Sudan Nashra: Cabinet convenes in Khartoum as dengue fever sweeps capital | Finance minister heads to Qatar to discuss gold refinery project post-UAE trade ban | RSF escalates attacks on Fasher, 24 civilians killed

A new health crisis has gripped the capital, Khartoum, as returning citizens and a war-ravaged healthcare system struggle to recover in the wake of an unprecedented cholera outbreak. In just one week, around 500 dengue fever cases were reported, a healthcare activist told Mada Masr.

With the rainy season expected to reach its peak over the coming days — and with the breakdown of health services and blocked drainage systems, especially in Khartoum’s peripheral neighborhoods — the disease risks to spread further.

But even as essential services in the capital struggle to recover, the government has been intent on making sure political life resumes. In a symbolic gesture toward re-establishing state institutions in the capital, which is still reeling from the devastation of war, the newly formed Cabinet convened in Khartoum this week to mark its first return since the war’s outbreak.

And while the government continues to face steep financial challenges in reconstruction efforts, with the Sudanese pound plunging to 3,500 against the US dollar on the parallel market, Finance Minister Gibril Ibrahim left for Doha to push forward a year-old deal to establish a gold refinery in the Qatari capital to process Sudan’s gold exports. The move comes after the United Arab Emirates — Sudan’s largest gold buyer — halted all trade with the country.

Among the UAE restrictions imposed was a ban on Sudanese shipping, which recently left a South Sudanese oil tanker coming from Sudan’s Bashayer port stranded in Emirati waters as authorities refused to grant it clearance to dock. This places Khartoum in a difficult position with its southern neighbor, a Sudanese Transportation Ministry source said, particularly as South Sudan is counting on oil revenues to stabilize its fragile economy after nearly a year-long suspension of exports.

In the country’s west, where the Rapid Support Forces are launching a series of attacks on Fasher, the military’s last stronghold in Darfur, 24 civilians were killed this week, while a raid on the Abu Shouk displacement camp to the north resulted in the abduction of eight civilians as the camp continues to face repeated attacks alongside the city. 

Since laying siege to Fasher in May 2024, the RSF has cut off all supply routes to the city. This week, the United Nations warned of a “devastating tragedy,” saying that at least 6,000 children are suffering from the deadliest stage of malnutrition, with treatment unavailable under the siege.

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Dengue fever sweeps Khartoum

Even as the government rushes to restore life in Khartoum, a new health crisis is on the rise as a wave of dengue fever spreads across the capital, to which more than half a million residents have returned.

In just one week, around 500 new cases of dengue fever were reported in Khartoum State, Tasneem al-Amin, a member of the Sudan Doctors Network, told Mada Masr. She warned that the number of infections is likely to rise further as the rainy season reaches its height in the coming days.

Amin pointed to the buildup of waste, blocked drainage systems and the breakdown of health services, noting that many clinics remain shuttered and vector-control campaigns effectively halted.

The situation is especially dire in peripheral neighborhoods, where official restoration efforts are far less visible than in areas around government and business hubs.

Khartoum State Health Minister Fath al-Rahman al-Amin blamed the surge in dengue fever cases on the heavy rains that lashed Khartoum over the week. He said his ministry is coordinating with the state government and the federal Health Ministry to contain the outbreak.

Two years of fighting between the military and the RSF have left Khartoum’s infrastructure in ruins, with health facilities among the hardest hit.

The state is divided into three health sectors — Khartoum, Omdurman and Bahri. While the minister noted that Omdurman, which saw limited RSF presence during their nearly two-year occupation of parts of the capital, has managed to rehabilitate hospitals and restore services unavailable even before the war, Bahri and Khartoum have not fared so well. Hospitals’ operating capacity in the two cities has only returned to around 60 percent and 45 percent, respectively,  compared to pre-war levels. 

Recovery in the capital has been hampered by severe disruptions to water and electricity, he said, but services are expected to be restored within a month with support from UN agencies and local groups.

Cholera, acute watery diarrhea and malaria are currently under control in the state, according to the minister. Earlier this year, cholera spread rapidly through Khartoum as residents began returning, overwhelming the healthcare sector and exposing the limits of essential services as people struggled to access clean water and medical facilities hamstrung by frequent power outages across the capital.

Amin also said that all bodies left exposed in the streets have been buried, while 65 percent of those previously buried in shallow graves have now been properly interred.

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Cabinet convenes in Khartoum for first time, foreign affairs portfolio still unresolved

Even as public services struggle to return to normal, the government has been intent on making sure political life resumes. On Tuesday, the new government held its first meeting in Khartoum, marking the federal Cabinet’s return to the capital for the first time since war broke out in April 2023.

The session, chaired by Prime Minister Kamel Idris, comes after his announcement that government operations would gradually relocate from Port Sudan — where state affairs have been managed throughout the war — back to Khartoum starting September.

Idris finalized his Cabinet lineup in late July, ending months of political deadlock. That stalemate broke only after pressure from the Transitional Sovereignty Council (TSC), which effectively derailed Idris’s plan for a fully technocratic, non-partisan lineup. With the last two ministers taking their oath on August 23, the government was able to hold its first formal meeting.

There remains one gap in Idris’s portfolio, however: the Foreign Affairs Ministry. The ministerial position has proven contentious within the TSC over the course of the war, as various transitional council members have disagreed on candidates to fill the important post. Since the war began, the ministry has gone through three heads — Ali al-Sadeg, Ali Youssef and Hassan Awad. A source in the Cabinet Affairs Ministry told Mada Masr that Omar Siddig, the current state minister of foreign affairs and former ambassador to China, is likely to be named foreign minister.

Idris’s selection process for his Cabinet relied on a mechanism that began with a shortlist drawn up by a group of former ministers, ambassadors and close associates, a source in the nominations committee told Mada Masr.  Idris would then review the files and narrow the list down to one or two names, which were then submitted to the TSC for approval. The challenge, the source said, lies not in the nominees themselves but in the political balancing act of the ruling coalition, where the military, its allied armed movements, and TSC Chair and Sudanese Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan all weigh in on the choices.

Tuesday’s cabinet meeting is viewed as a symbolic step toward re-establishing state institutions in Khartoum, while the capital continues to reel from the devastation of war. Residents returning at the government’s urging, with the stated purpose of supporting reconstruction, are struggling to meet basic needs, and wave after wave of disease has pushed the dilapidated healthcare system to the brink.

On the economic front, the government continues to struggle to finance its reconstruction programs as the Sudanese pound has plummeted to around 3,500 per US dollar on the parallel market, with further depreciation expected, according to a Finance Ministry source.

Both Burhan and Idris are seeking to return the federal government to Khartoum as a signal to foreign partners. They hope the move will encourage the reopening of diplomatic missions, particularly the African Union, which is expected to reinstate Sudan’s membership, according to a TSC source, as well as the gradual re-establishment of UN operations in the capital.

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Finance minister heads to Qatar to discuss gold refinery project

Finance Minister Gibril Ibrahim left for Doha on his first foreign trip since joining Prime Minister Kamel Idris’s government, an informed source in the ministry told Mada Masr.

Ibrahim is scheduled to meet his Qatari counterpart to discuss several pressing issues, foremost among which is the establishment of a gold refinery in Doha — part of an agreement reached between Sudan and Qatar in May 2024, according to a Cabinet Affairs Ministry source.

While the deal was finalized last year, the push to advance the project has gained new urgency after the UAE — Sudan’s main gold buyer — suspended all trade with the North African nation in mid-August. The refinery, set up in partnership with Qatari business figures, would allow Sudan to process its exports through Doha.

The original outlines of the deal were laid during talks in Doha between then-Sudanese Trade and Supply Minister Al-Fateh Abdallah Youssef and Qatari Commerce and Industry Minister Mohamed bin Hamad bin Qassim.

The Cabinet Affairs source did not rule out the possibility of Sudan receiving direct financial aid from Qatar, stressing that relations are expected to expand into broader reconstruction support — ranging from infrastructure projects to budgetary backing for the government.

The Sudanese government is relying on contributions from Arab states — particularly Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Qatar — as well as Turkey, in the form of both expertise and financial commitments to post-war reconstruction efforts in Khartoum and across the country, a TSC source told Mada Masr.

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South Sudanese oil tanker stranded for 2 weeks at UAE port amid trade ban

An oil tanker carrying South Sudanese crude has been left stranded for nearly two weeks at the UAE’s Fujairah Port after Emirati authorities refused to clear it for docking, a Sudanese Transportation Ministry source told Mada Masr.

The vessel, Pola, loaded with around 80,000 tons of Dar Blend crude from South Sudan, departed from Sudan’s Bashayer Port bound for the UAE. But following the UAE’s recent restrictions on trade with Sudan, the tanker was barred from entry at Fujairah and was ultimately redirected toward Malaysia after two weeks of waiting, the source said.

According to the source, the UAE’s new policies — including a shipping ban on Sudan — threaten to disrupt financial arrangements tied to crude exports. This places Khartoum in a difficult position, particularly in its dealings with South Sudan, which is counting on oil revenues to stabilize its fragile economy after nearly a year-long suspension of exports.

Juba’s oil sector has suffered repeated blows since the war in Sudan began. The RSF sabotaged oil fields and pipelines, seizing the Jaili refinery on the first day of the war, followed by the takeover of the Aylafun oil pump station — which transports South Sudan’s oil — in the following month.

In March 2024, the Sudanese Petroleum Ministry officially declared a force majeure on oil exports piped from South Sudan due to the fighting. Pipelines were eventually repaired and oil flows resumed.

Oil revenues are critical for Juba as it struggles with an economic and political crisis, compounded by the extension of the country’s transitional period for another three years and renewed tensions following the collapse of the peace deal between President Salva Kiir and his deputy, Riek Machar.

In September, Burhan and Kiir discussed oil exports, with Burhan assuring Kiir that shipments would proceed without military or logistical obstacles. A military source confirmed that the armed forces had carried out maintenance on the pipeline despite ongoing fighting, in a bid to ease South Sudan’s fiscal crisis.

The UAE, the source said, is attempting to pressure Khartoum and block any efforts at restoring normal state functions.

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Crisis in Fasher deepens as RSF siege blocks aid, UN warns; first convoy in months reaches South Kordofan

The UN has sounded the alarm over what it described as “a devastating tragedy” unfolding in the city of Fasher, North Darfur, where near-daily clashes and shelling continue under a tightening siege by the RSF.

“Children in Fasher are starving while the UN Children Fund’s lifesaving nutrition services are being blocked,” UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russel said in a statement on Wednesday.

According to the agency, 260,000 civilians, including 130,000 children, remain trapped in the city in dire conditions, cut off from humanitarian aid for more than 16 months.

At least 6,000 children are suffering from severe acute malnutrition without treatment, UNICEF said, while 63 people, mostly women and children, died of hunger-related causes in a single week. 

Since January, over 10,000 children in Fasher have been treated for severe acute malnutrition — nearly double the figure in 2024. But with supplies now depleted, programs have been forced to shut down.

Russell stressed that blocking humanitarian access constitutes a grave violation of children’s rights, warning that “the lives of children are hanging in the balance.” UNICEF reiterated its call for immediate and unhindered humanitarian access, including extended pauses in fighting.

While Fasher and its displacement camps face a deepening hunger crisis, aid convoys in the region continue to be targeted, while the RSF continues to refuse humanitarian pauses in fighting.

Since May 2024, the RSF has cut off all supply lines, forcing health facilities and mobile nutrition teams to suspend operations after exhausting their stocks. Hospitals have come under repeated attacks, with 35 facilities struck so far, UNICEF said, including Fasher’s Saudi Maternity Teaching Hospital, which was bombed more than ten times. In January, shelling destroyed the therapeutic health center in the Abu Shouk displacement camp, depriving thousands of malnourished children of treatment.

The siege also coincides with Sudan’s worst cholera outbreak in decades. In overcrowded camps around Tawila, Zamzam and Fasher, children weakened by hunger are acutely vulnerable to waterborne disease, the agency said.

To the east, in the Kordofan region — the war’s main battleground as the military tries to push westward toward Darfur, the RSF’s main stronghold — the first aid convoy in months reached the cities of Dalang and Kadugli in South Kordofan.

The cities have been under a joint siege by the RSF and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North for nine months. UNICEF estimates that over 63,000 children there are suffering from acute malnutrition, including more than 10,000 suffering from severe acute malnutrition. 

The convoy, carrying ready-to-use therapeutic food, is expected to benefit more than 120,000 people.

“But one convoy is not enough,” UNICEF Sudan representative Sheldon Yett warned. “Without sustained humanitarian access, many children will simply not make it.”

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Heavy clashes continue in Fasher, RSF shelling kills 24 civilians

Heavy fighting in the North Darfuri capital of Fasher has entered its second week, with the RSF stepping up assaults on the military’s last major stronghold in the region, killing at least 24 civilians this week.

The Sudanese Armed Forces repelled a new RSF attack on the city’s defenses on Thursday, following days of relentless shelling since Monday, a military source told Mada Masr, describing hundreds of shells launched daily at residential areas and markets.

The RSF, according to the source, is focusing its push on the southern axis in an attempt to advance on the military’s headquarters under cover of artillery and drone strikes. 

The military has responded with new defensive tactics, they said, withdrawing from exposed positions, fortifying peripheral neighborhoods and preparing for urban combat.

However, an RSF source told Mada Masr that the paramilitary has advanced on multiple fronts, reaching Awlad al-Reef neighborhood and the livestock market near the city center — areas struck by heavy artillery fire on Wednesday, according to the Sudan Doctors Network, leading to 24 deaths and 55 injuries among civilians.

The RSF source said that the fall of the military’s Sixth Infantry Division and the entire city is imminent. But Sudan Liberation Movement leader and military-allied joint force commander Mohamed Adam Ahmed rejected the claim, telling Mada Masr that Fasher remains under control and that their forces are fully prepared. 

Ahmed accused the RSF of waging a propaganda campaign to suggest they were nearing the division headquarters, calling their statements a lie meant to lure and recruit people in need with promises of looting and money, “only to have them killed as has become the norm.”

But the RSF “has set the tactical conditions necessary for the Sixth Infantry Division’s defeat,” according to findings published by Yale’s Humanitarian Research Lab on Thursday, noting that the paramilitary group controls the movement in and out of Fasher from every direction.

Though the RSF has held the city’s northeast since the start of the siege, it effectively tightened its grip on southern Fasher after seizing the Zamzam displacement camp in April. Since then, the group has constructed 31 kilometers of berms around the city, including nine kilometers built between August 19 and 27 alone, enclosing the eastern perimeter and the main road leading out of the city’s east, according to HRL, coinciding with escalated attacks on Fasher. As of Wednesday, the only areas not yet encircled were to the southwest and south, as well as the northeastern edge near the Salam displacement camp, according to satellite imagery cited in the report, which also confirmed construction is still ongoing.

“The RSF is creating a literal kill box around Fasher,” the report warned. “These berms will create physical boundaries to prevent smuggling goods like food and medicine into Fasher or people out of Fasher.” 

If desperation among civilians reaches a tipping point and results in mass exodus, the RSF can “easily kill civilians.” The report added that the RSF continues to restrict who can escape, through harassment, robbery, abductions and in some cases, extrajudicial execution.

To Fasher’s north, the Abu Shouk displacement camp has also come under escalating RSF attacks over the past two weeks. On Sunday, the RSF stormed the camp, abducting six women and two girls, who were taken to an unknown location, the camp’s emergency room said.