Sudan army ends two-year siege of key city
The Sudanese army says it has broken a near two-year siege imposed by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on the key southern state capital of el-Obeid.
The breakthrough came hours after the RSF signed a political charter in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, to establish a breakaway government in areas under their control.
The RSF and the army have been in a vicious fight for power since April 2023, which has killed tens of thousands of people and forced millions from their homes.
The fight has split the country, with the army controlling the north and the east while the RSF holds most of Darfur region in the west and parts of the south.
El-Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan state, is a strategic hub connecting the capital, Khartoum, to Darfur. This is the latest army advance in recent weeks following the recapture of several parts of Khartoum from the RSF.
There was jubilation on the streets as Sudanese soldiers marched into the city.
A military spokesman, Nabil Abdallah, confirmed the gains in a statement, saying army forces had destroyed RSF units.
Finance Minister Jibril Ibrahim said the move was a "massive step" in lifting the RSF siege on el-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur province, and would also allow the delivery of humanitarian aid to Kordofan.
Sudanese civil society activist Dallia Abdlemoniem told the BBC Newsday programme that the recapture of the city " was "huge" and "significant".
She said the RSF had "held the civilians captive for nearly two years" in the city.
She said the army was "making serious groundwork in terms of moving towards the west, which is where the RSF is mainly centred".
A simple guide to the Sudan war
Sudan - where more children are fleeing war than anywhere else
The two generals at the heart of the Sudan conflict
Both the army and the RSF have been accused of committing grave atrocities against civilians during the war, with their leaders being sanctioned by the US. In addition, RSF has been accused of carrying out a genocide in Darfur.
Both deny the accusations.
Kenya's hosting of the RSF last week as it sought to form a parallel government was criticised by some human rights groups.
On Sunday, Sudan's Foreign Minister Ali Youssef said his country would "not accept" any country recognising "a so-called parallel government".
In response, Kenya's foreign ministry said there was "no ulterior motive" in "providing non-partisan platforms to conflict parties".
Villagers killed execution-style in Sudan, activists say
US accuses RSF of Sudan genocide and sanctions its leader
Sudan slides deeper into famine, experts say
BBC reveals fighters accused of massacre in Sudan
Watch: 'They ransacked my home and left my town in ruins'
Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent.
Follow us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, on Facebook at BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafrica
Africa Daily
Focus on Africa
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
BBC Content Chief Latest: Race To Replace Charlotte Moore Nears Final Two, As Zai Bennett Drops Out & New Candidates Emerge
EXCLUSIVE: In around a week's time, the contest to replace BBC content boss Charlotte Moore will become a two-person run-off. Before then, we are told there are around five to six candidates in the mix. Two of those are believed to be frontrunner Kate Phillips and BBC iPlayer and channels boss Dan McGolpin. Another pair are understood to be Nat Geo's Tom McDonald and a new name, David Brindley, the Chief Creative Officer of Destination X producer Twofour. There is thought to be at least one other dark horse candidate, possibly two. The BBC declined to comment. More from Deadline Biden Blasts Trump Over "False" Claims That Aides Ran Country During His Presidency; Current POTUS Admits He Has No Proof For Allegation - Update BBC Condemns Israel After IDF Soldiers Strip-Searched & Detained Journalists At Gunpoint BBC & RTÉ Order Two Seasons Of Aidan Gillen-Starring Comedy Crime Drama 'Tall Tales & Murder' From Chris Addison & Stuart Carolan One person we can reveal is no longer in the running is BBC Studios productions boss Zai Bennett, who becomes the latest to exit from what has been a twisty-turny race to replace BBC content supremo Moore – who has exited to join Sony. Previously deemed a frontrunner, Bennett has always been positioned as a strong candidate but has just got his feet under the table at BBC Studios, initiating a major restructure in the past few weeks and bringing in several new lieutenants. He is the latest big name to exit the race, following the likes of Banijay UK boss Patrick Holland, Netflix's Anne Mensah and Apple TV+ executive Jay Hunt. In around a week to 10 days' time, Deadline understands the remaining candidates will be whittled down to two, at which point they will be grilled in front of an interview panel of senior BBC executives, likely including Director General Tim Davie. Unscripted supremo Phillips remains the one to beat, with BBC insiders and highly-regarded producers pulling for her to get the job. A Netflix-shaped spanner was thrown in the works earlier this week with a report in UK TV trade Broadcast that said she is being wooed by the streamer. Deadline revealed the exit of Netflix unscripted head Ben Kelly several weeks back. Netflix UK is on quite the tear and the Broadcast article dropped on the day the SVoD poached Channel 4's film and TV drama boss Ollie Madden. McGolpin is no less senior than Phillips but Phillips has the programme-making chops and has been acting up in Moore's place over the past few months. McDonald and Brindley are old friends from BBC commissioning, where they successfully ran the specialist factual and factual entertainment departments respectively for several years. The highly-rated McDonald has been touted as a possible Moore replacement since the contest began. He has handy experience working in the States as Disney-owned Nat Geo's EVP Global Factual & Unscripted and has worked with huge stars including David Attenborough and Idris Elba. He is known, however, to have built a life in America and is happy in his current role. Twofour's Brindley is thought to be one of the other contenders. He has been overseeing a successful period for the ITV Studios-owned indie that has included landing the £20M ($27M) contract to make Destination X for the BBC and NBC, new BBC reality franchise I Kissed a Boy/Girl and a historic third series for Apple TV+ doc The Reluctant Traveler. As with McDonald, Brindley is thought to be happy in his current employ. Notably, Phillips, McDonald and Brindley skew heavily unscripted, leaving the feeling that there could still be a big name from the drama world to emerge. Led by search firms Grace Blue and Ibison, the process is moving quickly, with the BBC appearing keen to have a name in place after Moore left the building last week. Moore will become CEO of The Crown producer Left Bank Pictures and creative director of international production at Sony Pictures Television. Stay tuned for more. Best of Deadline 2025 TV Series Renewals: Photo Gallery 'Stick' Soundtrack: All The Songs You'll Hear In The Apple TV+ Golf Series 'Nine Perfect Strangers' Season 2 Release Schedule: When Do New Episodes Come Out?
Chicago Tribune
an hour ago
- Chicago Tribune
Letters: Ukraine is using the weapons of the future
Most wars are started on the basis of the previous war and then upgraded during the next war. Today we are spending hundreds of billions on weapons that are ready to fight the last war against countries that were using weapons from their previous war. Fancy jets and ships are going to be worthless. The war in the Ukraine is a great example of today's technology. The Ukrainians have damaged or destroyed most of the Russian Black Sea Fleet while they were at sea or tied to a dock. They hit air bases, warehouses, troop concentrations and refineries with their drones. Smaller drones have destroyed armored personnel carriers, trucks and tanks. Even smaller ones are being used to kill soldiers at the front. All of that was done without putting a soldier in danger. Most of the drones are GPS controlled. Some are by controllers using drone videos with some now using AI. Russia is a second rate military and was caught cold on their invasion of Kyiv by drones, which have advanced faster than their defenses have been able to counter. A recent '60 Minutes' episode had an item about drones from an American company designing AI drones for our military. They range from small to the size of jet aircraft. Imagine an aircraft carrier group besieged by a thousand drones in the Persian Gulf or Arabian Sea. The entire fleet could be damaged or sunk. Imagine a cargo ship sailing into the Chesapeake Bay and launching hundred of drones at Washington D.C. and the Norfolk naval base. Imagine a dozen more ships scattered around the country using longer range drones. Most of our non-nuclear forces would be decimated. That could be tomorrow!While it is highly debatable that Larry Hoover should have his sentences commuted one thing that we need to focus on is why. While Mr. Hoover may not have been directly linked to anyone's murder, it is safe to assume that due to the nature of being a gang leader he may have ordered murders and probably influenced a lot of his members to commit heinous crimes as well. But as some are celebrating the move by President Donald Trump (hopefully not many), I am of the opinion that Trump is trying to sneak one past us. He has ordered the closing of the Job Corps: a program designed to tackle youth unemployment that has been in existence since 1964. Countless youth were able to take advantage of this program which probably kept them from the tentacles of street gang life. While Trump may seek the approval of some in the African- American community, hopefully they don't ignore the disastrous effects closing a program like Job Corps can readers must be familiar with the Broken Windows Theory of policing, introduced by James Q. Wilson and George L. Kelling in 1982, that suggested that unchecked small offenses like broken windows, graffiti, and litter lead to greater crimes and societal breakdown. Donald Trump and his posse are throwing as many rocks as they can as fast as they can at the windows of our republic, collaterally damaging the rule of law, trust, civility and other civilizational essentials in the process. They cannot operate to their own best advantage in a healthy democracy and legal system, so they are trying to undermine it by accustoming citizens to broken political and legal windows. Trump's ideal environment is one in which there is so much corruption and illegality that he can ask, 'Whaddya looking at me for?' It is working. Several prominent people (Anne Applebaum, Maria Ressa and Gary Kasparov) who are either scholars of authoritarianism or have been dissidents in nations ruled by authoritarians have expressed surprise, not at what Trump is doing, but at the speed with which his project to dismantle our republic is progressing. He has not matched Adolf Hitler's legal neutering of Germany's republic in only 53 days after taking power, but this is hardly a reassuring thought. I continue to be puzzled by the disinterest with which many people respond to what is happening. The scholars and dissidents whom I cited agree that we do not have as much time to turn back the threat to our nation as many people seem to think that we have. The hope that things will simply self-correct is a fading one. Our leverage diminishes daily. Those who are working at changing our system to one that they can control and profit from and use to inflict damage on the officially unfavored are counting on our apathy. We should, at least, be openly discussing what is happening. The usual rule about about avoiding the subject of politics should be suspended for as long as the threat lasts.I find it interesting that when the Democrats, under Joe Biden and his minions, literally threw money at anything that moved, very few Democrat voiced any criticism. I mean, what is a few trillion dollars here and there? Now that Republicans try to find a way to undo the massive deficits, Democrats are screaming about Republicans trying to cut the deficit, and complain bitterly about the GOP adding to it. Such short to Ashley Nunes' June 2 article 'Outrage over Trump's EV policies misplaced,' Mr. Nunes' essay clumsily dances around the paramount need for electric vehicles — the Earth is too hot and getting hotter. The devastation caused by climate change — wildfires, floods, excessive heat, more numerous and catastrophic storms — is wreaking havoc on the planet. According to the EPA, 29% of greenhouse gas emissions are from cars, trucks, buses, etc. Transportation electrification would contribute mightily to the abeyance and cessation of these current and future disasters, saving untold property and lives. Mr. Nunes' dubious arguments belie the cataclysm facing the world.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Iris Reeves, former Baltimore City councilmember, dies
Iris Reeves, who served in the Baltimore City Council and was a past president of the Baltimore League of Women Voters, died of heart failure May 23 at Springwell Senior Living in Mount Washington. She was 85. 'My mother was a woman of quiet strength, determination, and drive,' said her son, Norman V.A. Reeves III. 'Iris wanted to help people, and she did. She had a bright spirit that touched the people she encountered.' Born in Burlington, North Carolina, she was the daughter of Lucian Gant, a Western Electric painter, and Mabel Hazel Gant, a teacher. She was a member of the National Honor Society, the Future Homemakers of America and played saxophone in the school band. She earned a bachelor's degree in psychology and a master's degree in social work at Howard University. While at Howard, she met her future husband, Norman V.A. Reeves Jr. They married in 1962. 'They bonded because they shared an affinity for jazz,' said her son. 'They settled in the Fairmount neighborhood near Windsor Hills. When the time came, they both fought the construction of the Interstate highway through Leakin Park and West Baltimore.' Ms. Reeves became a psychiatric social worker with the State of Maryland and continued as a school social worker and later a student placement specialist with Baltimore City Public Schools. She served in the Maryland Office of Personnel as a legislative specialist. She worked behind the scenes for her husband when he began campaigning for a seat in the Baltimore City Council from the old Fifth District of Northwest Baltimore. After waging several campaigns in the 1970s, he was elected in 1979 and became the first Black candidate to serve the district. After his 1983 death, the council voted to appoint her to fill his term. 'In three subsequent elections, my mother was reelected to the council by very substantial margins and became a powerful political voice in her own right,' her son said. 'She connected to people through grassroots and community forums. She knew her neighbors, too. She had an infectious smile, pleasant spirit and vibrant personality.' Former Baltimore Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke said, 'Iris was a warm and sensitive person who loved constituent service.' A City Council colleague, Rochelle 'Rikki' Spector, said, 'When she came on the Council and joined Vera Hall and me, we three were like sisters. We had a close personal relationship that benefited all our constituents. Iris was quiet, loving, patient and kind. She was a peacemaker.' Popular in the community, she also served as a past president of the Baltimore League of Women Voters, League for the Handicapped, American Civil Liberties Union, Fairmount Neighborhood Association, New Democratic Coalition, Women's Power, Inc., Baltimore City Commission for Children and Youth, and the Leukemia Society. She enjoyed traveling with her husband. They decorated their home with African art. Services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at Macedonia Baptist Church of Baltimore City, 718 W. Lafayette Ave. Survivors include her son, Norman V.A. Reeves III, of Hagerstown; two granddaughters; and a great-granddaughter. Her husband, Norman V.A. Reeves Jr., died in 1983. Her daughter, Traci A. Reeves, died in 1990. Have a news tip? Contact Jacques Kelly at and 410-332-6570.
