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  • Pope Francis to visit two fragile African nations | CNN

    Pope Francis to visit two fragile African nations | CNN

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    CNN
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    Pope Francis starts a trip on Tuesday to two fragile African nations often forgotten by the world, where protracted conflicts have left millions of refugees and displaced people grappling with hunger.

    The Jan. 31-Feb 5 visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and South Sudan, takes the 86-year-old pope to places where Catholics make up about half of the populations and where the Church is a key player in health and education systems as well as in democracy-building efforts.

    The trip was scheduled to take place last July but was postponed because Francis was suffering a flare-up of a chronic knee ailment. He still uses a wheelchair and cane, but his knee has improved significantly.

    Both countries are rich in natural resources – DRC in minerals and South Sudan in oil – but beset with poverty and strife.

    DRC, which is the second-largest country in Africa and has a population of about 90 million, is getting its first visit by a pope since John Paul II travelled there in 1985 when it was known as Zaire.

    Francis had planned to visit the eastern city of Goma but that stop was scrapped following the resurgence of fighting between the army and the M23 rebel group in the area where Italy’s ambassador, his bodyguard and driver were killed in an ambush in 2021.

    Francis will stay in the capital, Kinshasa, but will meet there with victims of violence from the east.

    “Congo is a moral emergency that cannot be ignored,” the Vatican’s ambassador to DRC, Archbishop Ettore Balestrero, told Reuters.

    According to the U.N. World Food Programme, 26 million people in the DRC face severe hunger.

    The country’s 45 million-strong Catholic Church has a long history of promoting democracy and, as the pope arrives, it is gearing up to monitor elections scheduled for December.

    “Our hope for the Congo is that this visit will reinforce the Church’s engagement in support of the electoral process,” said Britain’s ambassador to the Vatican, Christ Trott, who spent many years as a diplomat in Africa.

    DRC is getting its first visit by a pope since John Paul II travelled there in 1985 when it still was known as Zaire.

    The trip takes on an unprecedented nature on Friday when the pope leaves Kinshasa for South Sudan’s capital, Juba.

    That leg is being made with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby and the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, Iain Greenshields.

    “Together, as brothers, we will live an ecumenical journey of peace,” Francis told tens of thousands of people in St. Peter’s Square for his Sunday address.

    The three Churches represent the Christian makeup of the world’s youngest country, which gained independence in 2011 from predominantly Muslim Sudan after decades of conflict and has a population of around 11 million.

    “This will be a historic visit,” Welby said. “After centuries of division, leaders of three different parts of (Christianity) are coming together in an unprecedented way.”

    Two years after independence, conflict erupted when forces loyal to President Salva Kiir clashed with those loyal to Vice President Riek Machar, who is from a different ethnic group. The bloodshed spiralled into a civil war that killed 400,000 people.

    A 2018 deal stopped the worst of the fighting, but parts of the agreement – including the deployment of a re-unified national army – have not yet been implemented.

    There are 2.2 million internally displaced people in South Sudan and another 2.3 million have fled the country as refugees, according to the United Nations, which has praised the Catholic Church as a “powerful and active force in building peace and reconciliation in conflict-torn regions”.

    In one of the most remarkable gestures since his papacy began in 2013, Francis knelt to kiss the feet of South Sudan’s previously warring leaders during a retreat at the Vatican in April 2019, urging them not to return to civil war.

    Trott, a former ambassador in South Sudan, said he hoped the three Churchmen can convince political leaders to “fulfil the promise of the independence movement”.

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  • Kenya ships food donation to South Sudan amid fighting

    Kenya ships food donation to South Sudan amid fighting

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    NAIROBI, Kenya — Kenya’s President William Ruto has expressed concern over the fighting in neighboring South Sudan and airlifted a donation of food stuffs to those affected.

    South Sudan’s northern Upper Nile and Jonglei states are experiencing renewed fighting between rival armed militias.

    The fighting has threatened the implementation of the 2018 peace agreement between President Salva Kiir and his former rival Riek Machar.

    Ruto said he spoke to Kiir on Saturday and urged him to facilitate dialogue for all involved parties to stop the fighting.

    Kenya has also asked the international community to intervene and help in the growing instability in South Sudan.

    “As a neighbor and grantor of the South Sudan Peace process, I, on behalf of Kenya, bring these concerning developments to the attention of the wider international community and call for a focus and immediate intervention geared towards de-escalation, peaceful resolution and coexistence among the parties involved,” Ruto said.

    The fighting has displaced thousands of people and left many in dire need of water, food, shelter and medical aid.

    This is the second time Kenya is sending food and medical aid to South Sudan following a similar donation on Nov. 25.

    The larger east African region is facing the worst drought in decades with some areas experiencing five failed consecutive rainy seasons while others have below average rainfall.

    Kenya shares its northern border with South Sudan and plays a key mediation role in the implementation of the country’s peace agreement.

    There were high hopes when oil-rich South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in 2011 after a long conflict. But the country slid into civil war in December 2013 largely based on ethnic divisions when forces loyal to Kiir battled those supporting Machar.

    Tens of thousands of people were killed in the war, which ended with the 2018 peace agreement. But the terms of that accord have not been fully implemented, and persistent violence is weakening it even more.

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  • Sudanese security forces tear-gas pro-democracy protesters

    Sudanese security forces tear-gas pro-democracy protesters

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    Thousands of demonstrators in Khartoum demand an end to military rule and justice for those killed since last year’s coup

    Khartoum, South Sudan – Sudanese security forces have fired stun grenades and tear gas to disperse thousands of protesters in Khartoum as they mark the fourth anniversary of the uprising that eventually toppled President Omar al-Bashir.

    Protesters draped themselves in Sudanese flags on Monday and held signs that called for military leaders to be held accountable for killing 120 people since consolidating power in a coup on October 25, 2021.

    While nobody was reportedly killed on Monday, many young people were taken to a hospital in the capital where they received treatment for wounds they sustained in the march.

    Mohamad Amin was parked outside the hospital after transporting an injured protester on his motorbike.

    “The police are violent,” he told Al Jazeera. “The young man I brought to the hospital was hit in the back of the head with a tear gas canister.”

    Failed political deal?

    The protest was led by the Resistance Committees, which are against an agreement signed this month by security forces and political elites. These neighbourhood groups leading Sudan’s pro-democracy movement denounced the deal as a betrayal of the core demands of the 2018-2019 uprising, such as transitional justice and security sector reform.

    “The agreement already failed,” said Menjan Hamza, 22, who participated in the march on Monday. “The [security forces and politicians] made an agreement, but what about our martyrs? Nobody was sentenced for the killings [security forces] committed in the past year.”

    The global community still backs the deal as a “positive step” towards restoring a transition to democracy. Diplomats hope the second part of the agreement, which politicians and security officials are supposed to settle next month, will address outstanding issues.

    “On the Anniversary of the December revolution, I hope that the political process will realize the demands and aspirations of the Sudanese men and women who took to the streets four years ago and continue to struggle for a future of peace, democracy, human rights and equal citizenship,” tweeted Volker Perthes, the UN envoy to Sudan.

    Empty promises

    The military cast doubt on the future of the agreement after its top general, Abdel Fatah al-Burhan, told soldiers last week that civilians would never have control over the armed forces.

    The military in Sudan controls lucrative civilian sectors of the country, which critics say sabotages its economy. Members of the military also enjoy immunity from criminal prosecution under the law, according to the human rights group Redress.

    “Do not listen to what politicians say about military reform; … no one will interfere in the affairs of the army at all,” al-Burhan told the state news broadcaster on Wednesday.

    Kholood Khair, the founding director of the Khartoum-based think-tank Confluence Advisory, told Al Jazeera that al-Burhan’s apparent refusal to uphold his end of the bargain is precisely what foreign observers should have expected.

    “This is a framework agreement where [the military] says all the nice things but really has no intention of implementing them,” she said. “So for me, this is totally on brand. Al-Burhan says one thing  – or signs one thing – and does another.”

    Several protesters also told Al Jazeera that they have no faith that al-Burhan or other security figures who backed his coup will relinquish power easily.

    They said the real issue is that the security forces and the agreement signed this month are mainly supported by regional and Western countries that have their own strategic and economic interests in Sudan.

    “This government that we have is an external government, but we want a government for the people,” said Mohamad Ibrahim, a protester holding a Sudanese flag high in the air. “We want a revolutionary government that will support everyone.”

    Al Jazeera attempted to contact police spokesperson Brigadier-General Abdallah Bashir al-Badri multiple times for comment but he did not respond.

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  • IMF, South Sudan sign agreement for $112.7m in emergency funds

    IMF, South Sudan sign agreement for $112.7m in emergency funds

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    In early November, UN agencies said up to two-thirds of South Sudan’s population may face severe food shortages in 2023.

    The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and South Sudan have reached a staff-level agreement for the release of about $112.7m in emergency financing.

    “This emergency financing under the new Food Shock Window will help South Sudan address food insecurity, support social spending, and boost international reserves,” the IMF said in a statement on Tuesday.

    The IMF’s executive board will approve the financing in the coming weeks, the fund said.

    In early November, United Nations agencies said up to 7.8 million people in South Sudan, two-thirds of the population, may face severe food shortages during next year’s April-to-July lean season due to floods, drought, and conflict.

    South Sudan erupted into civil war shortly after getting independence from Sudan in 2011 and while a peace agreement signed four years ago is largely holding, the transitional government has been slow to unify various military factions.

    On Tuesday, the IMF put the number of people experiencing severe food insecurity at an estimated 8.3 million.

    “The combination of continued localised conflict, four consecutive years of severe flooding, and the rising price of staple commodities from Russia’s war in Ukraine has increased the number of people experiencing severe food insecurity,” it said.

    On Monday, the IMF also announced the approval of an $88.3m disbursement to Malawi under the new “food shock window” emergency lending facility launched in response to food price spikes and shortages caused by the war in Ukraine.

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  • Sudan official: Deaths from southern tribal clashes at 220

    Sudan official: Deaths from southern tribal clashes at 220

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    CAIRO — Two days of tribal fighting in Sudan’s south killed at least 220 people, a senior health official said Sunday, marking one the deadliest bouts of tribal violence in recent years. The unrest added to the woes of an African nation mired in civil conflict and political chaos.

    Fighting in Blue Nile province, which borders Ethiopia and South Sudan, reignited earlier this month over a land dispute. It pits the Hausa tribe, with origins across West Africa, against the Berta people.

    The tensions escalated Wednesday and Thursday in the town of Wad el-Mahi on the border with Ethiopia, according to Fath Arrahman Bakheit, the director general of the Health Ministry in Blue Nile.

    He told The Associated Press that officials counted at least 220 dead as of Saturday night, adding the tally could be much higher since medical teams were not able to reach the epicenter of the fighting.

    Bakheit said the first humanitarian and medical convoy managed to reach Was el-Mahi late Saturday to try to assess the situation, including counting “this huge number of bodies,” and the dozens of injured.

    “In such clashes, everyone loses,” he said. “We hope it ends soon and never happens again. But we need strong political, security and civil interventions to achieve that goal.”

    Footage from the scene, which corresponded to the AP’s reporting, showed burned houses and charred bodies. Others showed women and children fleeing on foot.

    Many houses were burned down in the fighting, which displaced some 7,000 people to the city of Rusyaris. Others fled to neighboring provinces, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Overall, about 211,000 people have been displaced by tribal violence and other attacks across the country this year, it said.

    Authorities ordered a nighttime curfew in Wad el-Mahi and deployed troops to the area. They also established a fact-finding committee to investigate the clashes, according to the state-run SUNA news agency.

    The fighting between the two groups first erupted in mid-July, killing at least 149 people as of earlier October. It triggered violent protests and stoked tensions between the two tribes in Blue Nile and other provinces.

    The latest fighting comes at a critical time for Sudan, just a few days before the first anniversary of a military coup that further plunged the country into turmoil. The coup derailed the country’s short-lived transition to democracy after nearly three decades of the repressive rule of Omar al-Bashir, who was removed in April 2019 by a popular uprising.

    In recent weeks the military and the pro-democracy movement have engaged in talks to find a way out of the ongoing situation. The generals agreed to allow civilians to appoint a prime minister to lead the country through elections within 24 months, the pro-democracy movement said last week.

    However, the violence in Blue Nile is likely to slow down such efforts. Protest groups, who reject the deal with the ruling generals, have been preparing for mass anti-military demonstrations called for Tuesday, the anniversary of the coup.

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  • Sudan officials: Tribal clashes kill 170 in country’s south

    Sudan officials: Tribal clashes kill 170 in country’s south

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    CAIRO — Tribal clashes in Sudan’s southern province of Blue Nile have killed at least 170 people over the past two days, two Sudanese officials said Thursday, the latest in inter-communal violence across the country’s neglected south.

    The officials, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media, said the clashes erupted on Wednesday and that sporadic fighting continues. Government troops were deployed to the area to try to de-escalate the conflict. The dead include women and children, the two officials said.

    Blue Nile has been shaken by ethnic violence over the past months. Tribal clashes that erupted in July killed 149 people by early October, and last week, renewed clashes killed another 13 people, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, or OCHA.

    The July fighting involved the Hausa, a tribe with origins across West Africa, and the Berta people, following a land dispute. On Thursday, a group representing the Hausa said they have been under attack by individuals armed with heavy weapons over the past two days, but did not blame any specific tribe or group for the attack.

    A Hausa group issued a statement calling for de-escalation and a stop to ”the genocide and ethnic cleansing of the Hausa.” The tribe has long been marginalized within Sudanese society, with July’s violence sparking a string of Hausa protests across the country. The Blue Nile is home to dozens of different ethnic groups, with hate speech and racism often inflaming decades-long tribal tensions.

    OCHA had no confirmation of the latest surge in casualties but said the violence has displaced at least 1,200 people since last week. According to the U.N. agency, the villages surrounding the city of Ar Rusyaris have been at the epicenter of the violence.

    Earlier in the day, OCHA said that tribal clashes in nearby West Kordofan province, which broke out last week, killed 19 people and wounded dozens. A gunfight there between the Misseriya and Nuba ethnic groups erupted amid a land dispute near the town of Al Lagowa, the agency said.

    The West Kordofan state governor visited the town on Tuesday to talk to local residents in a bid to de-escalate the conflict before coming under artillery fire from a nearby mountainous area, OCHA said. There were no reports of casualties from the artillery fire.

    “Fighting in West Kordofan and the Blue Nile states risks further displacements and human suffering,″ OCHA said. ”There is also a risk of an escalation and spread of the fighting with additional humanitarian consequences,” it said

    On Wednesday, the Sudanese army accused the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North, a rebel group active in the Blue Nile and South Kordofan, of being behind the attack on Al Lagowa. The rebel group has not responded to the accusation.

    The violence in West Kordofan prompted around 36,500 people to flee Al Lagowa while many who remained sought shelter in the town’s army base, OCHA added. The area is currently inaccessible to humanitarian aid, the agency said.

    Eisa El Dakar, a local journalist from West Kordofan, told The AP last week that the conflict there is partly rooted in the two ethnic groups’ conflicting claims to local land, with the Misseriya being predominately a herding community and the Nuba mostly farmers.

    Much of Kordofan and other areas in southern Sudan have been rocked by chaos and conflict over the past decade.

    Sudan has been plugged into turmoil since a coup last October that upended the country’s brief democratic transition after three decades of autocratic rule by Omar al-Bashir. He was toppled in an April 2019 popular uprising, paving the way for a civilian-military power-sharing government.

    Many analysts consider the rising violence a product of the power vacuum in the region, caused by the military coup last October. The violence has also further threatened Sudan’s already struggling economy, compounded by fuel shortages caused, in part, by the war in Ukraine.

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  • UN says renewed tribal clashes kill 13 in southern Sudan

    UN says renewed tribal clashes kill 13 in southern Sudan

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    CAIRO — Renewed tribal clashes in a southern province in Sudan killed at least 13 people and injured more than two dozen others since late last week in the latest violence to hit the chaotic nation in recent months, the U.N. said Monday.

    Clashes between the Hausa and Birta ethnic groups began Thursday over a land dispute in the Wad al-Mahi District in the Blue Nile province, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

    The fighting, which lasted for four days before subsiding Sunday, displaced at least 1,200 people who were taking refuge in schools there, it said.

    Government offices and the town’s market were closed, making it difficult for its residents to get their daily needs, it said. Authorities also imposed restrictions on people’s movements in the area amid fears of revenge attacks, it said.

    The U.N. migration agency said the Jabalaween tribe, which is on the side of the Brita group, expelled its rivals, the Hausa, from the area, which has been inaccessible to humanitarian agencies.

    The fighting between the two tribes originally began in mid-July. A total of 149 people were killed and 124 others wounded as of Oct. 6, according to OCHA.

    The fighting in the Blue Nile province triggered violent protests in other provinces where thousands, mostly Hausa, took to the streets to protest the government’s lack of response to the clashes.

    It was the latest tribal violence to hit Sudan, which is home to several long-running ethnic conflicts. The country was already in turmoil since the military took over the government in a coup last year.

    The military’s takeover removed a civilian-led Western backed government, upending the country’s short-lived transition to democracy after nearly three decades of repressive rule by autocrat Omar al-Bashir. A popular uprising forced the removal of al-Bashir and his government in April 2019.

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