Sudan On Brink of “Full-Scale Civil War”

By Samy Magdy Associated Press

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Sudan is on the brink of a “full-scale civil war” as fierce clashes between rival generals continued unabated Sunday in the capital of Khartoum.

Guterres warned late Saturday that the war between the Sudanese military and a powerful paramilitary force is likely to destabilize the entire region, according to Farhan Haq, deputy spokesperson for the U.N. chief.

Sudan descended into chaos after months of tension between military chief Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan and his rival, Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, commander of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, exploded into open fighting in mid-April.

ident Abdalla al-Fatih.

In his statement, Guterres also condemned an airstrike Saturday that health authorities said killed at least 22 people in Omdurman, a city just across the Nile from Khartoum. The assault was one of the deadliest in the conflict so far.

The RSF blamed the military for the attack in Omdurman. The military denied the accusation, saying in a statement Sunday that its air force didn’t carry out any airstrikes in the city Saturday.

The secretary-general also decried the large-scale violence and casualties in the western region of Darfur, which has experienced some of the worst fighting in the ongoing conflict, Haq said in a statement.

“There is an utter disregard for humanitarian and human rights law that is dangerous and disturbing,” Guterres said.

U.N. officials have said the violence in the region has recently taken on an ethnic dimension, with the RSF and Arab militias reportedly targeting non-Arab tribes in Darfur, a sprawling region consisting of five provinces. Last month, the governor of Darfur, Mini Arko Minawi, said the region was sliding back to its past genocide, referring to the conflict that engulfed the region in the early 2000s.

By Taiwo Adebayo Associated

As soon as Bridget Mosanya went to get a book from her bag to study, it started to rain. The power immediately went out, as it virtually always does in Nigeria, even if it is barely drizzling.

“NEPA has taken light,” the 17-year-old said in her now-dark room. She was referring to the National Electric Power Authority, a long-defunct public utility whose abbreviation is still the commonly used name for the intermittent power supply from Nigeria’s fragile electric grid.

On the east side of Nigeria’s capital of Abuja, 13-year-old Bamkinaan Panshak would have to wait to do his homework until the power was restored or make do with his parent’s half-charged cellphone flashlight. His family used to start up their gasoline-powered backup generator during blackouts because they do not have a solar system. But since new President Bola Tinubu removed a subsidy that helped reduce the price of gas, they can’t afford the cost of fuel.

‘’It is just beyond means for now,’’ said Bamkinaan’s father, Guleng Panshak, who is a teacher.

conducted by Boston Consulting Group and All On.

If 30% of Nigerian households turned to solar by 2030, 5 million metric tons of carbon dioxide would be avoided, reducing emissions from households by 30%, the study added. The new president has acknowledged that removing the fuel subsidy “will impose an additional burden on the masses of our people,” who have seen gasoline prices triple while struggling with high inflation and unemployment.

It is a pain point that could lead to longer-term climate benefits.

“Also, this is a great opportunity to cut emissions by reducing the use of fossil fuels and shifting to solar and electric vehicles,” Adaju said.

Bridget’s father, Mosanya, now wants to avoid gasoline altogether and use solar to power all their appliances - including refrigerators, air conditioners and televisionswhen there is a power outage. Installing an expanded 4-kilowatt solar system, according to Lagos-based energy engineer Kunle Adesiyan, would meet Mosanya’s needs and would cost “conservatively” 3 million naira ($6,452).

Health Minister Haitham Mohammed Ibrahim said last month that the clashes have killed over 3,000 people and wounded over 6,000 others. The death tally, however, is highly likely to be much higher, he said. More than 2.9 million people have fled their homes to safer areas inside Sudan or crossed into neighboring countries, according to U.N. figures.

The fighting began 18 months after the two generals led a military coup in October 2021 that toppled a Western-backed civilian transition government. The coup and ensuing conflict dashed Sudanese hopes of a peaceful shift to democracy after a popular uprising forced the military removal of longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir in April 2019.

The war has turned the capital Khartoum and other urban areas across the country into battlefields.

Residents in Khartoum said fierce fighting was underway early Sunday south of the capital. The warring factions were using heavy weapons in battles in the Kalaka neighborhood and the military’s aircraft were seen hovering over the area, said res -

Entire towns and villages in West Darfur province were overrun by the RSF and their allied militias, forcing tens of thousands of residents to flee to neighboring Chad.

Activists have reported many residents killed, women and girls raped, and properties looted and burned to the ground.

There were clashes between the military and the RSF elsewhere in Sudan on Sunday, including the province of North Kordofan, South Kordofan and Blue Nile.

Egypt, meanwhile, said it will host a meeting on Thursday for Sudan’s neighboring countries. The gathering aims at establishing “effective mechanisms” to help find a peaceful settlement to the conflict in coordination with other international and regional efforts, Ahmed Fahmy, spokesman for Egypt’s presidency, said in a statement.

Fahmy provided no further details on the gathering.

The efforts come as talks between warring factions in the Saudi Arabian coastal city of Jeddah repeatedly failed to stop the fighting. The Jeddah talks were brokered by Saudi Arabia and the United States.

The recent end of the long-running fuel subsidy has increased interest in solar, operators say, which could accelerate progress toward mitigating climate change in Africa’s largest economy. But experts say the government needs a clear plan to make the most of this new opportunity to advance Nigeria’s climate goals, which include eliminating fossil fuel-run generators widely used to keep the lights on in homes and businesses.

Reducing fuel costs was a popular but environmentally and economically costly system.

The state petroleum company, NNPC, says Nigeria spent 4.39 trillion naira ($9.7 billion) on the subsidy last year, leaving the government struggling to finance infrastructure projects, including rail systems that could help reduce emissions from vehicles.

Gas-powered generators also contribute significantly to emissions, having proliferated under the subsidy in a country where only half the population of more than 200 million have access to grid electricity. Those who do often endure blackouts. Solar adoption, on the other hand, has largely been hampered by relatively high upfront costs, with only 1.25% of Nigerian households installing those systems, according to a 2022 study

That cost is too expensive for most families and small businesses.

Any potential environmental benefits of eliminating the fuel subsidy would be lost without a comprehensive plan to make renewable energy more accessible and affordable, energy economist Tobi Oluwatola said. He proposed incentives such as tax credits and low-interest financing for people who use solar and businesses that provide solar installations.

The cost is holding back Ifeanyi Ogbonna. He owns a pharmacy in Abuja and would prefer to use solar energy but said installing the system would be costly given that his business needs a refrigerator and air conditioner. That means he will stick with his gas-powered generator.

“Although the price (of gasoline) has risen, I can still struggle to meet the expenses on a regular basis because they are smaller in comparison to spending so much - more than a million naira all at once - to get the solar capacity I require,” Ogbonna said.

Nigeria is Africa’s second-largest carbon emitter - following South Africa - and is considerably affected by climate change fallout such as sea level rise and flooding, which threaten livelihoods, food security and increased conflict.