Latest news with #SudanArmy
Asharq Al-Awsat
a day ago
- Politics
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Sudan's Burhan Shakes up Army, Tightens Control
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 west. Sudan's 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 crisis. General 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 years. Burhan, 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 force. Another 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 control. Sudanese politicians praised the decision, saying it would prevent the development of other centres of power in the military, and potentially the future formation of other parallel forces like the RSF. The RSF has its roots in militias armed by the military in the early 2000s to fight in Darfur. It was allowed to develop parallel structures and supply lines. The 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 said. The war erupted in April 2023 when the army and the RSF clashed over plans to integrate their forces. The 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.
Reuters
a day ago
- Politics
- Reuters
Sudan's Burhan shakes up army, tightens control
CAIRO, Aug 18 (Reuters) - 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 west. Sudan's 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 crisis. General 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 years. Burhan, who serves as Sudan's internationally recognised 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 force. Another 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 control. Sudanese politicians praised the decision, saying it would prevent the development of other centres of power in the military, and potentially the future formation of other parallel forces like the RSF. 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 lines. The reshuffle comes a week after Burhan met U.S. senior Africa adviser Massad Boulos in Switzerland, where issues including a transition to civilian rule were discussed, government sources said. The war erupted in April 2023 when the army and the RSF clashed over plans to integrate their forces. The 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.
Arab News
10-08-2025
- Health
- Arab News
Malnutrition in El-Fasher kills 63 in a week
PORT SUDAN: Malnutrition has claimed the lives of at least 63 people, mostly women and children, in just one week in Sudan's besieged city of El-Fasher, a health official said on Sunday. The official said the figure only included those who managed to reach hospitals, adding that many families buried their dead without seeking medical help due to poor security conditions and a lack of transportation. Since May last year, El-Fasher has been under siege by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, which have been at war with Sudan's regular army since April 2023. The city remains the last major Darfur urban center in army control and has recently come under renewed attack by the RSF after the group withdrew from Sudan's capital, Khartoum, earlier this year. The city remains the last major Darfur urban center in army control and has recently come under renewed attack by the Rapid Support Forces. A major RSF offensive on the nearby Zamzam displacement camp in April forced tens of thousands of people to flee again — many of them now sheltering inside El-Fasher. Community kitchens — once a lifeline — have largely shut down due to a lack of supplies. Some families are reportedly surviving on animal fodder or food waste. Nearly 40 percent of children under five in El-Fasher are now acutely malnourished, with 11 percent suffering from severe acute malnutrition, according to UN figures. The rainy season, which peaks in August, is further complicating efforts to reach the city. Roads are rapidly deteriorating, making aid deliveries difficult if not impossible. The war, now in its third year, has killed tens of thousands, displaced millions, and created what the United Nations describes as the world's largest displacement and hunger crises. Rapid Support Forces killed 18 civilians in an attack on two villages west of Khartoum earlier this week, a monitoring group said on Saturday. The attack occurred on Thursday in North Kordofan state, which is key to the RSF's fuel smuggling route from Libya. The area has been a major battleground between the army and the paramilitaries for months, and communications lines with the rest of the world have been mostly cut off. According to the Emergency Lawyers human rights group, which has documented abuses since the start of the war two years ago, the attack on the two villages in North Kordofan 'killed 18 civilians and wounded dozens.' The wounded were transferred to the state capital of El-Obeid for treatment. Tolls are nearly impossible to independently verify in Sudan, as many medical facilities have been forced out of service and there is limited media access.
Sky News
04-08-2025
- Politics
- Sky News
'It is truly monstrous': Inside the besieged Sudanese city where families are forced to eat animal feed to live
Al Fashir is being suffocated to death. The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has held the capital of North Darfur hostage in a 14-month siege - blocking food or fuel from entering the locality and forcing starvation on its 900,000 inhabitants. The entire city is currently a militarised zone as Sudan 's army and the Darfur Joint Protection Force fend off the RSF from capturing the last state capital in the Darfur region not currently under their control. Rare footage sent to Sky News from inside al Fashir town shows streets emptied of cars and people. The city's remaining residents are hiding from daytime shelling inside their homes, and volunteers move through town on donkey carts distributing the little food they can find. 'It is truly monstrous' Journalist Muammer Ibrahim sent Sky News voice notes from there. "The situation is monstrous," he says. "It is truly monstrous. "The markets are emptied of food and partially destroyed by shelling. Civilians were killed at the market, just a day ago. People have fled market areas but there is also shelling in residential areas. Every day, you hear of 10 or 12 civilians killed in attacks." His voice sounds shallow, weakened by the dire conditions, and gunshots can be heard in the background. "The intense fighting has meant that people cannot safely search for anything to eat, but there is also nothing for their money to buy. The markets are depleted. Hundreds of thousands here are threatened by a full-blown famine," he says. "There has been a full blockade of any nutritional supplies arriving in al Fashir since the collapse of Zamzam camp. It closed any routes for produce or supplies to enter." The RSF ransacked the famine-ridden Zamzam displacement camp 7.5 miles (12km) south of al Fashir town in April, after the military reclaimed Sudan's capital Khartoum. The United Nations believes that at least 100 people were killed in the attacks, including children and aid workers. The majority of Zamzam's half a million residents fled to other areas for safety. Hundreds of thousands of them are now squeezed into tents on the edges of al Fashir, completely cut off from humanitarian assistance. The capture of the camp allowed the RSF to tighten their siege and block off the last remaining supply route. Aid convoys attempting to enter al Fashir have come under fire by the RSF since last year. "Already, between June and October 2024, we had several trucks stuck and prevented by the Rapid Support Forces from going to their destination which was al Fashir and Zamzam," says Mathilde Simon, project coordinator at Medicins Sans Frontieres. "They were prevented from doing so because they were taking food to those destinations." "There was another UN convoy that tried to reach al Fashir in the beginning of June. It could not, and five aid workers were killed. "Since then, no convoy has been able to reach al Fashir. There have been ongoing negotiations to bring in food but they have not been successful until now." Families are resorting to eating animal feed to survive. Videos sent to Sky News by volunteers show extreme suffering and deprivation, with sickly children sitting on thin straw mats on the hard ground. Community kitchens are their only source of survival, only able to offer small meals of sorghum porridge to hundreds of thousands of elderly men, women and children facing starvation. The question now is whether famine has fully taken root in al Fashir after the collapse of Zamzam camp and intensified RSF siege. 'Malnutrition rates are catastrophic' "The lack of access has prevented us from carrying out further assessment that can help us have a better understanding of the situation, but already in December 2024 famine was confirmed by the IPC Famine Review Committee in five areas," says Mathilde. "It was already confirmed in August 2024 in Zamzam but had spread to other displacement camps including Abu Shouk and it was already projected in al Fashir. "This was more than eight months ago and we know the situation has completely worsened and malnutrition rates are absolutely catastrophic." Treasurer of al Fashir's Emergency Response Rooms, Mohamed al Doma, believes all signs point to a famine. He had to walk for four hours to escape the city with his wife and two young children after living through a full year of the siege and offering support to residents as supplies and funding dwindled. "There is a famine of the first degree in al Fashir. All the basic necessities for life are not available," he says. "There is a lack of sustenance, a lack of nutrition and a lack of shelter. The fundamental conditions for human living are not living. There is nothing available in the markets - no food or work. There is no farming for subsistence. There is no aid entering al Fashir."
Reuters
24-06-2025
- Health
- Reuters
Over 40 people, including children, killed in Sudan hospital attack, says WHO chief
GENEVA, June 24 (Reuters) - Over 40 people, including children and health care workers, were killed in an attack on a hospital in Sudan at the weekend, the head of the World Health Organization said on Tuesday. Saturday's attack on the Al Mujlad Hospital took place in West Kordofan, near the front line between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called for attacks on health infrastructure to stop, without saying who was responsible.
