PORT SUDAN: Sudan’s army chief visited on Sunday his headquarters in the capital Khartoum, two days after forces recaptured the complex, which paramilitaries had encircled since the war erupted in April 2023.
“Our forces are in their best condition,” Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan told army commanders at the reclaimed headquarters close to the city center and airport.
The army’s recapture of the General Command of the Armed Forces is its biggest victory in the capital since reclaiming Omdurman, Khartoum’s twin city on the Nile’s west bank, nearly a year ago.
In a statement on Friday, the army said it had merged troops stationed in Khartoum North (Bahri) and Omdurman with forces at the headquarters, breaking the siege of both the Signal Corps in Khartoum North and the General Command, just south across the Nile River.
Since the early days of the war, when the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) quickly spread through the streets of Khartoum, the military had to supply its troops inside the headquarters via airdrops.
Burhan was himself trapped inside for four months before emerging in August 2023 and fleeing to the coastal city of Port Sudan.
The recapture of the headquarters follows other gains for the army.
Earlier this month, troops regained control of Wad Madani, just south of Khartoum, securing a key crossroads between the capital and surrounding states.
The war in Sudan has unleashed a humanitarian disaster of epic proportions.
Tens of thousands of people have been killed and, according to the United Nations, more than 12 million uprooted.
Famine has been declared in parts of Sudan but the risk is spreading for millions more people, a UN-backed assessment said last month.
Particularly in the country’s western Darfur region and in Kordofan in the south, families have been forced to eat grass, animal fodder and peanut shells to survive.
During Sunday prayers in Rome, Pope Francis lamented how the country has become the site of “the most serious humanitarian crisis in the world.”
He called on both sides to end the fighting and urged the international community to “help the belligerents find paths to peace soon.”
Both sides have been accused of targeting civilians and indiscriminately shelling residential areas, with the RSF specifically accused of ethnic cleansing, systematic sexual violence and laying siege to entire towns.
The United States announced sanctions this month against RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, accusing his group of committing genocide.
A week later, it also imposed sanctions against Burhan, accusing the army of attacking schools, markets and hospitals, as well as using food deprivation as a weapon of war.
Across the country, up to 80 percent of health care facilities have been forced out of service, according to official figures.
A deadly attack late Friday on the Saudi Hospital in the besieged North Darfur state capital El-Fasher killed 70 people and injured 19 others, the World Health Organization said on Sunday.
“At the time of the attack, the hospital was packed with patients receiving care,” WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X.
In a rare statement addressing the targeting of health care in Sudan, Saudi Arabia also condemned the attack as a “violation of international law and international humanitarian law.”
AFP could not independently verify which of Sudan’s warring sides had launched the attack.
However, local activists reported that the hospital was hit by a drone after the RSF issued an ultimatum demanding army forces and their allies leave the city in advance of an expected offensive.
The WHO chief said that another facility in North Darfur’s Al-Malha, just north of El-Fasher, had also been attacked in recent days.
“We continue to call for a cessation of all attacks on health care in Sudan, and to allow full access for the swift restoration of the facilities that have been damaged,” Ghebreyesus said.
“Above all, Sudan’s people need peace. The best medicine is peace,” he added.
Sudan army chief visits HQ after recapture from paramilitaries
https://arab.news/zdqdp
Sudan army chief visits HQ after recapture from paramilitaries
- Army’s recapture of the General Command of the Armed Forces is its biggest victory in the capital since reclaiming Omdurman
- Attack on Friday on Saudi Hospital in the besieged North Darfur state capital El-Fasher killed 70 people: WHO
Israel attacks Yemen’s Hodeidah after evacuation warnings, Houthis say
- Strikes came shortly after Israel warned residents of Ras Isa, Hodeidah and Salif to leave, saying the ports were being used by the Iranian-backed Houthis
HODEIDAH: Israel attacked Hodeidah in Yemen after the Israeli army said it had warned residents of three ports under Houthi control to evacuate, the Houthi interior ministry said on Sunday.
The strikes came shortly after Israel warned residents of Ras Isa, Hodeidah and Salif to leave, saying the ports were being used by the Iranian-backed Houthis.
There was no immediate comment on the attack from Israel.
The strikes came a few days after a missile launched toward Israel by the Houthis was intercepted.
The attack came ahead of US President Donald Trump’s visit to the Middle East this week.
Trump, who had launched an intensified military campaign against Houthi strongholds in Yemen on March 15, agreed to an Oman-mediated ceasefire deal with the group, who said the accord did not include Israel.
The Houthis have been launching missiles and drones at Israel as well as attacking vessels in global shipping lanes, in a campaign that they say is aimed at showing solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.
Israel has carried out numerous retaliatory airstrikes on Houthi targets in Yemen.
Hamas says Edan Alexander, last living US hostage in Gaza, to be released in truce efforts
- Alexander is an Israeli-American soldier who grew up in the United States
- Trump has frequently mentioned Alexander, now 21, by name in the past few months
GAZA CITY: Hamas says Edan Alexander, the last living American hostage in Gaza, will be released as part of efforts to establish a ceasefire, reopen crossings into the territory and resume the delivery of aid.
The Hamas statement Sunday night does not say when the release will happen.
The announcement comes shortly before US President Donald Trump visits the Middle East this week. Trump is not planning to visit Israel.
Alexander is an Israeli-American soldier who grew up in the United States. He was abducted from his base during the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack that ignited the war in Gaza.
Khalil Al-Hayyah, a Hamas leader in Gaza, said the group has been in contact with the US administration over the past few days.
He said in a statement Hamas is ready to “immediately start intensive negotiations” to reach a final deal for a long-term truce which includes an end to the war, the exchange of Palestinian prisoners and hostages in Gaza and the handing over of power in Gaza to an independent body of technocrats.
Alexander’s parents did not immediately return requests for comment, and there was no immediate response from the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Trump has frequently mentioned Alexander, now 21, by name in the past few months.
“Every time they say Edan’s name, it’s like they didn’t forget. They didn’t forget he’s American, and they’re working on it,” Edan’s mother, Yael Alexander, told The Associated Press in February.
Bombardment continues
Israeli strikes overnight and into Sunday killed 15 people in the Gaza Strip, mostly women and children, according to local health officials.
Two of the strikes hit tents in the southern city of Khan Younis, each killing two children and their parents, according to Nasser Hospital, which received the bodies. Another seven people were killed in strikes elsewhere, including a man and his child in a Gaza City neighborhood, according to hospitals and Gaza’s Health Ministry.
The Israeli military says it only targets militants and tries to avoid harming civilians. It blames Hamas for civilian deaths in the 19-month-old war because the militants are embedded in densely populated areas. There was no immediate Israeli comment on the latest strikes.
Israel has sealed Gaza off from all imports, including food, medicine and emergency shelter, for over 10 weeks in what it says is a pressure tactic aimed at forcing Hamas to release hostages. Israel resumed its offensive in March, shattering a ceasefire that had facilitated the release of more than 30 hostages.
The UN and aid groups say food and other supplies are running low and hunger is widespread.
Children carrying empty bottles raced after a water tanker in a devastated area of northern Gaza on Sunday. Residents of the built-up Shati refugee camp said the water was brought by a charity from elsewhere in Gaza. Without it, they rely on wells that are salty and often polluted.
“I am forced to drink salty water, I have no choice,” said Mahmoud Radwan. “This causes intestinal disease, and there’s no medicine to treat it.”
COGAT, the Israeli military body in charge of Palestinian civilian affairs, says enough aid entered during a two-month ceasefire this year and that two of the three main water lines from Israel are still functioning. Aid groups say the humanitarian crisis is worse than at any time in the 19-month war.
Qatar delivers more than 60,000 tonnes of fuel to Lebanese army
- Delivery is third and final shipment of fuel for 25
- Qatar’s actions indicate its support for the Lebanese people
LONDON: Qatar dispatched more than 60,000 tonnes of fuel to Lebanon on Sunday as part of ongoing efforts to strengthen the country’s security capabilities.
The Qatar Fund for Development delivered the third and final fuel shipment for 2025, which comprised 62,000 tonnes of fuel, to the northern Lebanese port of Tripoli.
The fund stated that the shipment is intended to strengthen the Lebanese army’s operational capabilities and contribute to Lebanon's security and stability, the Qatar News Agency reported.
The delivery is a sign of Qatar’s support for the Lebanese people, as well as a contribution to prosperity and stability in the country, the QNA added.
Palestinian vice president discusses Gaza, West Bank with Qatar’s prime minister
- Hussein Al-Sheikh calls for Palestinian Authority to take on civil, security responsibilities in Gaza
- Qatari official briefed on latest developments in West Bank
LONDON: Hussein Al-Sheikh, the vice president of Palestine, has discussed in Doha the latest developments in the Gaza Strip and West Bank with Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani.
Al-Sheikh spoke of the Palestinian stance on Gaza, calling for the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from the enclave to allow the Palestinian Authority to take on civil and security responsibilities, the Palestine News Agency reported.
The officials looked at the preparations for the upcoming Arab League Summit in Baghdad and the anticipated visit of US President Donald Trump to the region this week.
Al-Sheikh also briefed the Qatari official on the latest developments in the West Bank, highlighting the urgent need for a ceasefire and the immediate delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Qatar’s prime minister reaffirmed his country’s strong support for the Palestinian cause, emphasizing the importance of international law and the establishment of a Palestinian state, the WAFA Agency added.
Al-Sheikh was appointed vice president by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas after being selected as the deputy chairman of the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization in April.
He met Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan in Jeddah last week during his first regional visit following his appointment.
UK maritime agency reports incident northwest of UAE port
CAIRO: The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said on Sunday it received a report of an incident 80 nautical miles off the United Arab Emirates’ Jebel Ali port.
UKMTO said a vessel in the area reported a small craft colliding with it and was seen attempting to collide with other vessels in the area, adding that all crew were safe.
