Sudanese opposition condemn ‘silence on attacks’

Sudan’s opposition forces strongly condemn the fighting and aerial bombardments that began on Friday in Darfur’s Jebel Marra. Dozens of villagers have been killed, hundreds wounded, and thousands have fled to the mountain top for safety and protection.

According to the Sudanese Congress Party (SCP) the attacks on villages in Jebel Marra are “crimes that are consistent with the government’s war and genocide policies, which pose a huge obstacle on the way to peace and reconciliation”.

SCP Deputy-President Khalid Omar told Radio Dabanga on Saturday that Khartoum is seeking to impose its political agenda through military action and a new reality on the ground while ignoring the consequences for the situation of civilians in the areas of conflict.

He expressed surprise at the silence of the political forces, civil society, and the international community about “the government’s crimes”, and called for collective action to “exert pressure on Khartoum to stop these crimes, and overthrow the government as it is the main source of the violence against civilians”.

“The government was lying again when it claimed that it prefers a peaceful National Dialogue to solve the various crises in the country, just as it lied when it declared an extension of its unilateral cease-fire.”

‘Bombing its own people’

The National Umma Party (NUP) stressed the need to urgently provide humanitarian assistance to the people affected by the war and bombardments in Darfur, Blue Nile, and South Kordofan.

In an interview with Radio Dabanga on Tuesday, Dr Maryam El Sadig El Mahdi, NUP Co-Vice-President held the government responsible for the renewed fighting and the bombing of civilians in Jebel Marra.

“The Sudanese government is the only government in Africa which bombs its own people,” she said.

The NUP leader described the ruling National Congress Party of “adhering to power in order to protect a handful of people from being arrested and brought to justice”, and called upon the Sudanese opposition forces to “translate their condemnation and denunciation into [..] a radical change of the regime”.

Dr Ihsan Fegeiri, leading member of the No to Women’s Oppression activist group, denounced the “attacks on thousands of innocent civilians in Jebel Marra”.

“The government was lying again when it claimed that it prefers a peaceful National Dialogue to solve the various crises in the country, just as it lied when it declared an extension of its unilateral cease-fire,” she stated.

Fegeiri called on Sudanese society via Radio Dabangato “to assume its responsibilities towards women in the various conflict zones in the country”.