Kutum

For other uses, see Kutum (disambiguation).
Kutum
Kutum is located in Sudan
Kutum
Kutum
Location in Sudan
Coordinates: 14°12′20″N 24°39′0″E / 14.20556°N 24.65000°E / 14.20556; 24.65000
Country Sudan
StateNorth Darfur
ControlRapid Support Forces
Government
 • GovernorNimir Mohammed Abdelrahman
Population
 (2006)
 • Total
45,000

Kutum is a town in the Sudanese state of North Darfur. It lies 120 kilometers (75 mi) northwest of the state capital, Al-Fashir. The town is located along a wadi and therefore also known as Wadi Kutum. It lies north along the Marrah Mountains; the Kutum volcanic field is better known as the Tagabo Hills. As of 2006, it had a population of 45,000, predominantly of the Fur, Tunjur and Berti ethnicities. Kutum lies on one of the traditional north–south migration routes used by Darfuri pastoralists.

Facilities

The town hosts a local market which operates on Mondays and Thursdays. Other facilities in the town includes a hospital with basic medical and surgical services and a small botanical gardens alongside the Wadi and the market. Within the town two primary health care clinics also operate.

The town hosts a number of mosques, with the mosque at the market having a notable minaret.

Commercial services includes bakeries, groceries, public phone outlets, as well as mechanical services. As of November 2006 no formal banking services were available in the town.

Electricity is available a few hours most days from a communal generator. For most of the population, water is fetched from wells around the town.

History

Main article: History of Darfur

From September to November 1989, during the Chadian–Libyan conflict, Kutum was briefly occupied by Chadian forces.[1]

Kutum is a city in North Darfur state, inhabited primarily by the non-Arab Fur people, with minorities of non-Arab Tunjur and Berti groups.[citation needed] The city lies on a route often used by nomadic Arab tribes, and as a result, many of the villages around Kutum are populated by Arab groups.

Throughout the war in Darfur, While mostly government-controlled, the ethnic groups of the inhabitants are associated with the rebel groups, and the town was briefly taken by the rebels in August 2003.[2][3] Kutum was a hotbed of anti-Bashir activity, and was the site of several battles between various rebel groups, including the Sudanese Liberation Army and National Redemption Front, against Janjaweed and Sudanese armed forces.[4] The area northeast of town is largely controlled by the rebel Sudan Liberation Movement, while 'Arab' militias such as the Janjaweed are to the south and west.[5] Janjaweed also attacked non-Arab civilians in Kutum throughout the war.[6] In the late 2010s, these attacks became sporadic, and occurred against civilians in central Kutum.[7]

Two camps for internally displaced persons, Fatta Borno and Kassab, formed near the town.[5] In 2018, many refugees returned to Kutum, as attacks were dying down in the area.[8] Following the end of the war in Darfur in 2020, attacks continued by gunmen in and around Kutum.[9] Many refugees in Kutum live in Kassab refugee camp, just north of the town.[10][11]

Following the Sudanese revolution, Nimir Mohammed Abdelrahman was appointed governor, and Mohammed Hassan Arabi was dismissed.[12]

The Battle of Kutum broke out in the War in Sudan (2023) and ended with a RSF victory gaining control of the town.[13] On March 17, Hemedti threatened to dismantle IDP camps across Sudan, including those in Kutum.[14]

Notes

  1. ^ Prunier, Gérard (2005) Darfur: the ambiguous genocide Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York, page 70, ISBN 0-8014-4450-0
  2. ^ Prunier, Gérard (2005) Darfur: the ambiguous genocide Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York, page 96, ISBN 0-8014-4450-0
  3. ^ Burr, Millard and Collins, Robert O. (2006) Darfur: The Long Road to Disaster Markus Wiener, Princeton, New Jersey, page 292, ISBN 978-1-55876-450-7; a revised edition of Burr, Millard and Collins, Robert O. (1999) Africa's Thirty Years War: Libya, Chad, and the Sudan, 1963-1993 Westview Press, Boulder, Colorado, ISBN 0-8133-3566-3
  4. ^ SudanTribune (2006-12-22). "Darfur rebels deny claims of causalities, reiterate Sudan attacked them". Sudan Tribune. Retrieved 2023-09-11.[permanent dead link‍]
  5. ^ a b "SUDAN: Tension still high in Kutum town". Integrated Regional Information Networks. 20 February 2006.
  6. ^ "UN peacekeepers 'look on' as 'Russia-backed' war rages in Darfur". France 24. 2014-12-13. Retrieved 2023-09-11.
  7. ^ SudanTribune (2016-09-21). "Militiamen kill six villagers and injure several others in North Darfur". Sudan Tribune. Retrieved 2023-09-11.
  8. ^ SudanTribune (2018-09-01). "85,600 IDPs return to original villages, say North Darfur authorities". Sudan Tribune. Retrieved 2023-09-11.
  9. ^ Dabanga (2021-01-28). "FFC concerned about North Darfur insecurity, El Geneina sit-in continues". Dabanga Radio TV Online. Retrieved 2023-09-11.
  10. ^ "Situation update on displacements in Darfur 13 July 2014" (PDF). OCHA. July 13, 2014. Retrieved September 11, 2023.
  11. ^ Gettleman, Jeffrey (2012-08-18). "Mixed Signals in Darfur as Attacks Shadow Progress". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-09-11.
  12. ^ SudanTribune (2021-06-14). "Sudan's prime minister appoints 3 state governors in Darfur, Blue Nile". Sudan Tribune. Archived from the original on 2023-05-22. Retrieved 2023-09-11.
  13. ^ Rickett, Oscar (5 June 2023). "Dozens of Sudanese killed as RSF attacks North Darfur's Kutum". Middle East Eye. Retrieved 2023-06-19.
  14. ^ Himmat, Abdal Monim (2023-03-17). "Darfur, Hemeti's threats to the IDPs to dismantle the camps and target its leaders - Focus On Africa -". Focus On Africa. Retrieved 2023-09-11.

Further reading

  • Grawert, Elke (1990) Impacts of male outmigration on women: case study of Kutum/Northern Darfur/Sudan (Discussion paper number 18, Sudanforschungsgruppe Bremen (Sudan Economy Research Group Bremen)) University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany, OCLC 28532242

14°12′20″N 24°39′00″E / 14.20556°N 24.65000°E / 14.20556; 24.65000