| 2023 Foro Baranga clashes | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of aftermath of the War in Darfur | |||||||
 Military Situation as of 31 July 2023 | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| Masalit militiamen | Arab militiamen | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 25+ civilians killed [2] 20,000 refugees [2] | |||||||
On April 10, 2023, clashes broke out between Masalit and Arab civilians in Foro Baranga, West Darfur, Sudan, killing at least 25 people.
Throughout the War in Darfur, Foro-Baranga was a haven for refugees escaping violence in West Darfur and Central Darfur, due to it's location next to Chad. In 2021, during the 2021 Darfur clashes, many refugees from Kreinik and Jebel Moon sought refuge in the city. However, the new influx of refugees also exacerbated ethnic tensions between the non-Arab Masalit people and Arab tribes in the city. These tensions had broken out into violence before, with protests breaking out in 2021 after the shooting of a kiosk owner. [3]
Tensions rose between April 7 and April 10 in the city following sporadic killings of three people from both tribes. In an attempt to quell violence, West Darfur authorities sent extra security forces to the city, although this had little effect. [4] Fighting broke out on April 10, quickly spreading to nine neighborhoods. [5] Fifty homes were burned in the initial violence, and around 20,000 were forced to flee to Chad and the nearby village of Jimmeza. [6] [5] The main neighborhoods affected were the El Shati and El Salaam neighborhoods. [7]
On April 11, Khamis Abakar, the governor of West Darfur, enacted a two-week curfew in the region in an attempt to stop the violence. [7] By April 13, Mohammed Hussein Timane, the leader of the Foro Baranga community council, stated that 24 civilians had been killed in the violence. [8] Reprisal attacks had also spread to the town of Birkat Seira in North Darfur. [7]
By April 15, El Salam and El Shati neighborhoods were burned to the ground, along with the neighborhoods of El Tadamon and El Medina el-Munawara.The neighborhoods were primarily inhabited by non-Arab refugees. [9] Residents of Foro Baranga stated the attackers used 300 motorcycles and several camels to attack the city. [9] At least 25 people were killed, with the death toll likely to be higher due to several parts of the city being inaccessible to humanitarian aid and medical services. Several people were kidnapped as well. [9]
Sudanese transitional leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, vice-leader Hemedti, Darfur governor Minni Minnawi, and deputy governor Mohamed Eisa Aliyu convened on April 14 to discuss the clashes, and agreed to send Sudanese Army forces and Rapid Support Forces militiamen stationed in Central Darfur to quell the clashes. [9] Little is known about the effect of this, as the 2023 Sudan conflict began the next day.
By April 23, Rapid Support Forces militiamen controlled Foro Baranga. [10]
The Sudan Liberation Movement/Army is a Sudanese rebel group active in Darfur, Sudan. It was founded as the Darfur Liberation Front by members of three indigenous ethnic groups in Darfur: the Fur, the Zaghawa, and the Masalit, among whom were the leaders Abdul Wahid al Nur of the Fur and Minni Minnawi of the Zaghawa.
The War in Darfur, also nicknamed the Land Cruiser War, was a major armed conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan that began in February 2003 when the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) rebel groups began fighting against the government of Sudan, which they accused of oppressing Darfur's non-Arab population. The government responded to attacks by carrying out a campaign of ethnic cleansing against Darfur's non-Arabs. This resulted in the death of hundreds of thousands of civilians and the indictment of Sudan's president, Omar al-Bashir, for genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court.
The Sudanese conflict in South Kordofan and Blue Nile was an armed conflict in the Sudanese southern states of South Kordofan and Blue Nile between the Sudanese Army (SAF) and Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), a northern affiliate of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) in South Sudan. After some years of relative calm following the 2005 agreement which ended the second Sudanese civil war between the Sudanese government and SPLM rebels, fighting broke out again in the lead-up to South Sudan independence on 9 July 2011, starting in South Kordofan on 5 June and spreading to the neighboring Blue Nile state in September. SPLM-N, splitting from newly independent SPLM, took up arms against the inclusion of the two southern states in Sudan with no popular consultation and against the lack of democratic elections. The conflict is intertwined with the War in Darfur, since in November 2011 SPLM-N established a loose alliance with Darfuri rebels, called Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF).
The Sudanese peace process consists of meetings, written agreements and actions that aim to resolve the War in Darfur, the Sudanese conflict in South Kordofan and Blue Nile, and armed conflicts in central, northern and eastern Sudan.
The 2019–2022 Sudanese protests were street protests in Sudan which began in mid-September 2019, during Sudan's transition to democracy, about issues which included the nomination of a new Chief Justice and Attorney General, the killing of civilians by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the toxic effects of cyanide and mercury from gold mining in Northern state and South Kordofan, opposition to a state governor in el-Gadarif and to show trials of Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA) coordinators, and advocating the dismissal of previous-government officials in Red Sea, White Nile, and South Darfur. The protests follow the Sudanese Revolution's street protests and civil disobedience of the early September 2019 transfer of executive power to the country's Sovereignty Council, civilian prime minister Abdalla Hamdok, and his cabinet of ministers. Hamdok described the 39-month transition period as defined by the aims of the revolution.
The 2020 Darfur attacks were three mass shootings that occurred in July 2020 in Darfur, Sudan. Sudan's leadership and the joint United Nations and African Union mission in Darfur (UNAMID) have connected the massacres to land conflicts relating to farming rights, typically between non-Arab tribal farmers, such as the Masalit people, and Arab Bedouin tribes, whom the government believes to be the attackers.
In July, September, and October 2022, clashes broke out between the Hausa people and Funj and Berta peoples over land disputes in Blue Nile state in southeastern Sudan. Over the course of several attacks and massacres, hundreds of civilians were killed up until the violence ended in January 2023.
An armed conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), rival factions of the military government of Sudan, began on 15 April 2023, with the fighting concentrated around the capital city of Khartoum and the Darfur region. Later, a faction of the militant Sudan People's Liberation Movement–North (SPLM-N) led by Abdelaziz al-Hilu, also fought the SAF in regions bordering South Sudan and Ethiopia. As of 22 July 2023, between 3,000 to 10,000 people had been killed and 6,000 to 8,000 others injured, while as of 18 July 2023, 2.6 million were internally displaced and 730,000 others had fled the country as refugees.
The Battle of Geneina was a battle for control of Geneina, the capital of West Darfur in Sudan, between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), and the Sudanese Armed Forces. By April 25, fighting intensified, and devolved along tribal lines, with Masalit and non-Arab peoples supporting the SAF and the aligned Joint Darfur Force, consisting of former rebel groups including the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army and the Justice and Equality Movement, against the RSF and allied Arab militias. Thousands of civilians and soldiers were killed since the fighting broke out, and humanitarian organizations have equated indiscriminate civilian killings throughout the battle to the Rwandan genocide. The Rapid Support Forces captured the city on June 22, and reports emerged of ethnic cleansing of non-Arab civilians in the city.
Foro Baranga is a town located in West Darfur, Sudan.
The following is a timeline of the 2023 Sudan conflict.
Between April 9–10, 2022, militiamen riding on camelback attacked the villages of Tangi and Bir Dagig, in West Darfur, Sudan. The massacre killed twelve people, and injured ten more.
The Battle of Nyala was a battle for control of Nyala, the capital of South Darfur in Sudan, between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), and the Sudanese Armed Forces during the ongoing Darfur campaign. The battle occurred between 15 and 20 April 2023, during which hundreds were reported dead. A civilian-brokered ceasefire paused the fighting by April 20.
The battle of El Fasher is an ongoing battle for control of the town of El Fasher in North Darfur during the 2023 Sudan conflict. The first battle for the city took place between April 15 and April 20, and resulted in a ceasefire that held until May 12.
Um Dafuq, also spelled Um Dafouk, Um Dafok, Um Dafog, is a town located across Central African Republic-Sudan border in South Darfur. The town holds economic and commercial importance. It is the birthplace of Abdallahi ibn Muhammad.
The siege of El Obeid is an ongoing siege in El-Obeid, North Kordofan, Sudan, during the 2023 Sudan conflict. The battle began on April 15, and saw the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) capture the El Obeid airport from the Sudanese Army contingent in the city. Throughout April and May, the Sudanese Army repelled several RSF assaults on the city, although by May 30, the RSF fully surrounded the city and laid siege to it.
Khamis Abdullah Abakar also known as Abdallah Abakar was a Sudanese politician, activist and former army commander who served as the Governor of West Darfur from 2021 to 2023.
Tawila or Tawilah is a town in North Darfur State, Sudan.
Kreinik is a town located in West Darfur, Sudan, located 50 miles east of Geneina.
Jebel Moon or Jebel Mun is a locality in West Darfur, Sudan.