Latest news with #SudanWar
Arab News
a day ago
- Health
- Arab News
Anti-aircraft missiles fire as drones fly over Port Sudan: witnesses
PORT SUDAN, Sudan: Anti-aircraft missiles fired over Sudan's wartime capital Port Sudan on Saturday, eyewitnesses reported, as drones flew over the once-safe haven city. Since April 2023, war has raged between Sudan's regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. Port Sudan, seat of the army-backed government, came under attack by drones blamed on the RSF for the first time early this month. The campaign of drone strikes attacked infrastructure including the country's last functioning civilian international airport, power stations and major fuel depots. The near-daily strikes had stopped for over a week until Saturday, when residents in the city heard 'the sound of anti-aircraft missiles north and west of the city and drones flying in the sky,' one witness told AFP. Since Sudanese authorities fled the capital Khartoum early in the war, Port Sudan has hosted government ministries, the United Nations and hundreds of thousands of people. Nearly all aid into the country — home to nearly 25 million people suffering dire food insecurity — transits through Port Sudan. The war has killed tens of thousands, uprooted 13 million and created what the UN describes as the world's largest hunger and displacement crises. It has also effectively split Sudan in two, with the army holding the center, east and north, while the paramilitaries and their allies control nearly all of Darfur and parts of the south. Since losing Khartoum in March, the RSF has adopted a two-pronged strategy: long-range drone strikes on army-held cities accompanied by counteroffensives to reclaim territory in the country's south. The drone strikes have impacted infrastructure across Sudan's army-held northeast, with attacks on power stations causing blackouts for millions of people. A blackout in Khartoum also cut off access to clean water, according to health authorities, causing a cholera outbreak that has killed close to 300 people this month.
Free Malaysia Today
2 days ago
- Health
- Free Malaysia Today
Paramilitaries claim capture of key Sudanese towns
The war in Sudan has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced 13 million. (Reuters pic) PORT SUDAN : Paramilitary forces fighting Sudan's military have said they captured two strategic towns in the war-ravaged nation, which has been hit by a cholera outbreak that killed 70 people in the capital this week. For more than two years Africa's third-largest country has been engulfed by a war between the army, led by the nation's de facto ruler, general Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The surge in cholera infections comes weeks after drone strikes blamed on the RSF knocked out water and electricity supplies across the capital Khartoum, which now faces a mounting health emergency. The RSF announced yesterday that its forces had retaken the key towns of Dibeibat, in South Kordofan state, and Al-Khoei, in West Kordofan state, which border South Sudan. 'The liberation of Dibeibat, followed by Al-Khoei, not only means a field victory; it also consolidates the complete control of the RSF over most of the Kordofan region,' an RSF spokesman said in a statement. Al-Khoei, located around 100km from El-Obeid – a crossroads between Khartoum and the Darfur region – had been briefly recaptured by the army this month. Residents confirmed to AFP that Dibeibat, which links the states of North and South Kordofan, was now under RSF control. The conflict has effectively split Sudan in two: the army controls the centre, east and north of the country, while paramilitaries hold almost all of Darfur in the west and parts of the south. The war has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced 13 million and created what the United Nations has described as the world's worst humanitarian crisis. Cholera outbreak Last week, the military-backed government said it had dislodged RSF fighters from their last bases in Khartoum state, two months after retaking the heart of the capital from the paramilitaries. Khartoum has been a battleground throughout the war and remains devastated, with health and sanitation infrastructure barely functioning. Up to 90% of hospitals in the conflict's main battlegrounds have been forced out of service by the fighting. Now the capital is facing a major health crisis. A cholera outbreak claimed 70 lives on Tuesday and Wednesday, the health ministry for Khartoum state said yesterday. Health officials also recorded more than 2,100 new infections over the same two days. But the UN's humanitarian agency, Ocha, said it is 'difficult to assess the true scale of the outbreak' with 'significant discrepancies' in official data. The federal health ministry reported 172 deaths in the week to Tuesday, 90% of them in Khartoum state. Authorities said 89% of patients in isolation centres are recovering, but warn that deteriorating environmental conditions are driving a surge in cases. Cholera vaccinations have begun in Jebel Awila, the hardest-hit district in Khartoum, UN chief Antonio Guterres's spokesman said yesterday. Meanwhile the World Health Organization had delivered more than 22 metric tonnes of cholera and emergency health supplies, spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. 'On the brink' Cholera is endemic to Sudan, but outbreaks have become worse and more frequent since the war broke out. Since August, health authorities have recorded more than 65,000 cases and over 1,700 deaths across 12 of Sudan's 18 states. 'Sudan is on the brink of a full-scale public health disaster,' said Eatizaz Yousif, the International Rescue Committee's Sudan director. 'The combination of conflict, displacement, destroyed critical infrastructure and limited access to clean water is fuelling the resurgence of cholera and other deadly diseases.' Aid agencies warn that without urgent action, the spread of disease is likely to worsen with the arrival of the rainy season next month, which severely limits humanitarian access. Sudan's government also faces US sanctions over allegations by Washington that the Sudanese military used chemical weapons last year in its war against the RSF. Yesterday, Sudan's foreign ministry announced the creation of a national committee to investigate the charge, while expressing its 'disbelief in the validity of the US administration's accusations'.
BBC News
20-05-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Sudan war: RSF entirely pushed out of Khartoum state, army says
The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) group, which has been engaged in a two-year war with Sudan's army, has been entirely pushed out of Khartoum state, says the military."Khartoum State is completely free of rebels", the army said in a statement published by Sudan's News Agency. The announcement comes nearly two months after the military recaptured Khartoum city - including the presidential palace - from its rivals in a major on Tuesday, fighting had broken out between the warring groups in the city of Omdurman - which is also in Khartoum state and part of the capital region. The army said on Monday that it had started a "large-scale offensive" in Omdurman, according to the AFP news agency. The RSF has not yet commented on the army's latest had once been at the heart of Sudan's government, but the country's military leaders were forced to move east to Port Sudan after their rivals took control of the recently Port Sudan had been viewed as relatively safe, however it was at the centre of escalating fighting when it came under drone attack earlier this month, which the army blamed on the RSF. The attacks hit key infrastructure and led to water shortages and worsening war has also had diplomatic reverberations, with relations souring between Sudan and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), after Sudan accused the gulf nation of supporting the RSF, which it denies. Those accusations continued on Tuesday, with Sudan saying the UAE was responsible for an attack on Port Sudan earlier this month, Reuters news agency UAE has strongly denied the accusations, describing them as "unfounded allegations".Since the civil war erupted three years ago, thousands of people have died and millions have been displaced from their homes - creating the world's worst humanitarian crisis. Both the army and the RSF have been accused of war crimes, which they deny. More BBC Africa stories about Sudan: Drone attacks raise stakes in new phase of Sudan's civil warInside Khartoum, a city left in ruinsSudan war: A simple guide to what is happening Go to for more news from the African us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, on Facebook at BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafrica
Asharq Al-Awsat
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Sudan Army Says Khartoum State ‘Completely Free' of RSF
The Sudanese army said on Tuesday that it had completely pushed its rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) out of Khartoum state, nearly two months after it regained control of the capital's center. "Khartoum state is completely free of rebels," army spokesman Nabil Abdallah said in a statement, referring to the RSF. The war in Sudan broke out in April 2023 when the military and the RSF turned against each other in a struggle for power. Their battles spread from Khartoum to around the country. At least 20,000 people have been killed, but the real toll is probably far higher. Nearly 13 million people have fled their homes, 4 million of them streaming into neighboring countries. Half the population of 50 million faces hunger.
Arab News
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
Army, paramilitaries clash near Sudan capital
KHARTOUM: Clashes erupted on Tuesday between the Sudanese regular army and rival paramilitaries in Omdurman, Khartoum's twin city, with the army calling the fighting part of a "large-scale" offensive. An AFP correspondent at the scene said explosions rang out in the area, where the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) had retreated after losing control of the Sudanese capital in March. The army said its operation which began on Monday was aimed at driving the paramilitaries from their last positions in Khartoum state. "We are pressing a large-scale operation and we are close to clearing the whole of Khartoum state from dirty thugs," military spokesman Nabil Abdallah said in a statement. The war since April 2023 has pitted the army headed by Sudan's de facto leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan against the RSF under his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo. The fighting comes as both the army and the RSF are attempting to establish their own governments. On Monday, army chief Burhan has tapped a former United Nations official, Kamil Idris, as a new prime minister -- a move seen by analysts as an attempt to gain international recognition and present a functioning civilian-led government amid the ongoing war. The African Union on Tuesday welcomed the appointment, calling it "a step toward inclusive governance" and expressing hope that the move will "restore constitutional order and democratic governance in Sudan". The RSF announced in April it would form a rival administration, a few weeks after signing a charter in Kenya with a coalition of military and political allies. In recent weeks, the RSF has staged multiple drone attacks on areas around the country, including Port Sudan on the Red Sea coast, the seat of the army-aligned government since the war began. Omdurman, which is situated just across the River Nile from Khartoum, has been a focal point of fighting in recent days. This week, a days-long electricity blackout hit the whole Khartoum state, following drone strikes blamed on the RSF on three power stations in Omdurman. Medical charity Doctors without Borders (MSF) said on Sunday that the power outages had disrupted health services at the city's major hospitals. "The magnitude of these drone attacks represents a major escalation in the conflict, with alarming implications for civilian protection," the UN's human rights expert on Sudan, Radhouane Nouicer, said in a statement on Monday. "The recurrent attacks on critical infrastructure place civilian lives at risk, worsen the humanitarian crisis, and undermine basic human rights." The army has meanwhile launched attacks in areas controlled by the RSF in the country's south, trying to claim territory and cut off rival supply lines. The Emergency Lawyers, a monitoring group which has documented atrocities on both sides, on Sunday accused the army of killing 18 civilians, including four children, in an attack on Al-Hamadi village in South Kordofan state last week. The war has killed tens of thousands, displaced 13 million and sparked what the United Nations describes as the world's worst humanitarian crisis. The conflict has carved up Sudan, with the army controlling the north, east, and centre, while the RSF dominates nearly all of Darfur and parts of the south.
