Latest news with #GeneralAbdelFattahalBurhan
Jordan Times
14-05-2025
- Health
- Jordan Times
UNICEF says artillery fire leaves Sudan hospital patients without water
Displaced Sudanese sit at a shelter after they were evacuated by the Sudanese army to a safer area in Omdurman, on May 13, 2025 (AFP photo) KHARTOUM — Around 1,000 critically ill patients in Sudan's Darfur region are nearly without drinking water after artillery fire destroyed a water tanker at a hospital, UNICEF said on Wednesday. The tanker was stationed at the Saudi hospital, one of the few still operational in El Fasher, a city in North Darfur with a population of around two million. The city is the only state capital among Darfur's five states to remain outside the control of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), but has been under siege by the paramilitary group since May 2024. "Yesterday, a UNICEF-supported water truck in the Saudi hospital compound, El Fasher, was destroyed by artillery fire, disrupting access to safe water for an estimated 1,000 severely ill patients," the UN agency said. "UNICEF continues to call on all parties to abide by their obligations under international humanitarian law and end all attacks on or near critical civilian infrastructure," it added. The war in Sudan, now in its third year, has pitted the armed forces led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan against the RSF headed by his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo. The conflict has effectively split the country in two, with the army controlling the north, east, and centre, while the RSF dominates nearly all of Darfur and parts of the south. On Wednesday, the army accused the RSF in a statement of targeting populated areas of the city. In April, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) estimated that 70 to 80 per cent of health facilities in conflict-affected areas in Sudan were out of service, citing El Fasher as a prime example. The conflict has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced 13 million, including 5.6 million in Darfur alone. According to the UN, the war has caused the world's worst humanitarian crisis. Both sides in the conflict have been accused of war crimes, including deliberately targeting civilians, indiscriminately bombing residential areas and obstructing the delivery of humanitarian aid.
CNN
06-05-2025
- Politics
- CNN
Drone strikes pound Port Sudan, putting aid deliveries at risk
Explosions and fires rocked Sudan's main port city and wartime capital Port Sudan on Tuesday, a witness said, part of a days-long drone assault that has torched the country's biggest fuel depot, damaging the most important gateway for foreign aid. A massive column of black smoke billowed from the area around the port, a Reuters video showed, and the witness said blasts had been heard from other areas though it was not clear exactly where else had been hit. Sudan's electricity company said a substation in the city was also hit, causing a complete power outage, part of a systematic assault on infrastructure. Port Sudan had enjoyed relative calm since the civil war suddenly erupted in April 2023, becoming the base for the army-aligned government after the Sudanese armed forces lost control of much of the capital Khartoum at the start of the conflict to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Hundreds of thousands of displaced people have also sought refuge in the city, where United Nations officials, diplomats and agencies have also set up headquarters, making it the main base for aid operations in what the UN has called the world's biggest humanitarian disaster. Port Sudan's import and storage depots supply fuel across the country and the destruction of its facilities risks a major crisis, throttling aid deliveries by road and hitting electricity production and cooking gas supplies. The attacks, which began on Sunday, open a new front in the conflict, targeting the army's main stronghold in eastern Sudan after it drove the RSF back westwards across much of central Sudan, including Khartoum, in March. Military sources have blamed the paramilitary RSF for the attacks on Port Sudan since Sunday, though the group has not yet claimed any responsibility for the strikes. On Sunday drones struck a military base in the area near Sudan's only functioning international airport, and on Monday they targeted the city's fuel depots. One of the targets was a major hotel near the residence of Sudan's military leader, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, witnesses said. The attacks came after a military source said the army had destroyed an aircraft and weapons depots in the RSF-controlled Nyala airport in Darfur, the main stronghold of the paramilitary group. The attacks have drawn condemnation from neighboring Egypt and Saudi Arabia, as well as expressions of concern from the UN. Sudan's army-aligned government has accused the United Arab Emirates of backing the RSF, accusations that UN experts have found credible. The UAE has denied backing the RSF and the International Court of Justice on Monday said it could not rule in a case in which the government accused the UAE of fueling genocide. The war, triggered by a dispute over a transition to civilian rule, has displaced over 12 million people and pushed half the population into acute hunger, according to the UN. With the army's success in pushing the RSF out of most of central Sudan, the paramilitary has shifted tactics from ground incursions to drone attacks targeting power stations and other facilities deep in army-controlled territory. The army has continued air strikes in the Darfur region, the RSF's stronghold. The two forces continue to fight ground battles for control of al-Fashir, the capital of North Darfur state, and elsewhere as the battle lines in the war harden into distinct zones of control.
CNN
06-05-2025
- Politics
- CNN
Drone strikes pound Port Sudan, putting aid deliveries at risk
Reuters — Explosions and fires rocked Sudan's main port city and wartime capital Port Sudan on Tuesday, a witness said, part of a days-long drone assault that has torched the country's biggest fuel depot, damaging the most important gateway for foreign aid. A massive column of black smoke billowed from the area around the port, a Reuters video showed, and the witness said blasts had been heard from other areas though it was not clear exactly where else had been hit. Sudan's electricity company said a substation in the city was also hit, causing a complete power outage, part of a systematic assault on infrastructure. Port Sudan had enjoyed relative calm since the civil war suddenly erupted in April 2023, becoming the base for the army-aligned government after the Sudanese armed forces lost control of much of the capital Khartoum at the start of the conflict to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Hundreds of thousands of displaced people have also sought refuge in the city, where United Nations officials, diplomats and agencies have also set up headquarters, making it the main base for aid operations in what the UN has called the world's biggest humanitarian disaster. Port Sudan's import and storage depots supply fuel across the country and the destruction of its facilities risks a major crisis, throttling aid deliveries by road and hitting electricity production and cooking gas supplies. The attacks, which began on Sunday, open a new front in the conflict, targeting the army's main stronghold in eastern Sudan after it drove the RSF back westwards across much of central Sudan, including Khartoum, in March. Related article Top UN court dismisses Sudan's genocide case against UAE Military sources have blamed the paramilitary RSF for the attacks on Port Sudan since Sunday, though the group has not yet claimed any responsibility for the strikes. On Sunday drones struck a military base in the area near Sudan's only functioning international airport, and on Monday they targeted the city's fuel depots. One of the targets was a major hotel near the residence of Sudan's military leader, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, witnesses said. The attacks came after a military source said the army had destroyed an aircraft and weapons depots in the RSF-controlled Nyala airport in Darfur, the main stronghold of the paramilitary group. The attacks have drawn condemnation from neighboring Egypt and Saudi Arabia, as well as expressions of concern from the UN. Sudan's army-aligned government has accused the United Arab Emirates of backing the RSF, accusations that UN experts have found credible. The UAE has denied backing the RSF and the International Court of Justice on Monday said it could not rule in a case in which the government accused the UAE of fueling genocide. The war, triggered by a dispute over a transition to civilian rule, has displaced over 12 million people and pushed half the population into acute hunger, according to the UN. With the army's success in pushing the RSF out of most of central Sudan, the paramilitary has shifted tactics from ground incursions to drone attacks targeting power stations and other facilities deep in army-controlled territory. The army has continued air strikes in the Darfur region, the RSF's stronghold. The two forces continue to fight ground battles for control of al-Fashir, the capital of North Darfur state, and elsewhere as the battle lines in the war harden into distinct zones of control.
