Situation in Sudan (per 28 August)

  • Sudanese Armed Forces commander al-Burhan was able to leave the General Command headquarters in Khartoum and arrived in Port Sudan on Sunday. He will visit Cairo and Jeddah.
  • The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) published a statement outlining their vision to end the fighting and expressed willingness to enter into a ceasefire. However, observers doubt authenticity of the statement.
  • History is repeating itself in Sudan, with stories of conflict-related sexual violence of women increasing in Sudan. Journalist Reem Abbas compares it to 1897, where women committed suicide, rather than being taken into sexual slavery by Mahdiya soldiers.
  • Sudan is facing a “humanitarian emergency of epic proportions,” warns UN Relief Chief Martin Griffiths, as the spreading conflict depletes supplies and threatens agricultural lands.
  • Dire situations are reported from eastern Sudan’s displacement camps and Chadian refugee camps, due to flooding and lack of food.

Refugee Situation (per 28 August)

  • Refugees fleeing the Tigray war recount being shot at by Saudi Arabian border guards in Yemen,  including targeting with heavy weapons and tactics to maximise casualties, including children.
  • The victims are buried in improvised mass graves, while their family at home has no information.
  • Refugees fleeing from Sudan to Libya have been mass-rounded up and detained by Haftar’s forces. Hundreds are reportedly sent to the border area of Sabha while hundreds more are detained.
  • Eritrean refugees are left in limbo in Sudan, as it is no longer safe but they cannot return to Eritrea.

Situation in Ethiopia (per 28 August)

  • Fano militia in Amhara have taken up the strategy of opening new fronts through ambushes and attacks on the Ethiopian National Defense Forces (ENDF). This is preventing the ENDF from securing and maintaining positions, analysts say.
  • The tactics are forcing ENDF to move around troops to assist other units under pressure, which allows Fano to retake cities such as Debre Berhan.
  • Arega Kebede was appointed as new president of the Amhara region after Yilikal Kefale resigned during an emergency meeting of the regional council on Friday 25 August. Amhara authorities are divided on whether to negotiate with Fano or pursue military action.

Situation in Tigray (per 28 August)

  • A hand grenade explosion reportedly killed four people in Mekelle on Thursday night, 24 August. People were celebrating the Ashenda festival at the time.
  • The hand grenade was thrown as a cover-up for a kidnapping and murder attempt on two women, reports state. One woman survived and is in the hospital, while the other was run over by a vehicle several times and died.
  • Perpetrators are reported to be veterans of the Tigray Defense Forces using government vehicles. The motive was identified by police as a “personal feud”.
  • Widespread and brutal acts of conflict-related sexual violence have been perpetrated by military actors in Tigray and they have not stopped since the signing of the Cessation of Hostilities (CoH) Agreement, a report by Physicians for Human Rights found.
  • The majority of sexual violence cases were perpetrated by multiple people, and the majority of perpetrators identified by survivors were Eritrean forces.
  • 128 out of the 305 reviewed records were from instances of conflict-related sexual violence that occurred after November 2022, when the CoH Agreement was signed.
  • The Amhara administration reportedly left the southern zone of Tigray. The Federal government is reported to have taken over 6 woredas, including Alamata and Ofla.
  • Ayder Hospital in Mekelle is at a breaking point, as exhausted staff is leaving and medical equipment, including the region’s only MRI machine, remain out of order.
  • Kibrom Gebreselassie Desta, Chief Executive Director of Ayder, calls on the international community to provide medical supplies and equipment, donate money to pay staff, send professionals to help rebuild the hospital and press the Ethiopian government to allow for more aid and rebuilding of Tigray. 

Regional Situation (per 28 August)

  • SSC-Khatumo clan militia captured the main military base of Somaliland on the outskirts of Laascaanood on Friday, after a four-hour long battle against Somaliland forces.
  • International organisations and representatives from over 20 countries strongly condemned the escalation of fighting.
  • The US military in Africa conducted a ‘self-defense’ airstrike against Al-Shabaab, reportedly killing 13 militants, around Seiera in the south of Somalia.

International Situation (per 28 August)

  • Messe Giessen has decided to no longer rent out its location for the Eritrea-festival in the coming year. It is preparing for possible legal action by the organisers.
  • A recent article by the Eritrean Ministry for Information dismissing the pushback against the festivals as ‘hypocrisy’ shows that the Eritrean authorities are growing increasingly concerned over the protests.
  • Infiltration by spies from Eritrea in interpretation services in Switzerland leads to pressure on Eritrean refugees, targeting of family members, and omission of information from official asylum interviews.
  • A refugee now living in Switzerland confirmed that he worked in Eritrea for six years, training around 1500 agents for the purpose of spreading the propaganda of the Eritrean regime, he stated in an interview with the Aargauer Zeitung.
  • The State Secretariat for Migration in Switzerland stated it wants to investigate it as soon as possible.
  • The agents sent by Eritrean spy on, threaten refugees abroad, and extort money from them.
  • A new round of negotiations over the GERD dam started yesterday in Egypt, with representatives from Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt.

Links of interest

War and hunger could destroy Sudan
Sudan’s RSF outlines its vision to end war
When The Only Way Out Is Death
‘Dire situation unfolding’ in eastern Sudan displacement camps
Ethiopian survivors recount horror of mass killings at Saudi-Yemen border

X: Refugees in Libya
Nowhere to run: The dilemmas of Eritrean refugees in war-wrecked Sudan
New president calls for peace across Amhara region

News: Nightclub grenade attack in Mekelle city kills four, injures 20                                   

It was a state-of-the-art facility that provided world-class care to patients from all over the region and beyond. But now, after two years of war, the hospital is in shambles.

Broken Promises: Conflict-Related Sexual Violence Before and After the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement in Tigray, Ethiopia

Somalia: SSC Forces Capture Somaliland’s Goojacade military Base

US Airstrike Kills 13 Al-Shabab Militants

Messe Gießen: Kein Mietvertrag mehr für umstrittenes Eritrea-Festival

Violence Against Eritrean Communities Underscores the Hypocrisy of the West

Spies from Eritrea work for the Swiss migration authority – the federal government initiates an investigation

Spione aus Eritrea versuchen Geld von Flüchtlingen zu erpressen – Betroffene haben Angst vor den Behörden

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