The political drama of the past week in Sudan has raised the stakes in Darfur, the war-torn western region where 1.7 million people are displaced, according to the United Nations.
On Monday, Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir won enough votes from a July election to ease his decades-long hold on power, according to the Sudanese Independent, though its results are not yet final. Human rights groups criticized the vote for being unfair.
On Thursday, Sudan’s intelligence service arrested a prominent activist, Amin Abdallah, who was leading protests against the electoral results that were held the day before. On Friday, the military opened fire on a Darfur rebel group in Kabkabiya, killing two rebel fighters and injuring three others.
In addition, on Saturday, an Egyptian military aircraft bombed villages in Darfur’s Jebel Marra, killing several civilians, according to local media reports.
Security forces and government forces have been accused of carrying out mass killings and other abuses in Darfur over the years. Attacks against civilians and other abuses have repeatedly been denounced by human rights groups.
In 2014, Sudan’s government was put on the global blacklist of the United Nations’ Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination for violating international human rights, particularly when it comes to Darfur.