11 Sudanese migrants killed a car crash in the Libya desert, authorities say
The crash between the migrants' vehicle and a truck happened early Friday in the desert, 90 kilometers (56 miles) north of the Libyan town of Kufra, the town's Ambulance and Emergency Service said in a statement.
The dead included three women and two children, the service's director Ibrahim Abu al-Hassan told The Associated Press.
A 65-year-old man and his 10-year-old son were also wounded in the crash, he added.
It was the latest deadly incident involving Sudanese migrants in the Libyan desert.
Earlier this month, seven Sudanese were found dead after their vehicle broke down in the desert. The vehicle broke down in a path used by traffickers between Chad and Libya, leaving 34 migrants on board stranded for several days in the desert.
Libya was plunged into chaos following a NATO-backed uprising that toppled and killed longtime autocrat Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.
It has become a main transit point for migrants fleeing war and poverty in Africa and the Middle East to seek better lives in Europe. The country shares borders with six nations and has a long coastline along the Mediterranean.
Human traffickers have benefited from more than a decade of instability, smuggling migrants across Libya's borders with six nations, including Chad, Niger, Sudan Egypt, Algeria and Tunisia.
Thousands of Sudanese have fled to Libya since April 2023 after simmering tensions between the Sudanese military and a powerful paramilitary group exploded into street fighting across the country.
The conflict in Sudan has turned into a civil war that killed thousands people, displaced over 14 million, and pushed parts of the county into famine.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
San Francisco Chronicle
4 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Trump administration halts visas for people from Gaza after Laura Loomer questions arrivals
WASHINGTON (AP) — A day after conservative activist Laura Loomer posted videos on social media of children from Gaza arriving in the U.S. for medical treatment and questioning how they got visas, the State Department said it was halting all visitor visas for people from Gaza pending a review. The State Department said Saturday the visas would be stopped while it looks into how 'a small number of temporary medical-humanitarian visas' were issued in recent days. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday told 'Face the Nation' on CBS that the action came after 'outreach from multiple congressional offices asking questions about it." Rubio said there were 'just a small number' of the visas issued to children in need of medical aid but that they were accompanied by adults. The congressional offices reached out with evidence that 'some of the organizations bragging about and involved in acquiring these visas have strong links to terrorist groups like Hamas,' he asserted, without providing evidence or naming those organizations. As a result, he said, 'we are going to pause this program and reevaluate how those visas are being vetted and what relationship, if any, has there been by these organizations to the process of acquiring those visas.' Loomer on Friday posted videos on X of children from Gaza arriving earlier this month in San Francisco and Houston for medical treatment with the aid of an organization called HEAL Palestine. 'Despite the US saying we are not accepting Palestinian 'refugees' into the United States under the Trump administration,' these people from Gaza were able to travel to the U.S., she said. She called it a 'national security threat' and asked who signed off on the visas, calling for the person to be fired. She tagged Rubio, President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, GOP Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat. Trump has downplayed Loomer's influence on his administration, but several officials swiftly left or were removed shortly after she publicly criticized them. The State Department on Sunday declined to comment on how many of the visas had been granted and whether the decision to halt visas to people from Gaza had anything to do with Loomer's posts. HEAL Palestine said in a statement Sunday that it was 'distressed' by the State Department decision to stop halt visitor visas from Gaza. The group said it is 'an American humanitarian nonprofit organization delivering urgent aid and medical care to children in Palestine." A post on the organization's Facebook page Thursday shows a photo of a boy from Gaza leaving Egypt and headed to St. Louis for treatment and said he is 'our 15th evacuated child arriving in the U.S. in the last two weeks.' The organization brings 'severely injured children" to the U.S. on temporary visas for treatment they can't get at home, the statement said. Following treatment, the children and any family members who accompanied them return to the Middle East, the statement said. 'This is a medical treatment program, not a refugee resettlement program,' it said. The World Health Organization has repeatedly called for more medical evacuations from Gaza, where Israel's over 22-month war against Hamas has heavily destroyed or damaged much of the territory's health system. 'More than 14,800 patients still need lifesaving medical care that is not available in Gaza,' WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Wednesday on social media, and called on more countries to offer support. A WHO description of the medical evacuation process from Gaza published last year explained that the WHO submits lists of patients to Israeli authorities for security clearance. It noted that before the war in Gaza began, 50 to 100 patients were leaving Gaza daily for medical treatment, and it called for a higher rate of approvals from Israeli authorities. The U.N. and partners say medicines and even basic health care supplies are low in Gaza after Israel cut off all aid to the territory of over 2 million people for more than 10 weeks earlier this year.
Yahoo
13 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Putin agrees that US, Europe could offer NATO-style security guarantees to Ukraine, Trump envoy says
NEW YORK (AP) — Russian leader Vladimir Putin agreed at his summit with President Donald Trump that the United States and its European allies could offer Ukraine a security guarantee resembling NATO's collective defense mandate as part of an eventual deal to end the war, a U.S. official said Sunday. Trump envoy Steve Witkoff, who took part in the talks Friday at a military base in Alaska, said it 'was the first time we had ever heard the Russians agree to that' and called it 'game-changing.' 'We were able to win the following concession: That the United States could offer Article 5-like protection, which is one of the real reasons why Ukraine wants to be in NATO," Witkoff told CNN's 'State of the Union.' Witkoff offered few details on how such an arrangement would work. But it appeared to be a major shift for Putin and could serve as a workaround to his deep-seated objection to Ukraine's potential NATO membership, a step that Kyiv has long sought. It was expected to be a key topic Monday as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and major European leaders meet with Donald Trump at the White House to discuss ending the 3 1/2-year conflict. 'BIG PROGRESS ON RUSSIA,' Trump said in a social media post. 'STAY TUNED!' Hammering out a plan for security guarantees Article 5, at the heart of the 32-member trans-Atlantic military alliance, says an armed attack against one or more member nations shall be considered an attack against them all. What needed to be hammered out at this week's talks were the contours of any security guarantees, said Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who also participated in the summit. Ukraine and European allies have pushed the U.S. to provide that backstop in any peace agreement to deter future attacks by Moscow. 'How that's constructed, what we call it, how it's built, what guarantees are built into it that are enforceable, that's what we'll be talking about over the next few days with our partners," Rubio said on NBC's 'Meet the Press.' It was unclear, however, whether Trump had fully committed to such a guarantee. Rubio said it would be 'a huge concession." The comments shed new light on what was discussed in Alaska. Before Sunday, U.S. officials had offered few details even as both Trump and Putin said their meeting was a success. Witkoff also said Russia had agreed to enact a law that it would not 'go after any other European countries and violate their sovereignty.' 'The Russians agreed on enshrining legislatively language that would prevent them from — or that they would attest to not attempting to take any more land from Ukraine after a peace deal, where they would attest to not violating any European borders," he said on 'Fox News Sunday.' Europe welcomes US openness to such guarantees European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, speaking to reporters in Brussels alongside Zelenskyy, applauded the news from the White House at a time when a European coalition is looking to set up a force to police any future peace in Ukraine. "We welcome President Trump's willingness to contribute to Article 5-like security guarantees for Ukraine and the 'coalition of the willing' — including the European Union — is ready to do its share,' she said. Zelenskyy thanked the U.S. for recent signals that it was willing to support such guarantees but said much remained unclear. 'There are no details how it will work, and what America's role will be, Europe's role will be and what the EU can do — and this is our main task: We need security to work in practice like Article 5 of NATO, and we consider EU accession to be part of the security guarantees,' he said. Defending Trump's shift from ceasefire to peace deal Witkoff and Rubio defended Trump's decision to abandon a push for a ceasefire, arguing that the Republican president had pivoted toward a full peace agreement because so much progress had been made at the summit. 'We covered almost all the other issues necessary for a peace deal,' Witkoff said, without elaborating. 'We began to see some moderation in the way they're thinking about getting to a final peace deal.' Rubio, who appeared on several TV news shows Sunday, said it would have been impossible to reach any truce Friday because Ukraine was not there. 'Now, ultimately, if there isn't a peace agreement, if there isn't an end of this war, the president's been clear, there are going to be consequences,' Rubio said on ABC's 'This Week.' 'But we're trying to avoid that." Rubio, who is also Trump's national security adviser, also voiced caution on the progress made. 'We're still a long ways off," he said. 'We're not at the precipice of a peace agreement. We're not at the edge of one. But I do think progress was made towards one.' Land swaps are on the table Among the issues expected to dominate Monday's meeting: What concessions Zelenskyy might accept on territory? In talks with European allies after the summit, Trump said Putin reiterated that he wants the key Donetsk and Luhansk regions that make up the Donbas, European officials said. It was unclear among those briefed whether Trump sees that as acceptable. Witkoff said the Russians have made clear they want territory as determined by legal boundaries instead of the front lines where territory has been seized. 'There is an important discussion to be had with regard to Donetsk and what would happen there. And that discussion is going to specifically be detailed on Monday,' he said. Zelenskyy has rejected Putin's demands that Ukraine give up the Donbas region, which Russia has failed to take completely, as a condition for peace. In Brussels, the Ukrainian leader said any talks involving land must be based on current front lines, suggesting he will not abandon land that Russia has not taken. 'The contact line is the best line for talking, and the Europeans support this,' he said. 'The constitution of Ukraine makes it impossible, impossible to give up territory or trade land.' ___ Associated Press writers John Leicester in Le Pecq, France, and Samya Kullab in Kyiv, Ukraine, contributed to this report.
New York Post
34 minutes ago
- New York Post
Ukraine won't give up land that Russia doesn't already occupy, Zelensky says after Putin's demand
Kyiv will not give up land that Moscow troops aren't occupying as part of any peace deal, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said, in response to Russian President Vladimir Putin's demands. Speaking ahead of his meeting with President Trump on Monday, Zelensky told reporters in Brussels that while Kyiv would be open to 'land swaps' in exchange for peace, Putin's demands to cede the entirety of the Donetsk region — including parts under Ukrainian control — is off the table. 'We need real negotiations, which means they can start where the front line is now,' Zelensky said. 'The contact line is the best line for talking. Advertisement 4 Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Kyiv would not cede land to Russia that has been successfully defended by his troops as part of a peace deal. AFP via Getty Images 4 Ukrainian troops have been able to effectively halt Russia's advancements in the Donetsk region for more than three years. Getty Images 'Russia is still unsuccessful in the Donetsk region,' he added. 'Putin has been unable to take it for 12 years, and the Constitution of Ukraine makes it impossible to give up territory or trade land.' During his summit with Trump on Friday, Putin demanded that Ukraine withdraw all its forces from Donetsk and the neighboring Luhanks region, both of which lie along the eastern border, as one of the main conditions for ending the war. Advertisement While Russia currently controls a large swath of land across both regions, Ukraine has been able to keep Moscow's forces from claiming the entire regions for more than three years. Kyiv still holds the key cities of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk, with hundreds of Moscow's troops killed or injured every week in the quagmire. 4 Vladimir Putin has made no public statement that Moscow would consider any concessions in the peace talks with Ukraine, with the Russian President demanding two entire Ukrainian regions to stop his invasion force. AP Advertisement Zelensky said Kyiv would not falter on these conditions, with European leaders backing the Ukrainian president and warning Trump that the country's border cannot be allowed to be altered through force. 'Since the territorial issue is so important, it should be discussed only by the leaders of Ukraine and Russia at the trilateral Ukraine-United States-Russia,' Zelensky added. 'So far, Russia gives no sign that trilateral will happen, and if Russia refuses, then new sanctions must follow,' he added. 4 A Ukrainian soldier fires a howitzer at invading Russian forces in Donetsk on Saturday. Getty Images Advertisement As he prepares for this meeting with Trump on Monday, Zelensky said he will seek the full details of the 'security guarantees' that will be available for Ukraine if a peace deal is reached. Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff said Sunday that Putin agreed to allow the US and Europe to provide Ukraine with assurances that it will never again be invaded by Russia, similar to NATO's 'Article 5' agreement that allows member nations to defend each other if one is ever attacked. Putin has publicly denounced any deal that would give Ukraine NATO membership, with Trump also dismissing such proposals in the past. The Russian strongman has also remained silent on what concessions Moscow is willing to make in the peace talks, which leaves Zelensky with more questions than answers following Friday's summit in Alaska. 'We really want to get an answer to these questions in order to understand what 'security guarantees' are,' Zelensky said.
