Latest news with #SouthDarfur
Al Arabiya
2 days ago
- General
- Al Arabiya
Drones hit paramilitary sites in west Sudan: Witnesses
Three drone strikes have hit key paramilitary positions in western Sudan, witnesses said Sunday, as fighting between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces escalates in the war-torn region. The strikes in Nyala, the South Darfur state capital, targeted a hotel and a medical unit in the city center and RSF-held positions on the eastern outskirts, residents said. 'We saw ambulances transporting the wounded to several hospitals,' one resident told AFP in a message. The RSF has controlled much of Nyala since the conflict began in April 2023 between army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his former deputy, RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo. Air strikes on RSF positions have intensified, hitting Nyala airport -- a key RSF base -- and other targets. In early May, army planes bombed RSF sites in Nyala and the West Darfur capital, El-Geneina, destroying depots and equipment, a military source said. A cargo plane was also reportedly fired on while landing at Nyala airport, though the source did not say who was responsible. Satellite images released last month by Yale University's Humanitarian Research Lab showed six advanced at the city's RSF-held airport. The Chinese-made drones appeared 'capable of long-range surveillance and strikes', it said. After nearly daily attacks in early May, the strikes paused for a week before resuming on Saturday. Residents reported intercepts of drones by air defenses north and west of the city. The war has killed tens of thousands and displaced 13 million -- nearly a quarter of the population -- in what the United Nations calls one of the world's worst humanitarian disasters. The conflict has effectively split the northeast African country in two with the army holding the north, east and center while the RSF and its allies dominate nearly all of Darfur in the west and parts of the south.
The Guardian
3 days ago
- Health
- The Guardian
Women and girls ‘not safe anywhere' as Darfur suffers surge in sexual violence
As Sudan's Darfur region has been overrun by militias, women are facing the constant threat of sexual violence, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has reported. The medical charity said in the South Darfur region alone its workers treated 659 sexual violence survivors between January and March this year, more than two-thirds of whom had been raped. 'Women and girls do not feel safe anywhere. They are attacked in their own homes, when fleeing violence, getting food, collecting firewood, working in the fields. They tell us they feel trapped,' said Claire San Filippo, MSF emergency coordinator, who called on the warring parties to hold their fighters to account. 'These attacks are heinous and cruel, often involving multiple perpetrators. This must stop. Sexual violence is not a natural or inevitable consequence of war, it can constitute a war crime, a form of torture, and a crime against humanity.' Several women who gave testimonies to MSF described raids where fighters killed all the boys and men in a place before raping women and girls. A 27-year-old nurse said she was raped last year by fighters who accused her of treating Sudanese army soldiers. 'I want protection now; I don't want to be raped again … I was too afraid to go to the hospital. My family told me, 'Don't tell anybody'. I don't have any more pain. But I have nightmares about it,' she said. MSF said that 56% of the sexual violence they documented was perpetrated by non-civilians. Women and girls having to walk long distances to gather food and water put them in particular danger, the report said. A third of women and girls were attacked while travelling to or working in fields. Since April 2023, Darfur has witnessed a surge in human rights abuses as it has been taken over by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary and allied militias as they fight for control against the government's Sudanese armed forces. The fighting has recently been concentrated around the city of El Fasher, where conditions have deteriorated rapidly for civilians. The RSF's seizure of the nearby Zamzam displacement camp led to further reports of increased sexual violence. The Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa (Siha), a coalition of women's rights groups, said it has verified 14 cases of rape but had received reports of many more, during the Zamzam attack and in the weeks since, as well as dozens of reports of women disappearing or being abducted by RSF fighters. 'Sexual violence has become an everyday reality for women and girls in Darfur, along with the rise in sexually transmitted diseases,' said Siha's head, Hala al-Karib, who said the international community had abandoned women in Darfur. Karib said the violence had been escalating since before the current conflict because of the withdrawa of a UN and African Union peacekeeping mission in Darfur that had provided some protection to local communities. 'The peacekeeping mission primarily contributed to the safety and security of women by patrolling roads and enabling them to access their farmlands, while also securing displaced camps,' said Karib. 'The level of neglect toward women in Darfur is staggering. This region is experiencing active genocidal acts, horrific war crimes, and famine due to a siege on livelihoods by all actors. There is no dedicated support for women survivors … this crisis is unfolding amid complete silence and utter neglect from international actors.'
Asharq Al-Awsat
10-05-2025
- Politics
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Suspected RSF Strike Hits a Prison, Killing at Least 19 in Sudan, Officials Say
A suspected drone strike by the Rapid Support Forces hit a prison in Sudan's southern region of Kordofan on Saturday and killed at least 19 prisoners, authorities said, the latest deadly attack in the country's more than two-year civil war. The attack on the main prison in Obeid, the capital city of North Kordofan, also wounded 45 other prisoners, according to a statement from the province's police forces. The statement accused the Rapid Support Forces of launching the attack, which came as the RSF escalated its drone strikes on the military-held areas across the country. There was no immediate comment from the RSF, which has been at war with the Sudanese military for more than two years. Earlier this month, the RSF launched multi-day drone attack on Port Sudan, the Red Sea city serving as an interim seat for the Sudanese government. The strikes hit the city's airports, maritime port and other facilities including fuel storages. The RSF escalation came after the military struck the Nyala airport in South Darfur, where the RSF receives foreign military assistance, including drones. Local media say dozens of RSF officers were killed in last week's strike. Sudan plunged into chaos on April 15, 2023, when simmering tensions between the military and the RSF exploded into open warfare in the capital Khartoum and other parts of the country. Obeid is 363 kilometers (225 miles) south of Khartoum. Since then, at least 24,000 people have been killed, though the number is likely far higher. The war has driven about 13 million people from their homes, including 4 million who crossed into neighboring countries. The conflict also has pushed parts of the country into famine. The fighting has been marked by atrocities including mass rape and ethnically motivated killings that amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, especially in the western Darfur region, according to the UN and international rights groups.
