Latest news with #Sudan
Zawya
5 hours ago
- Politics
- Zawya
Sudan: United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) condemns weekend attacks that killed 35 children
At least 24 boys, 11 girls and two pregnant women reportedly were among the victims of the violence, which occurred over the weekend in communities around the city of Bara, including the villages of Shag Alnom and Hilat Hamid. UNICEF fears that with dozens more injured and many still missing, the number of child casualties could rise further. 'A complete disregard for human life' 'These attacks are an outrage,' Executive Director Catherine Russell said in a statement issued on Tuesday. 'They represent a terrifying escalation of violence, and a complete disregard for human life, international humanitarian law, and the most basic principles of humanity.' Former allies turned rivals – the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) – have been battling for control of the country since April 2023 and fighting has intensified recently in the Kordofan region which encompasses three states. End the violence now 'UNICEF condemns the attacks in the strongest possible terms,' said Ms. Russell. She called on all parties to end the violence immediately and to uphold their obligations under international law, including international humanitarian law, as well as the principles of distinction, proportionality and precaution. The UNICEF chief stressed that civilians – particularly children – must never be targeted. Furthermore, all alleged violations must be independently investigated, and those responsible held to account. 'Impunity cannot be tolerated for violations of international law, especially when children's lives are at stake,' she said. Ms. Russell extended the agency's deepest condolences to the families of the victims, and to anyone impacted by this heinous violence. 'No child should ever experience such horrors,' she said. 'Violence against children is unconscionable and must end now.' Distributed by APO Group on behalf of UN News.
France 24
5 hours ago
- Business
- France 24
US deports five migrants convicted of crimes to Eswatini
Also, a massacre took place in Sudan's North Kordofan region, with 200 people buried in a single day following a brutal attack by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). According to survivors, the RSF shelled homes and burned families alive as they stormed the village of Shaq al-Nom. Nearly 300 people are feared dead in nearby villages. The paramilitary group is trying to take control of key fuel routes before the rainy season halts their advance. The ongoing conflict with the country's army has already displaced 14 million people and shows no sign of slowing. And tensions are mounting in Durban as G20 finance ministers prepare to meet without U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, who has skipped the gathering for the second time. South Africa, which is holding the G20 presidency for the first time, is promoting an 'African agenda', with a focus on climate change, cheaper capital and a cross-border payment system designed to boost intra-African trade. However, discussions are overshadowed by Donald Trump's tariff threats, including a 10% tariff on all U.S. imports and potential penalties for BRICS nations promoting alternatives to the dollar.
The Independent
17 hours ago
- Politics
- The Independent
Not our finest hour: When Britain's allies put their lives on the line, we abandoned them – and covered it up
P erfidious Albion, in modern terms, means that when it comes to international affairs, Britain is seen as treacherous and unreliable – and has turned mendacity into an art. Students of imperial history will recall the hundreds of treaties signed with local chiefs, kings and leaders that were waved aside in the interests of the empire. The French call their deep distrust of Les Anglo-Saxons 'Fashoda syndrome' – named after a sordid episode of British duplicity that delivered an obscure bit of southern Sudan to the UK in the 19th century, and triggered the enduring distrust of our closest neighbour up to this day. Now we have the Kabul cock-up. It will inevitably serve to undermine Britain's woeful and feeble international reputation – and drive some of those who have been betrayed into the arms of our enemies. The disastrous accidental release of up to 100,000 names and numbers of Afghans seeking safety in the UK, a noble but feeble effort to save some of them, and the desperate cover-up using the courts to ensure that the British public knew nothing of the whole farrago, can only be reported today, two years after it was uncovered. The official reason for a superinjunction to hide the mess was to protect Afghans who wanted to get out of Afghanistan before the Taliban found and killed them. But their numbers, emails, and names were already in the public domain as a result of the leak. The Taliban are not illiterate morons. They beat the Soviets, they beat Nato and the US at war. They would have got hold of the list within moments of a clumsy British Ministry of Defence official hitting the 'send' button on an email containing all those sensitive details to sources in, or near, Afghanistan. Rather than take the lead and act on principle to protect human lives, the British government did what it always does and went into overdrive to protect its own embarrassment and to avoid making the case for, not against, immigration to this country. Ministers could have stood up and admitted to the leak. They could, and should, have defended the right – and need – of people who had literally risked their lives to settle in the UK; people who believed this to be a country in which decency is a first principle. But because British politicians from the two mainstream parties live in fear of Reform, they had already embarked on their betrayal of the soldiers who had given the most to the UK during its hopeless war in Afghanistan. As The Independent has previously reported, Afghan special forces teams from task forces 333 and 444 – paid and trained by the UK, who fought alongside the SBS and the SAS for years – were ditched when the Taliban took control of Kabul in mid-2021. Very senior British officers, who knew the capabilities and the loyalty of these men, formally suggested that they could be brought to the UK and used as tier two special forces operators in the British army. They were sneered at. Some of those Afghan special forces operators, intelligence sources have told The Independent, are now living in Iran. Imagine their skills being put to work for a regime that is planning revenge for the recent attacks carried out on it by Israel and the US. Some have been relocated to the UK after a campaign by this newspaper. But many others were abandoned. So, when the massive leak of names was reported to the British government, it did set about trying to help some of the potential victims. But it kept most in the dark in an effort to hide a British snafu – not to save the lives of loyal servants to the crown, who did not know that the Taliban probably knew who they were. The Independent 's Holly Bancroft uncovered the story in the autumn of 2023, but was unable to report it because of the ongoing evacuation operation. 'In total, 23,900 Afghans linked to the breach have been offered relocation to the UK, with more than 16,000 already in the UK. The MoD says 6,900 of these are people who would not otherwise have been brought to Britain,' she wrote, once the superinjunction had been lifted. Why not? Why were these 6,900 Afghans – originally deemed ineligible – suddenly given access to the UK? Could their previous ineligibility have been due to politicians being reluctant to make the case, either moral or economic, for immigration? It's feeble enough that this government, like the last, continues to campaign against immigration while businesses, led by the Confederation of British Industry, are crying out for skilled and unskilled labour to fuel growth. It's just as feeble that, although the economic case for rejoining the European single market is overwhelming, no senior politician in government is making that case. So, if there is no effort to show leadership in areas of clear national interest, one should not be surprised that ministers hide within the mob that clings to irrational beliefs fomented by disinformation and extremist populism. They'd rather just abandon battlefield allies, hide the fact that these people have been accidentally endangered, and gag anyone who wishes to talk about it. The first instinct is perfidy and obfuscation, not leadership. 'Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose,' as they'd say next door.
Arab News
a day ago
- Politics
- Arab News
Survivors bury dead after RSF attack devastates Sudan village
The Emergency Lawyers reported on Monday that nearly 300 people were killed in North Kordofan villagesThe area is home to several armed tribes that have refused to pledge allegiance to the RSFPORT SUDAN: It took a full day for the villagers of Shaq Al-Nom, in Sudan's North Kordofan state, to bury their dead after an attack by paramilitary fighters that left the village in ruins, a survivor told AFP on Saturday attack by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) — the paramilitary force at war with the regular army since April 2023 — was part of a series of raids in recent days on villages in North Kordofan, some 250 kilometers (155 miles) southwest of the capital Khartoum.'On Sunday, we collected the bodies from the village streets and inside the houses, and we buried 200 bodies,' Saleh Abdel Rahim, 34, told Emergency Lawyers, a group that documents atrocities by both sides in the war, reported on Monday that nearly 300 people were killed in North Kordofan villages between Saturday and are nearly impossible to independently verify in Sudan, with many medical facilities forced out of service and limited media access.'It was indescribable,' Abdel Rahim said, using a pseudonym for fear of retaliation because he had fled to an area close to RSF positions.'Under artillery shelling, houses burned with their families inside,' he told AFP via satellite Internet connection to circumvent a communications it began, the war has killed tens of thousands and created the world's largest hunger and displacement crises, with 14 million Sudanese currently displaced inside the country and across Emergency Lawyers reported on Monday that paramilitaries had killed women and children, abducted civilians and looted livestock in the villages surrounding the RSF-controlled city of Shaq Al-Nom, 'RSF vehicles arrived in the village, in an attempt to storm it' on Saturday under a hail of machine gun fire and drone strikes, according to Abdel Rahim.'We had no choice but to resist in defense,' he said, adding that 'all of the villagers of the Bara countryside have fled.'The area is home to several armed tribes that have refused to pledge allegiance to the Kordofan, key to the RSF's fuel smuggling route via Libya, has been an important battleground between the army and the paramilitaries for RSF has tried to encircle the North Kordofan state capital of El-Obeid — the only road link between Khartoum and the vast western region of Darfur, which the RSF has all but has been unable, however, to seize the North Darfur state capital of El-Fasher despite an ongoing siege for more than a analyst Kholood Khair told AFP that 'they want to consolidate that road that links El-Fasher to El-Obeid and other parts of Kordofan, so effectively they're in a race against time to consolidate in the west before the rains come.'Sudan's rainy season, which peaks in August, renders much of the country's roads inaccessible, making it impossible for either side to capture territory until the floods start clearing in September.
Zawya
a day ago
- Politics
- Zawya
Scores killed in Sudan's Kordofan region as fighting intensifies
Amid ongoing communication disruptions in the area, confirming the exact civilian death toll remains difficult, but reports indicate that at least 300 people – including children and pregnant women – were killed in attacks on villages in Bara locality, North Kordofan State, between 10 and 13 July. During the same period, a series of attacks – including an air strike on a school sheltering displaced families – reportedly killed more than 20 people, in the villages of Al Fula and Abu Zabad in West Kordofan State. OCHA is also alarmed by reports of renewed shelling in Al Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan State, 'deepening fears and insecurity among civilians,' the humanitarian coordination agency reported. Tragic civilian toll With thousands of people reportedly killed since the beginning of the conflict between former military allies-turned rivals over two years ago, the crisis in Sudan continues to take a devastating toll on civilians. 'These incidents are yet another tragic reminder of the relentless toll the conflict is taking on civilians across Sudan,' OCHA reported. The office emphasises that civilians and civilian infrastructures – including schools, homes, shelters and humanitarian assets – must never be targeted, and called on all parties to the conflict to 'fully respect their obligations under international humanitarian law.' Toll from displacement Described as 'the largest as well as the fastest growing displacement crisis globally,' by the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) in February 2025, displacement continues amid the fighting. People fleeing North Kordofan, as well as El Fasher in North Darfur State, continue to seek shelter in the rest of Sudan, including Northern State, with humanitarian partners on the ground reporting more than 3,000 displaced people arriving in the locality of Ad-Dabbah since June. Although some have received food assistance, the steady influx of newly displaced families is putting additional strain on already stretched resources. With the rainy season approaching, OCHA warned that further hardship is likely, particularly as heavy rain and strong winds destroyed shelters and food supplies for about 2,700 displaced people in eastern Sudan this past Sunday. Distributed by APO Group on behalf of UN News.
