Sudan has been at war almost without interruption since its independence from Britain in 1956. For years an Arab-dominated Islamist government battled rebels from the Christian and animist south. Perhaps 2m people died in these wars before South Sudan was recognised in 2011 as Africa\u2019s newest country.<\/p>\n
In 2003 armed groups began a rebellion in Darfur, a relatively prosperous region the size of Spain where black African locals complained that the government in Khartoum was oppressing them. In response, Mr Bashir armed nomadic Arab cattle-herders, turning them into the Janjaweed, a horse-mounted militia that was unleashed upon black farmers with such savagery that in 2010 the International Criminal Court (icc) indicted Mr Bashir on charges of genocide.<\/p>\n
Many of those who were chased from their homes languish in camps near towns like el-Fasher or in neighbouring Chad. Their lands are occupied by armed Arab tribes that the victims still call the Janjaweed. Abdulrazig Abdallah, an elder in el-Fasher, says four people from his camp were killed in early September when they ventured to their farms for the harvest. Such incidents are commonplace.<\/p>\n
The new government has declared a ceasefire with rebels, which even the most recalcitrant seem to be observing. \u201cThis time both sides are serious,\u201d says a un official. Rebel leaders have been invited back from exile. And the government has markedly improved access for humanitarian organisations and journalists.<\/p>\n
Read it all<\/a>.<\/p>\n A slender chance for peace in Darfur: Sudan\u2019s revolution could end the conflict in Darfur https:\/\/t.co\/wQBmmq0HcP<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Shehzad Younis (@shehzadyounis) November 28, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n