed tens of thousands of people across the country, with some estimating the toll to be as high as 150,000.

It has also caused the world’s largest displacement crisis, with over 10.7 million people displaced within Sudan — currently on the brink of famine — while over 2 million more have fled across borders.

SpaceX, the operator of the Starlink internet service, had notified subscribers in war-torn Sudan that it would cease operating in the country effective April 30. Notably, Sudanese residents, cut off from mobile networks for weeks due to war between rival military factions had been using Starlink satellite connections to access the internet. 

The company stated, ”According to the terms of use, the service is only allowed to be used in countries authorized to operate the service.”

Nearly hundreds of humanitarian organisations are now urging Starlink’s chief Elon Musk to restore the satellite internet service, as not doing so could ”collectively punish” millions of Sudanese.

A coalition of 94 rights organisations operating in Sudan issued a statement, ”Any shutdown of telecommunication services is a violation of human rights and may be considered to be a collective punishment that will not only isolate individuals from their support networks but also exacerbate the already dire economic situation facing millions.”

The statement added: ”The potential shutdown of Starlink would have a disproportionate impact on civilians and the aid organisations who are trying to reach them.”

The statement further noted that nearly 30 million Sudanese were left without Internet or phone access for over a month due to a nationwide telecommunications outage in February 2024. 

That internet connection is the only way for civilians to receive cash transfers from relatives abroad, as most Sudanese have gone without salaries since the war began.

Sudan has been at war since April 15, 2023, following a violent clash between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Over a year of relentless warfare and violence has killed thousands and destroyed homes, towns, livelihoods, and critical civilian infrastructure. It has led to widespread displacement, making it the largest such crisis globally, according to the UN.

Flames gripped the Sudanese capital Sunday and paramilitary forces attacked the army headquarters for the second day in a row, witnesses reported, as fighting raged into its six month.

“Clashes are now happening around the army headquarters with various types of weapons,” witnesses told AFP Sunday from Khartoum, while others reported fighting in the city of El-Obeid, 350 kilometres (about 220 miles) south.

Battles between the regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces intensified Saturday, resulting in several key buildings in central Khartoum being set alight.

In social media posts verified by AFP, users shared footage of flames devouring landmarks of the Khartoum skyline, including the Greater Nile Petroleum Oil Company Tower – a conical building with glass facades that had become an emblem of the city.

Users mourned Khartoum, a shell of its former self, in posts that showed buildings – their windows blown out and their walls charred or pockmarked with bullets – continuing to smoulder.

Since war erupted on April 15 between army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his former deputy, RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, nearly 7,500 people have been killed, according to a conservative estimate from the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project.

It has displaced more than five million people, including 2.8 million who have fled the relentless air strikes, artillery fire and street battles in Khartoum’s densely-populated neighbourhoods.

The millions that remain in the city woke up Sunday to find clouds of smoke obscuring the skyline, as the sound of bombs and gunfire burst through the capital.

“We can hear huge bangs,” witnesses told AFP Sunday from the Mayo district of southern Khartoum, where the army targeted RSF bases with artillery fire.

At least 51 people were killed last week in air strikes on a market in Mayo, according to the United Nations, in one of the deadliest single attacks of the war.

The worst of the violence has been concentrated in Khartoum and the western region of Darfur, where ethnically-motivated attacks by the RSF and allied militias have triggered renewed investigations by the International Criminal Court into possible war crimes.

There has also been fighting in the southern Kordofan region, where witnesses again reported on Sunday artillery fire exchanged between the army and the RSF in the city of El-Obeid.

Clashes around Khartoum’s military headquarters where Abdel Fattah al-Burhan had been holed up until last month.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Sudan’s de facto leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan held talks on September 16 with Uganda’s veteran President Yoweri Museveni on his latest diplomatic foray abroad.

The Sudanese general was pictured meeting with Museveni at State House in the Ugandan town of Entebbe on what was described as a one-day working visit.

“They deliberated on bilateral and regional issues,” said a brief statement from the Ugandan presidency.

Sudan has been at war since April when fighting erupted between the regular army led by Mr. Burhan and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces commanded by his deputy-turned-rival Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.

Clashes around Khartoum’s military headquarters — where Mr. Burhan had been holed up until last month — had seen a brief two-week respite before flaring again, with the RSF showering it with artillery fire, residents said Saturday.

Eyewitnesses on the ground told AFP they heard clashes in central Khartoum, with one resident saying the RSF “is firing heavy artillery” at army headquarters.

From his new base in the Red Sea coastal city of Port Sudan, Mr. Burhan has since late August made six trips abroad in what analysts say is a diplomatic push to burnish his credentials in the event of negotiations to end the conflict.

His first visit was to Egypt, followed by South Sudan, Qatar, Eritrea, Turkey and now Uganda.

At least 7,500 people have been killed since the conflict broke out on April 15, according to a conservative estimate from the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project.

The war has uprooted more than five million people, including one million who fled across borders, according to United Nations figures.

Neither side has been able to gain the upper hand in the conflict, with the army controlling the skies and Daglo’s fighters embedding themselves in residential areas.

Witnesses have noted an increase in the intensity of air strikes, and consequently the civilian death toll, as the army seeks to regain control of parts of the capital.

Mr. Burhan has been Sudan’s de facto leader since the ouster of longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir in 2019, when he was appointed head of the Sovereign Council of military and civilian figures tasked with steering the transition to a fully-fledged democracy.

With the headquarters of the ruling party burning in the back, supporters of Niger’s ruling junta celebrate in Niger after a successful coup.
| Photo Credit: Fatahoulaye Hassane Midou

On August 30, Gabon’s president Ali Bongo Ondimba was ousted after mutinous soldiers launched a coup against his government. This comes after a coup in Niger a couple months back.

African nations have seen 220 coup attempts since 1950. Globally, 490 coup attempts were made during this period. So, Africa accounts for 44.8% for all coup attempts.

Of all African countries, Sudan has seen the most coups since 1950. In this period, the country saw 17 coup attempts.

There is a decreasing trend in coups worldwide. Data collected by U.S. researchers Jonathan M Powell and Clayton L Thyne on coups from 1950 to July, 2023 July shows that from a high of 12.3 coups per year on average between 1960 and 69, the figure fell to 2.44 for the decade 2010 – 19.

However, Africa stands out. In the 1950s, most coups occurred in Latin America. On an average, 4.1 coups happened in this region per year in this decade. In Africa, the figure was at 0.5. In the 2010s, Latin America saw no coup attempts, while Africa saw 1.7 per year on average. This is still lower than the 1950s average, but the highest among other regions for the 2010s.

After 2020, we see an uptick in total coup attempts. Four years – 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 (till July) – saw 14 coup attempts in total. This is against the 22 total coup attempts recorded in the whole decade between 2010 to 2019. In 2021 alone, seven coup attempts were recorded, the most since 2012. Six of them were in Africa

Not always a success

As per Powell and Thyne’s definition, a successful coup is one where the chief executive in power remains unseated for at least a week after the coup. Of the 490 coups that Powell and Thyne have recorded, 244 coups succeeded and 246 failed. In Africa, an exactly equal number of coups have failed and succeeded — 110 each. Since the 1980s, the number of successful coups have been lesser than failed coups. The 2020-23 period is an exception, with nine successful coups and five failed ones.

Why do coups happen in the first place? Holger Albrecht from the University of Alabama and Ferdinand Eibl from King’s College, London have studied who starts military coups and what their incentives might be. They stated that measures like increased military spending might discourage top-ranking military officers from starting coups. In the case of combat-level officers, they noted that increased social spending that reflects on their individual welfare might be an effective coup-proofing measure.

Also read |Explained: The coups in West Africa and the regional response

Some researchers say that the pandemic may have had an effect on the economy of countries, exacerbating public dissatisfaction with the ruling governments. Islamist insurgencies in the region add fuel to the flames, leading to coups against governments that cannot or will not tackle terrorists.

Smoke rises above buildings after an aerial bombardment during clashes between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the army in Khartoum, Sudan, on May 1, 2023. Sudan has been rocked by violence since mid-April. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

A drone attack Sunday (September 10) on an open market south of Sudan’s capital, Khartoum, killed at least 40 people, activists and medical workers said, as the military and a powerful paramilitary group battle for control of the country.

At least three dozen others were injured in the attack in Khartoum’s May neighborhood, where paramilitary forces battling the military were heavily deployed, according to an activist group known as the Resistance Committees and two health care workers at the Bashair University Hospital, where the casualties were treated.

The activist group, which helps organise humanitarian assistance, posted footage on social media showing bodies wrapped in white sheets in an open yard at the hospital.

Sudan has been rocked by violence since mid-April, when tensions between the country’s military, led by Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, commanded by Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, burst into open fighting.

The RSF blamed the military’s air force for Sunday’s attack, though it was not immediately possibly to independently verify the claim. Indiscriminate shelling and airstrikes by both factions aren’t uncommon in Sudan’s war, which has reduced the Greater Khartoum area to a battleground.

The conflict has since spread to several parts of the country. In the Greater Khartoum area, which includes the cities of Khartoum, Omdurman and Bahri, RSF troops have commandeered civilian homes and turned them into operational bases. The military responded by bombing residential areas, rights groups and activists say.

In the western Darfur region — the scene of a genocidal campaign in the early 2000s — the conflict has morphed into ethnic violence, with the RSF and allied Arab militias attacking ethnic African groups, according to rights groups and the United Nations.

The conflict has killed more than 4,000 people, according to August figures from the United Nations. However, the real toll is almost certainly much higher, doctors and activists say.

The number of the internally displaced has nearly doubled since mid-April to reach at least 7.1 million people, according to the U.N. refugee agency. Another 1.1 million are refugees in neighboring countries.

Sudan’s army chief, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan meets with Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani in Doha, Qatar on September 7, 2023.
| Photo Credit: Amiri Diwan/Handout via Reuters

Sudan’s army chief travelled to Qatar on September 7 for talks with the country’s emir, making his third international trip since fighting broke out between the military and a rival paramilitary force in April, Sudanese state media said.

Sudan plunged into chaos almost five months ago when long-simmering tensions between the military, led by Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan and the Rapid Support Forces, commanded by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, escalated into open warfare on April 15.

Burhan planned to hold talks with Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, in the Qatari capital, Doha, according to the state-run SUNA news agency.

In a video posted by the Sudanese army, Burhan was filmed leaving a plane in Doha and numerous Qatari officials greeting him on an airport tarmac. The army chief’s arrival was also confirmed by the state-run Qatar News Agency.

During their meeting, Burhan and Al Thani discussed the challenges facing conflict-stricken Sudan, The Emiri Diwan said in statement. Al Thani reiterated his call for broad peace negotiations between all of Sudan’s political forces and a lasting stop to the fighting, the statement said.

Acting Foreign Minister Ali al-Sadiq and Gen. Ahmed Ibrahim Mufadel, head of the General Intelligence Authority, accompanied Burhan on the trip, SUNA said.

The visit comes amid a flurry of similar diplomatic meetings convened in Egypt and South Sudan. Burhan held talks about the conflict with South Sudan’s president, Salva Kiir, on Monday in Juba.

Last week, the general met with President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi of Egypt in the Egyptian coastal city of el-Alamein, Burhan’s first trip abroad since the conflict broke out. Few details were made public about either trip.

The conflict in the northeast African country is estimated to have killed at least 4,000 people, according to the U.N. human rights office. Activists and doctors on the ground say the toll is likely far higher.

The fighting has displaced more than 5 million people, according to the most recent figures produced by the U.N.’s International Organization for Migration.

Despite international efforts, the conflict has shown few signs of easing. Formal peace negations mediated by the United States and Saudi Arabia in the kingdom’s coastal town of Jeddah were adjourned in late June with both mediators publicly calling out the Rapid Support Forces and the army for continually violating agreed-to truces.

There have been at least nine cease-fires between the army and the RSF since the fighting broke out. All were violated.