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Russia Today
06-05-2025
- Health
- Russia Today
Moscow condemns drone strikes in African state
Russia has denounced drone strikes on civilian infrastructure in Sudan's main port city on the Red Sea, calling for dialogue, an immediate cessation of hostilities, and an end to the two-year-long war between the African country's rival military forces. Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) launched airstrikes on Port Sudan on Sunday. According to the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), the attack caused damage to an ammunition storage facility at the Osman Digna military air base and nearby buildings. This marked the first RSF assault on the Red Sea State capital since April 2023, when the conflict erupted between the paramilitary group and the national army amid a power struggle between their leaders. The UN says over 12.4 million people have been displaced, with half the country's population facing acute hunger. More than 3.3 million have fled to neighboring countries, and a recent study by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine estimated the death toll in Khartoum state alone could exceed 60,000. In a statement on Monday, Moscow expressed 'deep concern over the ongoing bloody armed confrontation' between the SAF and the RSF. 'Russia considers it unacceptable to carry out strikes on civilian infrastructure and advocates strict compliance with international humanitarian law,' the Russian Foreign Ministry stated. It called on the warring parties to intensify diplomatic efforts for an 'inter-Sudanese dialogue without outside interference, which should result in the establishment of lasting peace in the country, preserving its sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity.' Port Sudan, long considered the safest part of the country and home to Sudan's main airport, military headquarters, and seaport, had become a de facto administrative capital amid the devastation of the national capital, Khartoum, and other cities. The escalation comes days after the RSF seized the city of El-Nuhud in West Kordofan on May 1, killing at least three health workers, including the medical director of the city's hospital, according to the Sudan Doctors Syndicate. The group also claimed on Saturday to have taken control of Al-Khowei, another city in the same region. Earlier, RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo warned that the war is far from over after the army recaptured the paramilitary group's positions in Khartoum in March.
The Guardian
06-05-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Drone strikes hit Port Sudan airport and army base in third day of attacks
Drones struck the airport and targeted an army base in Port Sudan on Tuesday, officials said, the third straight day the seat of power of the government, which is aligned with the Sudanese army, has come under attack. The country's main fuel depot was hit on Monday, causing a massive blaze just south of the eastern city that had until Sunday been considered a safe haven for hundreds of thousands of displaced people fleeing a two-year war. An Agence France-Presse correspondent reported loud explosions at dawn on Tuesday and plumes of smoke over the coastal city, one coming from the direction of the port and another from a fuel depot just south. One drone struck 'the civilian section of the Port Sudan airport', an airport official told AFP, two days after the facility's military base was first attacked in drone strikes the army blamed on the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). All flights were grounded at the war-torn country's main international port of entry, the source added. Another drone targeted the main army base in the city centre, an army source said, while witnesses reported a nearby hotel was hit. Both sites are close to the residence of Sudan's army chief, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who has been at war with his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, the commander of the RSF, since April 2023. A third drone hit a fuel depot near the southern port in the densely populated city centre, where the UN, aid agencies and hundreds of thousands of displaced people have relocated from Khartoum. Witnesses in the city's north reported anti-aircraft fire from a military base. The RSF has increasingly relied on drones since losing territory including nearly all of Khartoum in March, attacking deep into army-held territory. Explosions were heard early on Tuesday morning across Port Sudan, where the UN secretary general, António Guterres, said on Monday reports of paramilitary attacks were a 'worrying development threatening the protection of civilians and humanitarian operations'. Nearly all humanitarian aid into Sudan, where famine has already been declared and nearly 25 million people are suffering dire food insecurity, arrives in Port Sudan. At the airport, where Sudanese airlines had resumed flights after Sunday's strike, 'fires broke out in multiple buildings' following the explosion, a traveller told AFP. The army source said the strike had also 'targeted fuel depots at the airport'. The RSF has in recent weeks attacked civilian infrastructure across the army-controlled north-east, causing widespread blackouts for millions of people. Since it began, the war has killed tens of thousands of people, uprooted 13 million and created the world's largest hunger and displacement crises. It has effectively split the country in two, with the army controlling the centre, north and east while the RSF holds nearly all of the vast region of Darfur and, with its allies, parts of the south. According to experts, the RSF's increased reliance on drones since its loss of Khartoum has highlighted its reach and hindered the army's supply line. The RSF has used both makeshift and highly advanced drones, which the army accuses the United Arab Emirates of supplying. The International Court of Justice on Monday threw out a case brought by Sudan against the UAE, accusing it of complicity in genocide by supporting the RSF. Sudan's foreign ministry said on Tuesday it 'respected' the ruling, which came on the basis of the ICJ's lack of jurisdiction due to the UAE's 2005 'reservation' on the UN genocide convention.
Al Bawaba
06-05-2025
- Politics
- Al Bawaba
Strong explosions reported in Port Sudan
Published May 6th, 2025 - 05:45 GMT ALBAWABA - Several blasts and huge fires were reported in the eastern city of Port Sudan in Sudan on Tuesday, according to Reuters. Also Read Drone attack targets airport of Port Sudan The explosions and fire were reported even around the seaport, as the civil war rocked the city for a third day after it had previously enjoyed calm, highlighting that fighting was more intensified in other regions, including the Sudanese capital of Khartoum. A powerful explosion took place at dawn on Tuesday, with a cloud of smoke seen rising into the sky from the port, AFP reported. 🚨 عاجل | لليوم الثالث على التوالي، تواصل مليشيا الدعم السريع شن هجمات بطائرات مسيّرة على مواقع متفرقة بمدينة بورتسودان، شملت:- محطة كهرباء ميناء بشائر 2- محيط مطار بورتسودان الدولي- مستودعات شركة النيل للبترول- قاعدة فلمنجو العسكرية- شقق مارينا وفندق كورال - قصر الضيافة… — Sudan War Updates (@sudan_war) May 6, 2025 Eyewitnesses further mentioned that an explosion in a warehouse, while others added they heard the sounds of anti-aircraft missiles launched from the north of the city. Nonetheless, flights at Port Sudan Airport were frozen after it was targeted by a drone. An airport official, who preferred not to reveal his identity, said, "A drone targeted the civilian part of Port Sudan Airport, and scheduled flights were canceled," two days after the military base there was attacked by drones. The civil war between the Sudanese Armed Forces, led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (generally referred to as Hemedti), on April 15, 2023. © 2000 - 2025 Al Bawaba (
Middle East Eye
05-05-2025
- Politics
- Middle East Eye
UK police handed dossier of war crimes committed by RSF in Sudan
A dossier of evidence documenting war crimes committed by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Sudan has been handed to British police. A 142-page file was handed to the Metropolitan Police's war crimes unit, documenting killings, torture and sexual violence committed by the RSF during Sudan's ongoing civil war, the Guardian reported on Monday. It was compiled by a London-based group of lawyers with a specialism in international law and directed to SO15, the Met's counterterrorism unit. The RSF has been at war with the Sudanese army since April 2023. The conflict has killed thousands, displaced more than 10 million people and left over 12 million facing high levels of acute food insecurity. Last year an independent enquiry carried out by the Raoul Wallenberg Centre found that there is 'clear and convincing evidence' that the RSF and its allied militias 'have committed and are committing genocide against the Masalit', a Black African community. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters West Darfur state was the site of intense ethnic-based attacks by the RSF and its allied Arab militias against the Masalit in 2023. The United States has also accused the RSF of genocide, and sanctioned its leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo - widely known as Hemeti - for his role in "systematic atrocities". The dossier submitted to the Met police stated: 'Direct and circumstantial evidence makes it clear that the RSF leadership either knew, or at least should have known, that the war crimes were being committed by the RSF in Darfur. Therefore, they have a case to answer under international criminal and humanitarian law.' Howard Morrison, a former judge at the International Criminal Court, lent his support to the submission. 'A novel approach' 'The novel approach through the highly regarded offices of SO15 adds great impetus to the potential accountability of those responsible for the atrocities that have been visited upon numerous victims in Darfur,' Morrison said. Lucia Brieskova, the lead lawyer, said: "We believe this submission will contribute to the fight against impunity suffered by many in Darfur in Sudan." In the coming days, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) will decide whether it has jurisdiction in a case brought by Sudan's government accusing the United Arab Emirates of complicity in genocide. Khartoum says that the UAE has violated the Genocide Convention through financial and military support of the RSF. The UAE denies aiding the paramilitary group, and believes that the ICJ does not have jurisdiction in the case due to the Gulf state's opting out of Article Nine of the Genocide Convention. Sudan's government accuses the RSF and allied militias of perpetrating genocide, murder, theft, rape and forcible displacement. A recent report by Amnesty International found that the RSF had inflicted widespread sexual violence on women and girls during the country's ongoing civil war, including rape, gang-rape, and sexual slavery. Middle East Eye has reported previously on how women across the Darfur region - some as young as 12 - have been the victims of sexual assault perpetrated by men wearing RSF uniforms. Last year, a report by the UN's independent international fact-finding mission for Sudan found that both warring parties had committed a range of war crimes.
The National
29-04-2025
- Politics
- The National
UN experts' report accuses Sudan's warring parties of atrocities against civilians
A new UN report has accused both Sudan's military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces of committing widespread atrocities against civilians as they vie for control in a two-year-long civil war that has devastated the country. The report, seen by The National on Tuesday, outlines how Sudan's Armed Forces (SAF) resorted to indiscriminate aerial bombardments, particularly around El Fasher, epicentre of the fighting in the southwestern region of Darfur, and partnered with newly recruited militias to launch ground offensives in strategic areas. Rapid Support Forces (RSF) consolidated control over most of Darfur in 2024 through violence. According to the report, these tactics included 'targeted attacks on internally displaced persons, committing widespread acts of conflict-related sexual violence, inciting violence among communities to claim historically contested territories and detaining individuals perceived as aligned with the Sudanese Armed Forces'. El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state, is a historically significant and strategically vital urban centre in western Sudan. Control of the city has become a flashpoint in the conflict. Sudan descended into war in April 2023, when tensions between SAF, led by Gen. Abdel Fattah Al Burhan, and the RSF, commanded by Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, erupted into open conflict. What began as a power struggle between the two former allies – who jointly staged a coup in 2021 –has spiralled into one of the world's worst humanitarian crises. Tens of thousands of people have been killed, although estimates for the death toll are uncertain, and over 13 million have been displaced. Some areas of the country are facing famine as aid agencies struggle for access to deliver relief supplies. Earlier this month, 22 countries and a coalition of NGOs working on war relief efforts in Sudan met in Britain's capital for the London Sudan Conference, the latest in a series of international mediation efforts that have ended without a breakthrough. The report, which was compiled by the UN Panel of Experts on Sudan and submitted to the Security Council, says civilians have borne the brunt of the violence, with over 470,000 people displaced from El Fasher alone. 'Many more [were] subjected to arbitrary arrests, sexual violence and targeted killings,' per the report. 'The humanitarian crisis was further compounded by the obstruction of aid delivery, with both SAF and RSF exploiting bureaucratic processes and checkpoints to control resources. Civilians in RSF-controlled territories faced acute food shortages and endemic violence, while indiscriminate air strikes by SAF decimated critical infrastructure, leaving urban populations trapped and vulnerable.' The Sudanese army had previously accused the UAE of 'complicity in genocide' for allegedly arming the RSF and has brought a case to the International Court of Justice. The UN report does not mention these allegations. The UAE has repeatedly denied the accusations, calling them 'false and baseless'. 'UN Security Council's final report on Sudan exposes grave violations by warring parties and debunks false SAF accusations against the UAE,' wrote Dr Anwar Gargash, diplomatic adviser to the President of the UAE, on X. 'We call for an immediate, unconditional ceasefire, serious peace talks, unhindered humanitarian aid and independent civilian government.' The UAE is one of Sudan's top humanitarian donors, having contributed over $3.5 billion in aid over the past decade. Since the outbreak of the conflict, it has provided more than $600 million in relief assistance. The Emirates has also expressed growing concern about the regional implications of Sudan's instability, particularly its impact on Red Sea maritime security. 'Port Sudan is increasingly mirroring the situation in Al Hodeidah, Yemen, by endangering freedom of navigation and commercial shipping, posing a significant global threat to international maritime security,' a senior UAE official told The National. The Houthi rebels in Yemen and the Sudanese army in Sudan, both facing international sanctions, maintain control over strategic ports along the Red Sea. The Houthis, backed by Iran, hold key Yemeni ports such as Hodeidah, which is vital for humanitarian aid and maritime traffic. From their coastal positions, the Houthis have launched numerous missiles and disrupted shipping in the Red Sea in attacks they say are being conducted in solidarity with Palestinians against Israel's war on Gaza since the October 7, 2023 attacks. Meanwhile, Sudan's military controls key ports, including Port Sudan, a vital hub for trade and oil exports. Observers argue that both groups' grip on Red Sea access points raises concerns about the security of global maritime routes and the politicisation of trade.
