Author: Amanda Hsiao

Just over a year after Sudan government forces invaded the disputed border area of Abyei, the Enough Project has confirmed through several sources that Khartoum has pulled out the remaining Sudan Armed Forces, or SAF, from the region. The government of Sudan has, however, left in place an unconfirmed number of Sudan government police, which actors on the ground suspect may, in fact, be SAF personnel in police uniform ...

Taking the first of many steps deemed necessary by the international community for bringing South Sudan and Sudan back from the brink, the South Sudan government has pulled out its police forces from the Abyei area. The move, which was confirmed by U.N. peacekeepers on the ground officially on May 10, follows on decisions from both the African Union and the United Nations that redeployment “of all Sudanese and South Sudanese forces out of the Abyei Area” should take place within two weeks—or, by today ...

The recent volatility of the Sudan-South Sudan relationship raises important questions about why peace and stability between the two countries is so tenuous. From interviews conducted in Juba, South Sudan’s leaders appear open to continued talks and to the establishment of improved relations with Khartoum, especially in response to international pressure to do so. But there is a perceptible shift within the leadership in Juba toward disengagement with Sudan ...

South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir announced in a press statement released Friday afternoon that southern forces would unconditionally withdraw from Heglig—10 days after seizing the disputed oil-rich region from Sudan forces—in a gesture that is likely aimed primarily at restoring South Sudan’s declining image before the international community ...

Since the re-taking of the disputed area of Heglig by the South Sudan army last Monday, a move that has dramatically escalated hostilities between Sudan and South Sudan, the military situation has been marked by flare-ups along the North-South border and constant bombings of South Sudan by Sudan. Now the expectation is that a large counter-offensive by Sudan into Heglig could begin at any moment ...

An international conference aimed to shore up investment in Sudan was “called off” this week after the United States and other countries suggested they would not attend the meeting, according to news outlets. The cancellation of the conference comes as yet another blow for a Khartoum regime already facing a tightening noose around its economy ...

In a surprising move of cooperation, South Sudan and Sudan initialed agreements on citizenship and border demarcation in the latest round of talks in Addis Ababa, in the midst of heightened tensions and rhetoric between the two countries ...

At 1:20 p.m., on February 29, oil technicians who had just arrived at El Nar oilfield in South Sudan were thrown into a momentary state of panic by a round of bombings that South Sudanese leaders allege came from the Sudanese army. Journalists, Enough, and staff from the petroleum ministry in Juba were shown three craters left by the impact of the bombs, in sites approximately 10 to 15 kilometers from the North-South border, on a recent trip sponsored by the South Sudan government ...

The new round of talks following South Sudan’s decision to cut off its oil flow through Sudan failed to produce a deal on the key unresolved issues between the two states. The oil shutdown, a move that drastically changed the negotiating dynamics, was only the latest unilateral action that has caused the gap between the two sides to widen even further. The parties will reconvene in a week, on February 23, according to the South’s lead negotiator ...

For the last year and a half, Sudan and South Sudan have been negotiating the arrangements of their separation, including the amount of money the South should pay to pump its oil through pipelines in the North. The talks have rested on the key assumption that both sides would work toward the viability of the other state, but that conventional wisdom is now being tested. This piece originally appeared on Global Post ...