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Sudan files AU complaint against Chad over arms: minister

Sudan files AU complaint against Chad over arms: minister
A Sudanese army soldier mans his position in Khartoum North on November 3, 2024. (File/AFP)
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Updated 05 November 2024
AFP
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Sudan files AU complaint against Chad over arms: minister

Sudan files AU complaint against Chad over arms: minister
  • Chad last month denied accusations that it was “amplifying the war in Sudan” by arming the RSF
Updated 05 November 2024
AFP
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PORT SUDAN: Sudan’s army-backed government on Tuesday accused neighboring Chad of supplying arms to rebel militias, likely referring to the paramilitary forces it is battling.
The northeast African country has been engulfed by war since April 2023, when fighting broke out between the regular army, led by de facto ruler Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) commanded by his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.
Justice minister Muawiya Osman said Burhan’s administration had lodged the complaint against Chad at the African Union.
Speaking to reporters, including AFP, Osman said the government demanded compensation and accused Chad of “supplying arms to rebel militias” and causing “harm to Sudanese citizens.”
“We will present evidence to the relevant authorities,” he added from Port Sudan, where Burhan relocated after fighting spread to the capital, Khartoum.
Chad last month denied accusations that it was “amplifying the war in Sudan” by arming the RSF.
“We do not support any of the factions that are fighting on Sudanese territory — we are in favor of peace,” foreign minister and government spokesman Abderaman Koulamallah said at the time.
The United Nations has been using the Adre border crossing between the two countries to deliver humanitarian aid.
Sudan had initially agreed to keep the crossing open for three months, a period set to expire on November 15. Authorities in Khartoum have yet to decide whether to extend the arrangement.
The Sudanese war has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced more than 11 million, including 3.1 million who are now sheltering beyond the country’s borders.

Topics: Sudan

Qatar PM says ‘momentum is coming back’ to Gaza talks after US election

Qatar PM says ‘momentum is coming back’ to Gaza talks after US election
Updated 9 sec ago
AFP
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Qatar PM says ‘momentum is coming back’ to Gaza talks after US election

Qatar PM says ‘momentum is coming back’ to Gaza talks after US election
  • The Gulf emirate, along with the United States and Egypt, had been involved in months of unsuccessful negotiations for a Gaza truce
Updated 9 sec ago
AFP
Doha: Qatar’s prime minister said Saturday that momentum had returned to talks aimed at cementing a truce and hostage exchange deal in Gaza following the election of Donald Trump as US president.
“We have sensed, after the election, that the momentum is coming back,” Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani told the Doha Forum for political dialogue.
The Qatari prime minister explained that while there were “some differences” in the approach to an agreement by the outgoing and incoming US administrations, “we didn’t see or recognize any disagreement on the goal itself to end the war.”
The Gulf emirate, along with the United States and Egypt, had been involved in months of unsuccessful negotiations for a Gaza truce and hostage release after 14 months of war.
But in November, Doha announced it had put its mediation on hold, saying it would resume when Hamas and Israel showed “willingness and seriousness.”
Sheikh Mohammed said there had been “a lot of encouragement from the incoming administration in order to achieve a deal, even before the president comes to the office,” adding this had affected the Qatari decision to get talks “back on track” over the last two weeks.
“We hope to get things done as soon as possible. We hope that the willingness of the parties to engage in a good faith continues,” he said.
The prime minister also brushed off the prospect of Qatar facing greater pressure over the status of its political bureau for Hamas, which the Gulf state has hosted since 2012 with the blessing of the United States.
He called the office a “platform to convene between the different parties,” adding that Qatar was not “expected to enforce solutions” on the Palestinian militants.
During Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel, which sparked the war in the Gaza Strip, militants kidnapped 251 people, 96 of whom remain in Gaza, including 34 declared dead by the Israeli military.
US President-elect Donald Trump earlier this week warned on social media of unspecified massive repercussions if hostages were not released by the time he takes office next month.
Trump has vowed staunch support for Israel and promised to reign back on occasional criticism voiced by outgoing President Joe Biden’s administration.

Israeli strikes kill at least 29 at hard-hit Gaza hospital

Israeli strikes kill at least 29 at hard-hit Gaza hospital
Updated 46 min 55 sec ago
AP
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Israeli strikes kill at least 29 at hard-hit Gaza hospital

Israeli strikes kill at least 29 at hard-hit Gaza hospital
  • Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya is one of the few hospitals still partially operating in the Gaza’s northernmost province
  • The dead included five children and five women
Updated 46 min 55 sec ago
AP

CAIRO: At least 29 people were killed, including four medical staff, when Israeli strikes pummeled the area around one of the last remaining hospitals in northern Gaza, Palestinian officials said.
The situation in and around the Kamal Adwan hospital is “catastrophic,” according to Dr. Hussam Abu Safia, the director of the hospital. The dead included five children and five women, according to the hospital casualty list, which was obtained by The Associated Press.
Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya is one of the few hospitals still partially operating in the Gaza’s northernmost province, where Israeli forces are pressing an offensive that has almost completely sealed off the area from humanitarian aid for two months.
Israel’s military denied that its forces had struck the hospital or operated inside it. The army said that in the past few weeks, “coordinated efforts with international organizations have been underway in order to transfer patients, companions, and medical staff to other hospitals.”
An Indonesian medical team which had been assisting in Kamal Adwan for the past week was forced to evacuate on foot after the area was surrounded by Israeli soldiers, according to a statement from the team. The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the medical team’s expulsion. Dr. Rik Peeperkorn, the World Health Organization representative in the Palestinian territories, said an Israeli tank approached the hospital at around 4 a.m. Friday. Although no official Israeli evacuation order was issued, “people started to climb the wall to escape, and this panic attracted IDF (Israeli) fire,” he said. He spoke by video from Gaza to journalists in Geneva.
Kamal Adwan Hospital has been struck multiple times over the past two months since Israel launched a fierce military operation in northern Gaza against Hamas militants. In October, Israeli forces raided the hospital, saying that militants were sheltering inside and arrested a number of people, including some staff. Hospital officials denied the claim.
Saudi Arabia calls for and end to Gaza war
Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister has reiterated the kingdom’s call for an end to the war in the Gaza Strip.
Prince Faisal bin Farhan described Israel as acting with “impunity and is getting away without punishment” in its war on Hamas there.
The prince said that any permanent solution requires a two-state solution, with the Palestinians having east Jerusalem as their capital.
“Israel has become an apartheid, colonial and genocidal state,” Prince Turki said. “It is about time for the world to address that issue and take the necessary steps to bring those who are thus charged by the International Criminal Court to justice.”
The Saudis spoke at the International Institute for Security Studies’ Manama Dialogue in Bahrain.

Topics: War on Gaza Gaza Hamas Israel Palestine

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Syrian militants seize fourth city, close in on Homs in threat to Assad’s rule

Syrian militants seize fourth city, close in on Homs in threat to Assad’s rule
Updated 07 December 2024
Reuters
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Syrian militants seize fourth city, close in on Homs in threat to Assad’s rule

Syrian militants seize fourth city, close in on Homs in threat to Assad’s rule
  • Assad government ‘fighting for their lives’, analyst says
  • There was no immediate comment from the military or Assad’s government
Updated 07 December 2024
Reuters

AMMAN/BEIRUT: Syrian militants said they seized control of the southern city of Daraa on Saturday, the birthplace of a 2011 uprising against President Bashar Assad and the fourth city his forces have lost in a week.
Militant sources said the military agreed to make an orderly withdrawal from Daraa under a deal giving army officials safe passage to the capital Damascus, about 100 km (60 miles) north.
Social media videos showed rebels on motorcycles and others mingling with residents on the streets. People fired shots into the air at the city’s main square in celebration, according to the videos.
There was no immediate comment from the military or Assad’s government, and Reuters could not independently verify the rebels’ claim.
With the fall of Daraa, Assad’s forces have surrendered four important centers to the insurgents in a week.
Daraa, which had a population of more than 100,000 before the civil war began 13 years ago, holds symbolic importance as the cradle of the uprising. It is the capital of a province of about 1 million people, bordering Jordan.
Daraa’s seizure followed the rebels’ claim late on Friday that they had advanced to the edge of the central city of Homs, a key crossroads between the capital and the Mediterranean coast.
Capturing Homs would cut off Damascus from the coastal stronghold of Assad’s minority Alawite sect, and from a naval base and air base of his Russian allies there. “Our forces have liberated the last village on the outskirts of the city of Homs and are now on its walls,” the Syrian faction leading the sweeping assault said on the Telegram messaging app.
A coalition of rebel factions that include the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) made a last call on forces loyal to Assad’s government in Homs to defect.
Ahead of the rebel advance, thousands of people fled Homs toward the coastal regions of Latakia and Tartus, strongholds of the government, residents and witnesses said.
Assad regime under threat
A US-backed alliance led by Syrian Kurdish fighters captured Deir el-Zor, the government’s main foothold in the vast eastern desert, on Friday, three Syrian sources told Reuters. The rebels seized Aleppo and Hama in the northwest and center earlier in the lightning offensive that began on Nov. 27.
In another ominous sign for Assad in the east, the Syrian Kurdish force said Islamic State — a jihadist group that imposed martial law under its harsh rule before its defeat by a US-led coalition in 2017 — had taken control of some areas in eastern Syria.
Aron Lund, a fellow at think-tank Century Foundation, said Assad’s government was “fighting for their lives at this point.”
It was possible the government could hold Homs, “but given the speed at which things have moved so far, I wouldn’t count on it,” he said on Friday.
Syrian state TV reported Russian-Syrian airstrikes targeting rebel headquarters in the countryside of Hama, Idlib and Aleppo killed at least 200 insurgents on Friday, citing the Russian Coordination Center in Syria.
A Syrian army source said Iran-backed Hezbollah forces were positioned to bolster government defenses in and near Homs.
Syrian state media reported dozens of rebels were killed in the Homs countryside on Friday in an operation by Syrian and Russian air forces, artillery, missiles and armored vehicles.
Capturing Homs would solidify a chain of powerful positions under the Islamic insurgents’ control from Aleppo on the Turkish border in the north to Daraa on the Jordanian border to the south.
Gaining Homs would also increase the rebels’ chances of isolating the seat of Assad’s regime in Damascus with the ability to block the route northwest from the capital to the sea.
Rebels re-energised
As the rebels pressed their offensive, Russia and Jordan on Friday urged their nationals to leave Syria.
After years locked behind frozen front lines, rebel forces have burst out of their northwestern Idlib bastion to achieve the swiftest battlefield advance by either side since a street uprising against Assad mushroomed into civil war 13 years ago.
Syria’s conflict killed more than 305,000 people between 2011 and 2021, the United Nations Human Rights Office said in 2022.
Assad regained control of most of Syria after key allies — Russia, Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah — came to his rescue. But all have recently been weakened and diverted by other crises, giving Sunni Muslim militants a window to fight back.
Tehran, which has been focussed on tensions with arch-foe Israel since the Gaza war began last year, began to evacuate its military officials and personnel from Syria on Friday, a sign of Iran’s inability to keep Assad in power, the New York Times reported, citing regional officials and three Iranian officials.
The head of the main rebel faction HTS, Abu Mohammed Al-Golani, vowed in a separate interview with the New York Times published on Friday that the insurgents could end Assad’s rule.
“This operation broke the enemy,” he said of the rebels’ lightning offensive.

Topics: Syria Homs Syrian President Bashar Assad

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Damascus gripped by anxiety in face of militant offensive

Damascus gripped by anxiety in face of militant offensive
Updated 07 December 2024
AFP
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Damascus gripped by anxiety in face of militant offensive

Damascus gripped by anxiety in face of militant offensive
  • Many Syrians have been wracked by uncertainty, fearing a revival of the worst days of Syria’s grinding civil war
Updated 07 December 2024
AFP

DAMASCUS: Like many others in the Syrian capital Damascus, student Shadi chose to stay home so he could keep up with the pace of events since militants launched a shock offensive last week.

“I had no wish to go out and everyone chose to stay in to follow the news surrounded by their loved ones,” said Shadi, who did not wish to give his full name.

As the militants have taken city after city in quick succession, many Syrians have been wracked by uncertainty, fearing a revival of the worst days of Syria’s grinding civil war now in its 14th year.

“We don’t understand anything anymore. In just one week, the twists and turns have been so overwhelming that they are beyond all comprehension,” the young man said.

“The worry is contagious but we have to keep our cool,” he said, never once taking his eyes off the alerts on his mobile phone.

Syrian militants, led by Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), launched the shock offensive on November 27, sweeping from their stronghold in the northwest to capture swathes of northern and central Syria including the major cities of Aleppo and Hama.

Government forces have launched a counteroffensive seeking to repel the militants but at the cost of relaxing their grip on other parts of the country, notably the east where Kurdish-led forces have taken over.

“Whenever rumors spread, people rush to buy various products, bread, rice, sugar and detergents,” said Amine, 56, who runs a grocery store in the Sheikh Saad neighborhood of the capital.

“Today, I bought twice from my wholesaler to keep up with demand.”

The offensive has already sent food prices skyrocketing by 30 percent in Damascus, according to residents.

The Syrian pound is trading at an all-time low of 19,000 to the dollar, down from 15,000 before the militants launched their offensive on Wednesday of last week.

Security measures — already strict before the offensive — have been beefed up, with extra car searches, particularly on vehicles coming from outside the capital, according to residents.

Concerns have been further driven by the spread of disinformation and rumors.

The Syrian defense ministry has denounced “fabricated” videos, including of explosions at the headquarters of the general staff, calling on citizens not to fall prey to “lies” that “aim to sow chaos and panic among civilians.”

In the usually lively neighborhood of Bab Sharqi, restaurants and cafes are near-deserted in the evening, with some even closing up early due to the absence of customers.

Damascus University has delayed end-of-term exams and the Syrian football federation has postponed matches until further notice.

State news agency SANA reported that at Friday prayers, imams called on the faithful “not to panic... and to stand as one behind the Syrian Arab Army to defend the homeland.”

Georgina, 32, said she had “heard a lot of rumors.”

“I went to Old Damascus and saw a normal situation,” she said, adding that nonetheless “everyone was keeping an eye on the news.”

Meanwhile, some radio stations have switched from variety programming to non-stop news segments.

On state television, programs host analysts and witnesses on the ground, including those denying “rumors” of fresh territorial losses to the advancing militants.

Topics: Syria

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US tells citizens leave Syria ‘now while commercial options remain available’

US tells citizens leave Syria ‘now while commercial options remain available’

US tells citizens leave Syria ‘now while commercial options remain available’
Updated 07 December 2024
AFP
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US tells citizens leave Syria ‘now while commercial options remain available’

US tells citizens leave Syria ‘now while commercial options remain available’
Updated 07 December 2024
AFP

WASHINGTON: US citizens in Syria should immediately leave the country “while commercial options remain available,” the State Department said Friday, as militant forces continue their offensive against President Bashar Assad’s troops.
“The security situation continues to be volatile and unpredictable with active clashes between armed groups throughout the country. The Department urges US citizens to depart Syria now while commercial options remain available,” the department said in a security alert posted on social media.

 

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