CAIRO: Sudan’s military on Saturday consolidated its grip on the capital, retaking more key government buildings a day after it gained control of the Republican Palace from a notorious paramilitary group.
Brig. Gen. Nabil Abdullah, a spokesperson for the Sudanese military, said troops expelled the Rapid Support Forces from the headquarters of the National Intelligence Service and Corinthia Hotel in central Khartoum.
The army also retook the headquarters of the Central Bank of Sudan and other government and educational buildings in the area, Abdullah said. Hundreds of RSF fighters were killed while trying to flee the capital city, he said.
There was no immediate comment from the RSF.
The gain came a day after the military retook the Republican Palace, the prewar seat of the government, in a major symbolic victory for the Sudanese military in its nearly two years of war against the RSF.
A drone attack on the palace Friday believed to have been launched by the RSF killed two journalists and a driver with Sudanese state television, according to the ministry of information. Lt. Col. Hassan Ibrahim, from the military’s media office, was also killed in the attack, the military said.
Volker Perthes, former UN envoy for Sudan, the latest military advances will force the RSF to withdraw to its stronghold in the western region of Darfur.
“The army has gained an important and significant victory in Khartoum militarily and politically,” Perthes told The Associated Press, adding that the military will soon clear the capital and its surrounding areas from the RSF.
But the advances doesn’t mean the end of the war as the RSF holds territory in the western Darfur region and elsewhere. Perthes argued that the war will likely turn into an insurgency between the Darfur-based RSF and the military-led government in the capital.
“The RSF will be largely restricted to Darfur ... We will return to the early 2000s,” he said, in reference to the conflict between rebel groups and the Khartoum government, then led by former President Omar Al-Bashir.
At the start of the war in April 2023, the RSF took over multiple government and military buildings in the capital including the Republican Palace, the headquarters of the state television and the besieged military’s headquarters, known as the General Command. It also occupied people’s houses and turned it into bases for their attacks against troops.
In recent months, the military took the lead in the fighting. It reclaimed much of Khartoum and its sister cities of Omdurman and Khartoum North, along with other cities elsewhere in the country. In late January, troops lifted the RSF siege on the General Command, paving the way to retake the palace less than two months later.
The military is now likely to try to retake the Khartoum International Airport, only some 2.5 kilometers (1.5 miles) southeast of the palace, which has been held by the RSF since the start of the war. Videos posted on social media Saturday purportedly showed soldiers on a road leading to the airport.
The war, which has wrecked the capital and other urban cities, has claimed the lives of more than 28,000 people, forced millions more to flee their homes and left some families eating grass in a desperate attempt to survive as famine sweeps parts of the country. Other estimates suggest a far higher death toll.
The fighting has been marked by atrocities including mass rape and ethnically motivated killings that amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, especially in the western region of Darfur, according to the United Nations and international rights groups.
Sudan’s army says it seized key buildings in Khartoum after retaking the Republican Palace
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Sudan’s army says it seized key buildings in Khartoum after retaking the Republican Palace
- The army also retook the headquarters of the Central Bank of Sudan and other government and educational buildings in the area, Abdullah said
- Hundreds of RSF fighters were killed while trying to flee the capital city, he said
US airstrikes targeting Yemen’s Houthi rebels kill at least 1 person, wounds others, group says
- So far, the US has not offered any specifics on the sites it is striking
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates: US airstrikes targeting Yemen’s Houthi militia pounded sites across the country into Monday, with the group saying the one attack in the capital killed at least one person and wounded more than a dozen others
The American strikes entered its 10th day without a sign of stopping, part of a campaign by US President Donald Trump targeting the militia group that threatens maritime trade and Israel while also trying to pressure Iran, the Houthis’ main benefactor.
So far, the US has not offered any specifics on the sites it is striking, though Trump’s national security adviser Mike Waltz claimed the attacks have “taken out key Houthi leadership, including their head missileer.” That’s something so far that’s not been acknowledged by the Houthis, though the rebels have downplayed their losses in the past and exaggerated their attacks attempting to target American warships.
“We’ve hit their headquarters,” Waltz told CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday. “We’ve hit communications nodes, weapons factories and even some of their over-the-water drone production facilities.”
An apparent US strike Sunday hit a building in a western neighborhood of Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, killing at least one person and wounding 13 others, the rebel-controlled SABA news agency said, citing health officials. Footage released by the rebels showed the rubble of a collapsed building and pools of blood staining the gray dust covering the ground.
A building next to the collapsed structure still stood, suggesting American forces likely used a lower-yield warhead in the strike.
The Houthis also described American airstrikes targeting sites around the city of Saada, a Houthi stronghold, the Red Sea port city of Hodeida and Marib province, home to oil and gas fields still under the control of allies to Yemen’s exiled central government.
The campaign of airstrikes targeting the militia, which killed at least 53 people immediately after they began March 15, started after the Houthis threatened to begin targeting “Israeli” ships again over Israel blocking aid entering the Gaza Strip. The rebels in the past have had a loose definition of what constitutes an Israeli ship, meaning other vessels could be targeted as well.
The Houthis had targeted over 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones, sinking two vessels and killing four sailors during their campaign targeting ships from November 2023 until January of this year. They also launched attacks targeting American warships, though none have been hit so far.
The attacks greatly raised the Houthis’ profile as they faced economic problems and launched a crackdown targeting any dissent and aid workers at home amid Yemen’s decadelong stalemated war that’s torn apart the Arab world’s poorest nation.
West Bank Palestinians in ‘extremely precarious’ situation: MSF
- According to the United Nations, some 40,000 residents have been displaced since January 21
- The West Bank is home to about three million Palestinians as well as nearly 500,000 Israelis living in illegal settlements
RAMALLAH, Palestinian Territories: Doctors Without Borders (MSF) denounced on Monday the “extremely precarious” situation of Palestinians displaced by the ongoing Israeli military operation in the occupied West Bank.
According to the United Nations, some 40,000 residents have been displaced since January 21, when the Israeli army launched an operation targeting Palestinian armed groups in the north of the territory.
The West Bank, occupied by Israel since 1967, is home to about three million Palestinians as well as nearly 500,000 Israelis living in settlements that are illegal under international law.
The Israeli operation started two days after a truce agreement came into effect in the Gaza Strip between the Israeli military and the Palestinian territory’s Hamas rulers.
The situation of the displaced Palestinians is “extremely precarious,” said MSF, which is operating in the area.
Palestinians “are without proper shelter, essential services, and access to health care,” the NGO said.
“The mental health situation is alarming.”
In a statement, the Israeli military (IDF) said it had been operating “against all terrorist organizations, including Hamas, in a complex security reality.”
“The IDF follows international law and takes feasible precautions to mitigate harm to uninvolved individuals,” the statement said.
MSF said the scale of forced displacement and destruction of camps “has not been seen in decades” in the West Bank.
“People are unable to return to their homes as Israeli forces have blocked access to the camps, destroying homes and infrastructure,” said MSF Director of Operations Brice de la Vingne.
“Israel must stop this, and the humanitarian response needs to be scaled up.”
Dubbed “Iron Wall,” the Israeli operation is primarily targeting three refugee camps – Jenin, Tulkarem and Nur Shams — and defense minister Israel Katz said in February it would last several months.
“I have instructed (the soldiers) to prepare for a prolonged stay in the evacuated camps for the coming year, and not to allow the return of their residents or the resurgence of terrorism,” he said in a statement.
In Turkiye, a vote of confidence for Istanbul’s embattled ex-mayor
- Of 15 million people who voted for Imamoglu, 13.2 mn were not members of the deposed mayor's opposition CHP party, said Istanbul city hall
- The vote was a long-planned primary organized by the main opposition CHP to choose Iits challenger to President Erdogan
ISTANBUL: “We won’t give in to despair,” insisted 38-year-old Aslihan, referring to the massive protests sweeping across Turkiye since the arrest of Istanbul’s popular mayor Ekrem Imamoglu.
She was waiting in line to vote in a long-planned primary organized by the main opposition CHP to choose Imamoglu as its presidential candidate.
Following his arrest, the party opened the poll beyond its 1.7 million members to anyone who wanted to vote, turning it into a de facto referendum.
In the end, some 15 million people voted, of whom 13.2 million were not party members, said Istanbul city hall, which organized the vote. It extended voting by three-and-a-half hours because of the turnout.
Widely seen as the only politician capable of challenging President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the 53-year-old’s lightning arrest and jailing has sparked Turkiye’s biggest protests in more than a decade.
Polling stations opened at 8 a.m. (0500 GMT) and voters of all ages began flocking to vote at 5,600 ballot boxes installed in 81 cities.
But the party said “millions” had turned out, pushing it to extend the closing time from 5 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. due “overwhelming turnout.”
“Whenever there’s a strong opponent (to Erdogan), they are always jailed,” shrugged a 29-year-old voter called Ferhat, who like many, did not want to give his surname.
“There is a dictatorship in Turkiye right now, nothing else, it’s politics in name only.”
“We’ve come to support our mayor,” said her neighbor Kadriye Sevim inside a tent set up outside City Hall, the epicenter of the massive protests since Imamoglu’s March 19 arrest.
“No power has the right to do this to Turkish youth or the people in Turkiye. We will stand against this until the end,” said Ece Nazoskoc, an 18-year-old student.
Similar crowds were seen waiting to vote in Kadikoy, a trendy district on the Asian side of the city, as well as in Kasimpasa, a working-class neighborhood on the Golden Horn estuary where Erdogan spent his childhood.
The scenes were repeated across the country, from the capital Ankara to Diyarbakir in the mainly-Kurdish southeast, and to Thrace in the far northwest near the Greek and Bulgarian borders.
“We all voted, it was like a party! The CHP people manning the ballot boxes said it was really busy with lots of people from other parties,” grinned Sevil Dogruguven, 51, who works in the private sector in the northwestern city of Edirne.
“In the countryside near Thrace, people even came to the town halls to cast their ballots,” she told AFP.
In Ankara, Nurcan Kabacioglu, a retired 57-year-old teacher, was defiant.
“There is no such thing as a hopeless situation, just discouraged people. I never gave up hope,” she said.
Others were feeling a new sense of hope.
“This is the first mass protest since the Gezi protests,” said Aslihan, referring to a small 2013 environmental protest against the destruction of a city park that snowballed into vast nationwide rallies in one of the biggest threats to Erdogan’s rule.
“After Gezi, we got used to the feeling of hopelessness but the injustice we’re seeing now (and the subsequent protests) have given us new hope,” she said.
“I feel much stronger and more hopeful. But I feel this is our last chance,” she told AFP.
Gaza’s Health Ministry says Israel has struck the largest hospital in the territory’s south
- Like other medical facilities around Gaza, Nasser Hospital has been damaged by Israeli raids and strikes throughout the war
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip: Israel’s military struck the largest hospital in southern Gaza on Sunday night, killing one person, wounding others and causing a large fire, the territory’s Health Ministry said.
The strike hit the surgical building of Nasser Hospital in the city of Khan Younis, the ministry said, days after the facility was overwhelmed with dead and wounded when Israel resumed the war in Gaza last week with a surprise wave of airstrikes.
Israel’s military confirmed the strike on the hospital, saying it hit a Hamas militant operating there. Israel blames civilian deaths on Hamas because it operates in densely populated areas.
Like other medical facilities around Gaza, Nasser Hospital has been damaged by Israeli raids and strikes throughout the war.
More than 50,000 Palestinians have now been killed in the war, the Health Ministry said earlier Sunday.
The military claimed to have “eliminated” dozens of militants since Israel ended a ceasefire Tuesday with strikes that killed hundreds of people on one of the deadliest days in the 17-month war.
Israel’s unrest over Gaza and political issues grew Sunday, with anger at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as his government voted to express no confidence in the attorney general, seen by many as a check on the power of his coalition.
“I’m worried for the future of this country. And I think it has to stop. We have to change direction,” said Avital Halperin, one of hundreds of protesters outside Netanyahu’s office. Police said three were arrested.
‘Displacement under fire’
Israel’s military ordered thousands of Palestinians to leave the heavily destroyed Tel Al-Sultan neighborhood in the southern city of Rafah. They walked to Muwasi, a sprawling area of squalid tent camps. The war has forced most of Gaza’s population of over 2 million to flee within the territory, often multiple times.
“It’s displacement under fire,” said Mustafa Gaber, a journalist who left with his family. He said tank and drone fire echoed nearby.
“The shells are falling among us and the bullets are (flying) above us,” said Amal Nassar, also displaced. “The elderly have been thrown into the streets. An old woman was telling her son, ‘Go and leave me to die.’ Where will we go?”
“Enough is enough. We are exhausted,” said a fleeing Ayda Abu Shaer, as smoke rose in the distance.
The Palestinian Red Crescent emergency service said it lost contact with a 10-member team responding to the strikes in Rafah. Spokesperson Nebal Farsakh said some were wounded.
Israel’s military said it had fired on advancing “suspicious vehicles” and later discovered some were ambulances and fire trucks.
In Gaza City, an explosion hit next to a tent camp where people had been told to evacuate. “My husband is blind and started running barefoot, and my children were running,” said witness Nidaa Hassuna.
Strikes kill Hamas leader
Hamas said Salah Bardawil, a well-known member of its political bureau, was killed in a strike in Muwasi that also killed his wife. Israel’s military confirmed it.
Hospitals in southern Gaza said they received a further 24 bodies from strikes overnight, including several women and children.
Gaza’s Health Ministry said 50,021 Palestinians have been killed in the war, including 673 people since Israel’s bombardment on Tuesday shattered the ceasefire.
Dr. Munir Al-Boursh, the ministry’s general director, said the dead include 15,613 children, with 872 of them under 1 year old.
The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count but says women and children make up over half the dead. Israel says it has killed around 20,000 fighters, without providing evidence.
Ceasefire in tatters
The ceasefire that took hold in January paused more than a year of fighting ignited by Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack into Israel, in which militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 251 hostage. Most captives have been released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.
In the latest ceasefire’s first phase, 25 Israeli hostages and the bodies of eight others were released in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. Israeli forces allowed hundreds of thousands of people to return home. There was a surge in humanitarian aid until Israel cut off all supplies to Gaza earlier this month to pressure Hamas to change the ceasefire agreement.
The sides were supposed to begin negotiations in early February on the ceasefire’s next phase, in which Hamas was to release the remaining 59 hostages — 35 of them believed to be dead — in exchange for more Palestinian prisoners, a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal. Those talks never began.
New settlements in the West Bank
Israel’s Cabinet passed a measure creating 13 new settlements in the occupied West Bank by rezoning existing ones, according to Bezalel Smotrich, Israel’s far-right finance minister, who is in charge of settlement construction.
This brings the number of settlements, considered illegal by the majority of the international community, to 140, said anti-settlement watchdog group Peace Now. They will receive independent budgets from Israel and can elect their own local governments, the group said.
Israeli strike kills Hamas official Ismail Barhoum in Gaza hospital
- Ismail Barhoum was undergoing medical treatment in Gaza hospital
- Earlier Sunday, Hamas said an Israeli air strike the previous day near Khan Yunis killed Salah Al-Bardawil, another senior member of its political bureau
GAZA CITY: An Israeli air strike on Sunday killed a member of Hamas’s political bureau as he underwent treatment in hospital, a source in the Islamist movement said, after Israel confirmed it targeted “a key terrorist.”
“The Israeli army assassinated Hamas political bureau member Ismail Barhoum,” the Hamas source said, requesting anonymity to speak more freely.
“Warplanes bombed the operating room at Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, where Barhoum was receiving treatment after sustaining critical injuries in an air strike targeting his home in Khan Yunis at dawn last Tuesday.”
AFP photos showed the building of about four-storys largely undamaged except for fire blazing in one section off a stairwell.
Barhoum is the fourth member of Hamas’s political bureau killed since last Tuesday when Israel resumed air strikes in the territory after an impasse over continuing a ceasefire.
Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz confirmed in a statement that Barhoum had been targeted in the strike.
The Israeli military said it hit the hospital with “precise munitions” following extensive intelligence-gathering.
It said the target was a key member of “the Hamas terrorist organization who was operating inside the Nasser Hospital compound.”
The Ministry of Health in Hamas-run Gaza said Israeli forces “have just targeted the surgery building inside the Nasser Medical Complex, which houses many patients and wounded individuals, and a large fire has erupted at the site.”
The ministry later confirmed that one person had been killed and said many others were injured, including some medical staff. The entire department was evacuated, the ministry said in a statement.
Gaza’s civil defense rescue agency said the hospital’s emergency department had been targeted.
Earlier Sunday, Hamas said an Israeli air strike the previous day near Khan Yunis killed Salah Al-Bardawil, a senior member of its political bureau.
Bardawil, 65, was killed along with his wife in a camp in Al-Mawasi, the group said.
The Israeli military confirmed that it had targeted Bardawil, saying that “as part of his role, (he) directed the strategic and military planning” of Hamas in Gaza.
His “elimination further degrades Hamas’ military and government capabilities,” it added.
