Sudan army ends two-year siege of key city
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Asharq Al-Awsat
8 hours ago
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Sudan's Warring Factions Trade Blame over Strike on Aid Convoy in Darfur
The warring parties in Sudan's civil war have traded blame for an attack on a UN World Food Program convoy trying to bring aid to an area of North Darfur where fighting and blockades have led to deadly hunger. The convoy was hit north of the city of al-Fashir, the army's only holdout in the wider Darfur region where an estimated 300,000 remaining residents have been subject to a long siege by the rival Rapid Support Forces as fighting rages. Aid has frequently come under fire and been blockaded by both sides in the war, which erupted from a power struggle in April 2023 and has caused what the UN has called the world's biggest humanitarian crisis, AFP reported. "On 20 August, a WFP convoy of 16 trucks carrying life-saving food aid for the most vulnerable populations in Alsayah village came under attack near Mellit, a famine-affected area in North Darfur," WFP said in a statement, adding that three of the trucks caught fire but no one was hurt. The RSF accused the Sudanese army of hitting the convoys as part of a drone attack on Mellit market and other areas. The army later said in a statement that this was a fabrication to distract from what it termed the RSF's crimes in al-Fashir. The RSF's siege of al-Fashir has cut off supplies and driven up prices. Experts determined that famine had taken hold in parts of the area last year. Civilians have come under artillery bombardment, drone strikes, as well as direct attacks. Camps for displaced people have been repeatedly attacked. Last week, local activists said more than 40 people were killed, including by direct fire, when RSF soldiers entered the Abu Shouk camp in the north of the city. The RSF denied responsibility for the deaths. Those who leave al-Fashir face RSF checkpoints and have come under attack, including sexual assaults. Some 70 trucks of supplies are waiting in the RSF-controlled city of Nyala to get to al-Fashir, but security guarantees were needed as humanitarian workers were coming under attack, said Edem Wosornu of UN humanitarian agency OCHA. "We have food, we have medical supplies, we have kits for gender-based violence, we have life-saving equipment that will save lives," she said. US senior Africa advisor Massad Boulos, who last week called on the RSF to ensure aid reaches al-Fashir, condemned the convoy attack.
Arab News
11 hours ago
- Arab News
Sudan's warring factions trade blame over strike on aid convoy in Darfur
CAIRO: The warring parties in Sudan's civil war have traded blame for an attack on a UN World Food Programme convoy trying to bring aid to an area of North Darfur where fighting and blockades have led to deadly hunger. The convoy was hit north of the city of Al-Fashir, the army's only holdout in the wider Darfur region where an estimated 300,000 remaining residents have been subject to a long siege by the rival Rapid Support Forces as fighting rages. Aid has frequently come under fire and been blockaded by both sides in the war, which erupted from a power struggle in April 2023 and has caused what the UN has called the world's biggest humanitarian crisis. 'On 20 August, a WFP convoy of 16 trucks carrying life-saving food aid for the most vulnerable populations in Alsayah village came under attack near Mellit, a famine-affected area in North Darfur,' WFP said in a statement, adding that three of the trucks caught fire but no one was hurt. The RSF accused the Sudanese army of hitting the convoys as part of a drone attack on Mellit market and other areas. The army later said in a statement that this was a fabrication to distract from what it termed the RSF's crimes in Al-Fashir. The RSF's siege of Al-Fashir has cut off supplies and driven up prices. Experts determined that famine had taken hold in parts of the area last year. Civilians have come under artillery bombardment, drone strikes, as well as direct attacks. Camps for displaced people have been repeatedly attacked. Last week, local activists said more than 40 people were killed, including by direct fire, when RSF soldiers entered the Abu Shouk camp in the north of the city. The RSF denied responsibility for the deaths. Those who leave Al-Fashir face RSF checkpoints and have come under attack, including sexual assaults. Some 70 trucks of supplies are waiting in the RSF-controlled city of Nyala to get to Al-Fashir, but security guarantees were needed as humanitarian workers were coming under attack, said Edem Wosornu of UN humanitarian agency OCHA. 'We have food, we have medical supplies, we have kits for gender-based violence, we have life-saving equipment that will save lives,' she said. US senior Africa adviser Massad Boulos, who last week called on the RSF to ensure aid reaches Al-Fashir, condemned the convoy attack.
Arab News
3 days ago
- Arab News
Sudan's Burhan shakes up army, tightens control
CAIRO: Sudan's army chief appointed a raft of new senior officers on Monday in a reshuffle that strengthened his hold on the military as he consolidates control of central and eastern regions and fights fierce battles in the army, which controls the government, is fighting a more than two-year civil war with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, its former partners in power, that has created the world's largest humanitarian Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan made new appointments to the Joint Chiefs of Staff a day after announcing the retirement of several long-serving officers, some of whom have gained a measure of fame over the past two who serves as Sudan's internationally recognized head of state, kept the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mohamed Othman Al-Hussein, but appointed a new inspector general and a new head of the air decree from Burhan on Sunday brought all the other armed groups fighting alongside the army – including former Darfur rebels, Islamist brigades, civilians who joined the war effort and tribal militias – under his politicians praised the decision, saying it would prevent the development of other centers of power in the military, and potentially the future formation of other parallel forces like the RSF has its roots in Arab militias armed by the military in the early 2000s to fight in Darfur. It was allowed to develop parallel structures and supply reshuffle comes a week after Burhan met US senior Africa adviser Massad Boulos in Switzerland, where issues including a transition to civilian rule were discussed, government sources war erupted in April 2023 when the army and the RSF clashed over plans to integrate their RSF made quick gains in central Sudan, including the capital Khartoum, but the army pushed them westward this year, leading to an intensification in fighting in Al-Fashir in Darfur.
