Sudan’s Al-Fasher city hit by heavy fighting

Displaced Sudanese who have returned from Ethiopia gather in a camp run by the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in Sudan's border town of Gallabat in the eastern state of Gadaref on September 11, 2024. (AFP)
Displaced Sudanese who have returned from Ethiopia gather in a camp run by the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in Sudan's border town of Gallabat in the eastern state of Gadaref on September 11, 2024. (AFP)
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Updated 14 September 2024
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Sudan’s Al-Fasher city hit by heavy fighting

Sudan’s Al-Fasher city hit by  heavy  fighting
  • Darfur has seen some of the war’s worst atrocities, and the RSF has besieged Al-Fasher since May

KHARTOUM: Heavy fighting on Saturday shook a Sudanese city besieged by Rapid Support Forces, witnesses said, as US researchers reported unprecedented and escalating combat in the North Darfur state capital.
Al-Fasher is one of five state capitals in Sudan’s western Darfur region and the only one not in the hands of the Rapid Support Forces, who have been battling the regular army since April 2023.
The UN says the war across much of Sudan has created the world’s largest displacement crisis, with millions uprooted, and has led to famine at a displacement camp near Al-Fasher.
Darfur has seen some of the war’s worst atrocities, and the RSF has besieged Al-Fasher since May.
“Neighborhoods are completely deserted, and all you can hear are explosions and missiles,” said Ibrahim Ishaq, 52.
“The central market area has become unliveable because of the intensity of the explosions,” said Ishaq, who fled westward from the city on Friday.
Witnesses reported army bombardment south and east of the city on Saturday and said they heard air-defense batteries firing.
The Yale School of Public Health’s Humanitarian Research Lab said in a report on Friday that its analysis confirmed “unprecedented large-scale combat operations” in El-Fasher within the previous 10 days, “with significant escalation in the past 36 hours” involving both the army and the paramilitary forces.
It cited reports that describe “a major multidirectional RSF attack from the northern, eastern, and southern directions” on Thursday.
Darfur Gov. Mini Minawi said on Thursday on social media platform X that the army had repelled “a large attack” by the RSF.
The paramilitaries, however, said they seized military sites in Al-Fasher.
Using satellite imagery and other data, the Yale researchers said they found munition impacts “likely related to high-tempo aerial bombardment” from the regular army but said other structural damage resulted from “RSF bombardment” and combat activity by both sides.
Whatever the battle’s outcome, current fighting levels “are likely to reduce what is left of El-Fasher to rubble effectively,” the Yale study said.
The US special envoy for Sudan, Tom Perriello said on X: “We are extremely concerned about the RSF’s renewed attacks.”
He urged the RSF “to stop its assault.”
It was not immediately possible to determine the number of victims.
Sudan’s war has already killed tens of thousands of people, with some estimates as high as 150,000, according to Perriello.
In Khartoum on Saturday, around 800 km from Al-Fasher, witnesses reported heavy explosions and strikes to the city’s south.
Independent UN experts earlier this month appealed for the urgent deployment of an “impartial force” in Sudan for civilian protection.
Sudan’s foreign ministry, loyal to the army, rejected the idea.

 


Revolutionary Guard general’s killing ratchets up pressure on Iran to respond

Gen. Abbas Nilforushan. (Supplied)
Gen. Abbas Nilforushan. (Supplied)
Updated 4 sec ago
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Revolutionary Guard general’s killing ratchets up pressure on Iran to respond

Gen. Abbas Nilforushan. (Supplied)
  • Gen. Nilforushan served as the deputy commander for operations in the Guard, a role overseeing its ground forces

DUBAI: A prominent general in Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard died in an Israeli airstrike that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut.
The killing of Gen. Abbas Nilforushan marks the latest casualty suffered by Iran as the nearly yearlong Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip teeters on the edge of becoming a regional conflict.
His death further ratchets up pressure on Iran to respond, even as Tehran has signaled in recent months that it wants to negotiate with the West over sanctions crushing its economy.
Ahmad Reza Pour Khaghan, the deputy head of Iran’s judiciary, also confirmed Nilforushan’s death, describing him as a “guest to the people of Lebanon,” the state-run IRNA news agency said.
Khaghan also reportedly said that Iran had the right to retaliate under international law.
Nilforushan served as the deputy commander for operations in the Guard, a role overseeing its ground forces.
What he was doing in Lebanon on Friday wasn’t immediately clear. The Guard’s expeditionary Quds Force for decades has armed, trained and relied on Hezbollah as part of its strategy to rely on regional militias as a counterbalance to Israel and the US.
Nilforushan, like other members of the Guard that view Israel as Iran’s main enemy, long mocked and criticized the country.
“The Zionist regime has many ethnic, cultural, social and military rifts. It is in vulnerable and in doom status more than before,” Nilforushan said in 2022, according to an IRNA report.
The US Treasury sanctioned Nilforushan in 2022 and said he had led an organization “directly in charge of protest suppression.”
Those sanctions came amid the monthslong protests in Iran over the death of Mahsa Amini following her arrest for allegedly not wearing her headscarf, or hijab, to the liking of police. At the time, Nilforushan accused Iran’s enemies abroad of stoking the demonstrations led by Iranian women that challenged both the mandatory hijab and the country’s theocracy.
Nilforushan also served in Syria, backing President Bashar Assad in his country’s decades-long war that grew out of the 2011 Arab Spring. Like many of his colleagues, he began his military career in the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s.
In 2020, Iranian state television called him a “comrade” of Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the head of its expeditionary Quds Force who was killed in a US drone attack in Baghdad that year.
Nilforushan’s death comes as Iran in recent months has been signaling it wants to change its tack with the West after years of tensions stemming from then-President Donald Trump’s unilateral withdrawal of America from Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers in 2018.
In July, Iranian voters elected reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian following a helicopter crash that killed President Ebrahim Raisi, a hard-line protege to 85-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
While critical of Israel, Pezeshkian has maintained that Iran is willing to negotiate over its nuclear program, which now enriches uranium to near weapons-grade levels. While Iran has been able to sell oil abroad despite sanctions, it likely was at a steep discount and energy prices have fallen further in recent weeks.
Meanwhile, Iran still threatens to retaliate for Soleimani’s killing and the suspected Israeli assassination in Tehran of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in July. Iran hasn’t explained why it hasn’t struck yet, though an unprecedented direct attack it launched in April on Israel failed to seriously damage any major target.

 


Lebanon’s health minister: Israeli attacks on medics constitute a war crime

Lebanon’s health minister: Israeli attacks on medics constitute a war crime
Updated 28 September 2024
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Lebanon’s health minister: Israeli attacks on medics constitute a war crime

Lebanon’s health minister: Israeli attacks on medics constitute a war crime
  • Dr. Firass Abiad says Monday’s airstrikes created “environment of terror,” spurring mass flight from targeted areas
  • He made the comments during an appearance on the Arab News current affairs program “Frankly Speaking”

DUBAI: Dr. Firass Abiad, Lebanon’s minister of public health, has strongly condemned Israeli attacks on healthcare workers and medical infrastructure, describing them as war crimes under international humanitarian law.

“Do we consider this a war crime? Of course, we consider this a war crime,” said Abiad, adding that this was not just the view of the Lebanese government but echoed by international legal bodies.

“When we listen to the International Court of Justice, these are the experts on what is international humanitarian law and whether it has been violated. So, these are the experts telling us that what Israel is doing constitutes war crimes.”

Abiad made the comments during an appearance on the Arab News current affairs program “Frankly Speaking” amid escalating violence between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia, which now threatens to spill over into a major regional war.

Abiad told Frankly Speaking that the Lebanese government had established 400 public shelters, which currently house about 70,000 people, amid the Israeli bombardment. (AN Photo)

On Saturday, Hezbollah confirmed that its leader, Hassan Nasrallah, was killed in an Israeli strike on the group’s Dahiyeh stronghold in Beirut. The attack follows days of Israeli strikes across Lebanon, which have left 1,030 people dead — including 156 women and 87 children.

Hezbollah began rocketing northern Israel last October in solidarity with the Palestinian militant group Hamas, whose Oct. 7 assault on southern Israel triggered the war in Gaza. Israel retaliated by mounting strikes on Hezbollah targets, including its leadership.

In early September, the tit-for-tat suddenly escalated when Hezbollah communication devices, including pagers and walkie-talkies, suddenly exploded simultaneously in a sophisticated coordinated attack blamed on Israel.

Since then, Israeli strikes on Hezbollah targets across the country have rapidly escalated, with significant collateral damage to residential areas. Health workers and medical infrastructure have not been spared amid the carnage.

“This is something that did not start these past few weeks,” Abiad told “Frankly Speaking” host Katie Jensen. “This is something that we have seen from the start of the hostilities, since last October.

“Even before the detonation of communication devices, we had recorded 25 healthcare professionals who had been killed, whether they were paramedics or whether they were healthcare professionals. And unfortunately, in the past two weeks, we have seen that number rise to almost 40 healthcare workers who have been killed in the atrocious attacks.”

The ongoing conflict has created a massive humanitarian crisis, with widespread displacement across the country. According to the Lebanese government’s estimates, nearly 500,000 people have been forced to flee their homes due to escalating violence.

Abiad explained the magnitude of the displacement. “Before the attacks, the number released by the disaster management side was 130,000 displaced,” he said.

“Remember that by that time, there was an escalation of hostilities by Israel, and the populations were internally displaced still into southern areas.”

However, last Monday’s airstrikes, which saw the killing of approximately 600 people, including nine healthcare workers and two UN staff, in the single deadliest day in Lebanon since the 2006 war, was a watershed moment in the long-running crisis.

“That created this environment of terror, and really, this is where we saw people leave en masse from the targeted areas,” said Abiad.

A man walks on the rubble of damaged buildings in the aftermath of Israeli air strikes on Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon Sept. 28. (Reuters)

Lebanese highways were quickly overwhelmed with people fleeing their homes, causing massive traffic jams. Many spent up to 18 hours on the road, desperately seeking safety.

Abiad said the Lebanese government has established 400 public shelters, which currently house about 70,000 people. However, he said the total number of displaced people is far higher.

“We estimate that usually, from our past experience in the 2006 war, the number of people, whether they are living with friends, family, in homes they rented, or even across the border into neighboring countries, is four to five times as many as there are in shelters,” he said.

“And that’s why we really believe that the tally of people who have been displaced is probably around 400,000 to 500,000.”


Biden describes Israeli strike that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah as ‘measure of justice’

Biden describes Israeli strike that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah as ‘measure of justice’
Updated 28 September 2024
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Biden describes Israeli strike that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah as ‘measure of justice’

Biden describes Israeli strike that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah as ‘measure of justice’
  • President says US will ‘further enhance defense posture’ in the Middle East to deter aggression
  • Nasrallah responsible for the deaths of thousands of Americans, Israelis, and Lebanese civilians, Biden says

LONDON: US President Joe Biden on Saturday described the Israeli strike that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah as a “measure of justice” for his thousands of victims.

Biden was speaking after Hezbollah had earlier confirmed that Nasrallah, one of the group’s founders, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut the previous day.

Biden said “taking out” Nasrallah happened in the broader context of the conflict that began with Hamas’ massacre of Israelis on Oct. 7 last year.

“Nasrallah, the next day, made the fateful decision to join hands with Hamas and open what he called a ‘northern front’ against Israel,” Biden said in a statement.

He also noted that Hezbollah under Nasrallah’s watch has been responsible for the deaths of thousands of Americans, Israelis, and Lebanese civilians.

Biden said that he had directed US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to “further enhance the defense posture of US military forces in the Middle East region to deter aggression and reduce the risk of a broader regional war.”

Washington’s goal was to “deescalate the ongoing conflicts in both Gaza and Lebanon through diplomatic means,” he added.

However, Biden and his administration have repeatedly said that they had no prior knowledge of the latest Israeli attack, a strike that some officials have spoken out against.

“Nasrallah was a bad guy, but it is frustrating that the Israelis are doing this without consulting us and then ask that we clean up when it comes to deterring Iran,” one US official told Axios.

Another American official said “Nasrallah has blood on his hands,” but that the Biden administration did not see how Israel’s “whack-a-mole” approach will address the larger strategic picture, Axios added.

* With AFP


Hashem Safieddine: possible successor to Hezbollah chief Nasrallah

Hashem Safieddine: possible successor to Hezbollah chief Nasrallah
Updated 28 September 2024
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Hashem Safieddine: possible successor to Hezbollah chief Nasrallah

Hashem Safieddine: possible successor to Hezbollah chief Nasrallah
  • Safieddine bears a striking resemblance to his charismatic maternal cousin Nasrallah
  • Safieddine has strong ties with Iran after undertaking religious studies in the holy city of Qom.

BEIRUT: Hashem Safieddine, a potential successor to his slain cousin Hassan Nasrallah, is one of Hezbollah’s most prominent figures and has deep religious and family ties to the Shiite Muslim movement’s patron Iran.
Safieddine bears a striking resemblance to his charismatic maternal cousin Nasrallah but is several years his junior, aged in his late 50s or early 60s.
A source close to Hezbollah, requesting anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to the media, said the grey-bearded, bespectacled Safieddine was the “most likely” candidate for party’s top job.
The United States and Saudi Arabia put Safieddine, who is a member of Hezbollah’s powerful decision-making Shoura Council, on their respective lists of designated “terrorists” in 2017.
The US Treasury described him as “a senior leader” in Hezbollah and “a key member” of its executive.
While Hezbollah deputy chief Naim Qassem automatically takes over the Hezbollah leadership after Nasrallah’s death, the Shoura Council must meet to elect a new secretary-general.
Safieddine has strong ties with Iran after undertaking religious studies in the holy city of Qom.
His son is married to the daughter of General Qasem Soleimani, the commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards’ foreign operations arm who was killed in a 2020 US strike in Iraq.
Safieddine has the title of Sayyed, his black turban marking him, like Nasrallah, as a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad.
Unlike Nasrallah, who lived in hiding for years, Safieddine has appeared openly at recent political and religious events.
Usually presenting a calm demeanour, he has upped the fiery rhetoric during the funerals of Hezbollah fighters killed in nearly a year of cross-border clashes with Israel.
Nasrallah said his forces were acting in support of Palestinian Hamas militants fighting Israel in Gaza.
Amal Saad, a Lebanese researcher on Hezbollah based at Cardiff University, said that for years people have been saying that Safieddine was “the most likely successor” to Nasrallah.
“The next leader has to be on the Shoura Council, which has a handful of members, and he has to be a religious figure,” she said.
Safieddine “has a lot of authority... he’s the strongest contender” she added.
Hezbollah was created at the initiative of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and gained its moniker as “the Resistance” by fighting Israeli troops who occupied southern Lebanon until 2000.
The movement was founded during the Lebanese civil war after Israel besieged the capital Beirut in 1982.
In July in a speech in Beirut’s southern suburbs, Safieddine alluded to how Hezbollah views its leadership succession.
“In our resistance... when any leader is martyred, another takes up the flag and goes on with new, certain, strong determination,” he said.


Over 50,000 have fled Lebanon for Syria amid Israeli strikes: UN

Over 50,000 have fled Lebanon for Syria amid Israeli strikes: UN
Updated 28 September 2024
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Over 50,000 have fled Lebanon for Syria amid Israeli strikes: UN

Over 50,000 have fled Lebanon for Syria amid Israeli strikes: UN
  • Filippo Grandi said “well over 200,000 people are displaced inside Lebanon“
  • A UNHCR spokesman said the total number of displaced in Lebanon had reached 211,319

GENEVA: The UN refugee chief said Saturday that more than 50,000 people had fled to Syria amid escalating Israeli air strikes on Lebanon.
“More than 50,000 Lebanese and Syrians living in Lebanon have now crossed into Syria fleeing Israeli air strikes,” Filippo Grandi said on X.
He added that “well over 200,000 people are displaced inside Lebanon.”
A UNHCR spokesman said the total number of displaced in Lebanon had reached 211,319, including 118,000 just since Israel dramatically ramped up its air strikes on Monday.
The remainder had fled their homes since Hezbollah militants in Lebanon began low-intensity cross-border attacks a day after its Palestinian ally Hamas staged its unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, triggering war in the Gaza Strip.
Israel has shifted the focus of its operation from Gaza to Lebanon, where heavy bombing has killed more than 700 people, according to Lebanon’s health ministry, as cross-border exchanges escalated over the past week.
Most of those Lebanese deaths came on Monday, the deadliest day of violence since Lebanon’s 1975-1990 civil war.
“Relief operations are underway, including by UNHCR, to help all those in need, in coordination with both governments,” Grandi said.