Sudan-Chad border: 18 Sudanese killed, exchange of military security visits

Sudan’s ruling Sovereignty Council said that eighteen Sudanese civilians were killed by unidentified Chadian gunmen on the border with Chad.

A statement by the council on Friday, August 5 said that the attack took place in the village of Beer Saliba in Surba, along the border between the two countries, adding that others were wounded in an “ambush” on Thursday night.

On Friday, the Security and Defense Council, headed by Lieutenant-General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, who also heads the Sovereignty Council, held an emergency and virtual joint session with the West Darfur State Security Committee in the presence of the Vice-President of the Sovereignty Council and Vice-President of the Council, Lieutenant-General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo “Hemedti”. This follows the events that caused the loss of a number of lives and the looting of a large number of livestock on the border between Chad and Sudan.

The Council took a number of decisions to prevent the development of such events, including continuing political and diplomatic efforts to contain the situation and calm it down, working on strengthening the capabilities and role of the Sudanese-Chadian joint forces, and controlling movements on the borders between the two countries, including the movements of herders, in addition to working on monitoring the various activities and apply official procedures to all movements. It also urged the Chadian side to pursue the criminals and recover the stolen money as soon as possible.

The Council added that it would devote more resources to the protection of Sudanese civilians.

A statement issued by the Coordination of Herders and Travelers on Friday said that the events came after citizens tried to track down looted camels, and they fell into an ambush that resulted in the death of 18 people and the wounding of 17 others. The Coordination held both the central and state governments fully responsible for what happened.

The incident comes on the same day as a visit by Hemedti, Commander of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), to Chad, accompanied by the Director of General Intelligence and the head of the Military Intelligence, during which he met the head of the Chadian Transitional Military Council, Mahamat Idriss Deby.

The two sides had discussed security files and border issues, as well as economic cooperation.

Several reports have recently spoken of N'Djamena's growing concern about Hemedti's close relationship with the Russian security firm Wagner Group. In February 2022, Chad accused Timan Erdimi, president of the opposition Union of Resistance Forces (UFR), of seeking Wagner's support.

Some UFR factions were reluctant to sign the August 8 Doha agreement that brings together the Chadian government and opposition, ahead of the National Dialogue Conference scheduled for August 20.

On Wednesday, August 3, Al-Burhan received the Chadian Minister of Defense in Khartoum, accompanied by a high-ranking military delegation, including the Chief of Staff of the Army and the Commander of the Chadian Joint Forces.

According to Sudanese army media, the visit came as part of the annual conference to assess the performance of the Sudanese-Chadian joint forces.

The joint forces between the two countries were established in 2010 under a special protocol to secure the common borders between the two countries.

Also, on August 1, President Déby met with Darfur Governor Minni Arko Minawi in N'Djamena to discuss the security of the border areas.