Tens of thousands flee as paramilitaries attack Sudan’s Al-Fashir, activists say

Tens of thousands flee as paramilitaries attack Sudan’s Al-Fashir, activists say
Sudan has been in the throes of conflict for over a year between the regular army led by de facto ruler Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the RSF led by his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo. (File/AFP)
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Updated 24 May 2024
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Tens of thousands flee as paramilitaries attack Sudan’s Al-Fashir, activists say

Tens of thousands flee as paramilitaries attack Sudan’s Al-Fashir, activists say
  • RSF troops attacked and looted the vast Abu Shouk camp, killing an unknown number of people and wounding at least 13
  • The army and RSF have blamed each other for the violence

CAIRO: Tens of thousands of people fled their homes in a camp in the Sudanese city of Al-Fashir, activists said, after a raid by Rapid Support Forces paramilitary forces who are fighting to seize the last army stronghold in the western Darfur region.
RSF troops attacked and looted the vast Abu Shouk camp on Wednesday, killing an unknown number of people and wounding at least 13, locals said, more than a year into Sudan’s war.
Around 60 percent of the more than 100,000 inhabitant fled on Thursday, according to the Coordinating Committee for Refugees and Displaced People, which oversees camps in the region. Fighting continued in other parts of Al-Fashir on Friday, locals said.
The RSF and its allies swept through four other Darfur state capitals last year, and were blamed for a campaign of ethnically driven killings against non-Arab groups and other abuses in West Darfur — accusations they have dismissed.
There was no immediate comment from the RSF or the army on the latest clashes in Al-Fashir, a historic center of power. Both have blamed each other for the violence.
The UN special adviser on the prevention of genocide said this week there was a risk of genocide, and allegations that it was already taking place.
Civilians in Al-Fashir and other parts of Darfur were being targeted on the basis of their identity and skin color, Alice Wairimu Nderitu told the UN Security Council on Tuesday.
Abu Shouk is home to survivors of the violence in Darfur two decades ago, where janjaweed militias, the precursors to the RSF, fought alongside the Sudanese army and were accused of genocide.
About half a million more people moved into Al-Fashir during the ongoing war that broke out between the army and the RSF in the capital Khartoum in April 2023, as long-simmering tensions over integrating the two forces came to a head.
At least 85 people have died at the only functioning hospital in the south of Al-Fashir since May 10, according to medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).
The total number of casualties is much larger as civilians hit by fighting in the north, east, and south of the city have not been able to reach medics, MSF and residents say.
The RSF has accused the army of using human shields as well as carrying out extensive air strikes, including destroying Al-Fashir’s power station.


US believes Israel, Lebanon have agreed terms to end Israel-Hezbollah conflict

US believes Israel, Lebanon have agreed terms to end Israel-Hezbollah conflict
Updated 40 min 43 sec ago
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US believes Israel, Lebanon have agreed terms to end Israel-Hezbollah conflict

US believes Israel, Lebanon have agreed terms to end Israel-Hezbollah conflict

WASHINGTON: Israel and Lebanon have agreed to the terms of a deal to end the Israel-Hezbollah conflict, Axios reported on Monday citing an unnamed senior US official.
Israel’s government on Monday said it was moving toward a ceasefire in the war with Hezbollah but there were still outstanding issues.


Arrest Warrant: UK would follow ‘due process’ if Netanyahu were to visit – foreign minister

Arrest Warrant: UK would follow ‘due process’ if Netanyahu were to visit – foreign minister
Updated 52 min 3 sec ago
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Arrest Warrant: UK would follow ‘due process’ if Netanyahu were to visit – foreign minister

Arrest Warrant: UK would follow ‘due process’ if Netanyahu were to visit – foreign minister
  • ICC issued arrest warrants on Thursday against Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu
  • Several EU states have said they will meet commitments under the statute if needed

FIUGGI: Britain would follow due process if Benjamin Netanyahu visited the UK, foreign minister David Lammy said on Monday, when asked if London would fulfil the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant against the Israeli prime minister.
“We are signatories to the Rome Statute, we have always been committed to our obligations under international law and international humanitarian law,” Lammy told reporters at a G7 meeting in Italy.
“Of course, if there were to be such a visit to the UK, there would be a court process and due process would be followed in relation to those issues.”
The ICC issued the warrants on Thursday against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defense minister Yoav Gallant, and Hamas leader Ibrahim Al-Masri for alleged crimes against humanity.
Several EU states have said they will meet their commitments under the statute if needed, but Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has invited Netanyahu to visit his country, assuring him he would face no risks if he did so.
“The states that signed the Rome convention must implement the court’s decision. It’s not optional,” Josep Borrell, the EU’s top diplomat, said during a visit to Cyprus for a workshop of Israeli and Palestinian peace activists.
Those same obligations were also binding on countries aspiring to join the EU, he said.

 

 


Turkiye man kills seven before taking his own life

Turkiye man kills seven before taking his own life
Updated 25 November 2024
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Turkiye man kills seven before taking his own life

Turkiye man kills seven before taking his own life

Istanbul: A 33-year-old Turkish man shot dead seven people in Istanbul on Sunday, including his parents, his wife and his 10-year-old son, before taking his own life, the authorities reported on Monday.
The man, who was found dead in his car shortly after the shooting, is also accused of wounding two other family members, one of them seriously, the Istanbul governor’s office said in a statement.
The authorities, who had put the death toll at four on Sunday evening, announced on Monday the discovery near a lake on Istanbul’s European shore of the bodies of the killer’s wife and son, as well as the lifeless body of his mother-in-law.
According to the Small Arms Survey (SAS), a Swiss research program, over 13.2 million firearms are in circulation in Turkiye, most of them illegally, for a population of around 85 million.


2 Palestinians killed in Israeli raid in West Bank: PA

2 Palestinians killed in Israeli raid in West Bank: PA
Updated 25 November 2024
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2 Palestinians killed in Israeli raid in West Bank: PA

2 Palestinians killed in Israeli raid in West Bank: PA
  • The official Palestinian news agency Wafa said Israeli forces entered the village on Sunday night

Yabad: The Palestinian Authority said two Palestinians, including a teenage boy, were killed during an Israeli raid in the occupied West Bank village of Yabad.
The official Palestinian news agency Wafa said Israeli forces entered the village on Sunday night, leading to clashes during which soldiers shot dead two Palestinians.
The two dead were identified by the Palestinian health ministry as Muhammad Rabie Hamarsheh, 13, and Ahmad Mahmud Zaid, 20.
“Overnight, during an IDF (Israeli army) counterterrorism activity in the area of Yabad, two terrorists hurled explosives at IDF soldiers. The soldiers responded with fire and hits were identified,” an Israeli military source told AFP.
Last week, the Israeli army launched several raids in the West Bank city of Jenin, killing nine people, most of them Palestinian militants.
Violence in the West Bank has soared since the war in Gaza erupted on October 7 last year after Hamas’s attack on Israel.
Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 777 Palestinians in the West Bank since the start of the Gaza war, according to the Ramallah-based health ministry.
Palestinian attacks on Israelis have also killed at least 24 people in the West Bank in the same period, according to Israeli official figures.
Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967.


Israel says hit Hezbollah command center in deadly weekend strike

Israel says hit Hezbollah command center in deadly weekend strike
Updated 25 November 2024
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Israel says hit Hezbollah command center in deadly weekend strike

Israel says hit Hezbollah command center in deadly weekend strike
  • The strike hit a residential building in the heart of Beirut before dawn Saturday
  • Since September 23, Israel has intensified its Lebanon air campaign

JERUSALEM: The Israeli army on Monday said it had struck a Hezbollah command center in the downtown Beirut neighborhood of Basta in a deadly air strike at the weekend.
“The IDF (Israeli military) struck a Hezbollah command center,” the army said regarding the strike that the Lebanese health ministry said killed 29 people and wounded 67 on Saturday.
The strike hit a residential building in the heart of Beirut before dawn Saturday, leaving a large crater, AFP journalists at the scene reported.
A senior Lebanese security source said that “a high-ranking Hezbollah officer was targeted” in the strike, without confirming whether or not the official had been killed.
Hezbollah official Amin Cherri said no leader of the Lebanese movement was targeted in Basta.
Since September 23, Israel has intensified its Lebanon air campaign, later sending in ground troops against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.
The war followed nearly a year of limited exchanges of fire initiated by Hezbollah in support of its ally Hamas after the Palestinian group’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which sparked the Gaza war.
The conflict has killed at least 3,754 people in Lebanon since October 2023, according to the health ministry, most of them since September this year.
On the Israeli side, authorities say at least 82 soldiers and 47 civilians have been killed.