Latest news with #NorthKordofan
Arab News
12 hours ago
- General
- Arab News
KSrelief distributes 1,100 food baskets in Sudan
NORTH KORDOFAN: The King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center has distributed 1,100 food baskets to displaced families in Sudan's North Kordofan State, benefiting 6,383 individuals. The distribution is part of the third phase of the 2025 Food Security Support Project and the Kingdom's ongoing efforts through KSrelief to support Sudanese people amid the crisis. Meanwhile, KSrelief continues to implement its water supply and environmental sanitation project in the Yemeni districts of Midi, Haradh, Hayran, and Abs in the Hajjah governorate, as well as the Razih district in the Sadah governorate. In May, KSrelief delivered 4,561,000 liters of potable water and 47,412,000 liters of usable water in Hajjah. Additionally, 244 waste removal operations were conducted in displacement camps, and 4,048 water transport containers were distributed. The initiative is part of Saudi Arabia's ongoing humanitarian efforts to meet essential needs and improve living conditions in regions affected by conflict.
Al Jazeera
17-06-2025
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
UN fact-finding mission says Sudan conflict escalating, aid weaponised
The UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan has warned that both sides in the country's civil war have escalated the use of heavy weaponry in populated areas while weaponising humanitarian relief, amid devastating consequences for civilians. 'Let us be clear: the conflict in Sudan is far from over,' said Mohamed Chande Othman, chair of the Fact-Finding Mission, which presented its latest findings to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on Tuesday. 'The scale of human suffering continues to deepen. The fragmentation of governance, the militarisation of society, and the involvement of foreign actors are fuelling an ever-deadlier crisis.' The brutal conflict, now in its third year, erupted in April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), and has killed tens of thousands of civilians and displaced more than 13 million Sudanese, according to United Nations data. The UN has previously said that Sudan is experiencing the world's 'worst humanitarian crisis'. The mission found that both sides escalated the use of heavy weaponry in populated areas. In May, an RSF drone strike on Obeid International Hospital in North Kordofan killed six civilians, while earlier this month, an SAF bombing in Al Koma killed at least 15 civilians. Aid was also being weaponised by the SAF, which imposed bureaucratic restrictions, as well as by the RSF, which looted convoys and blocked aid, the group said. The mission also documented a sharp rise in sexual and gender-based violence, including gang rape, abduction, sexual slavery, and forced marriage, mostly in RSF-controlled displacement camps. Member of the Fact-Finding Mission Mona Rishmawi said what began as a political and security crisis has become 'a grave human rights and protection emergency, marked by international crimes that stain all involved'. 'It is unconscionable that this devastating war is entering its third year with no sign of resolution,' she said. Sudan has seen growing instability since longtime President Omar al-Bashir was removed from power in 2019 after months of anti-government protests. In October 2021, the Sudanese military staged a coup against the civilian government of Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, leading to his resignation in early 2022. Sudan's army chief, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and rival Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, who leads the RSF, had shared power after the coup but then started fighting for control of the state and its resources in April 2023. Last week, the Sudanese Army accused the forces of eastern Libyan military commander Khalifa Haftar of attacking Sudanese border posts, the first time it has charged its northwestern neighbour with direct involvement in the civil war. Egypt, which has also backed Haftar, has long supported the Sudanese Army. Sudan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs accused the United Arab Emirates of backing the RSF, which it denies.
Asharq Al-Awsat
10-06-2025
- Politics
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Sudan War Intensifies Across Kordofan's Three States
Fighting between Sudan's army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has flared in the central Kordofan region, home to some of the country's largest oil fields, including Heglig, Abu Jabra, and Balila. The city of El-Obeid, the region's largest urban center and capital of North Kordofan, was hit by drone strikes early Monday, triggering panic among residents. Multiple sites were targeted in the attack, which comes amid escalating clashes and troop build-ups across the region's three states. Local sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that drones struck the eastern neighborhood of Al-Radeef, wounding several civilians. One source said a drone was spotted flying over the Sudanese army's 5th Infantry Division. The battlefront shifted westward to Kordofan following the army's full takeover of the capital Khartoum, where the conflict had raged since breaking out more than two years ago. Now, the three Kordofan states, North, South and West, are the focus of renewed violence as both parties vie for control. The RSF has stepped up its offensive in Sudan's North Kordofan, targeting the strategic city of El-Obeid with drone strikes as part of a broader push following the withdrawal of army troops and allied forces from nearby towns, including Al-Khuwei, Al-Debeibat and Al-Hammadi. The RSF's maneuvers have allowed it to surround El-Obeid from three directions, exposing significant vulnerabilities in the army's air defense systems. The latest attack underscores the RSF's increasing reliance on combat drones, which have been deployed in several battles across the Kordofan region in recent weeks. Military sources said the nearest RSF-controlled area is the town of Bara, less than 50 kilometers northeast of El-Obeid. The paramilitary group is also reported to have a strong presence in Al-Khuwei, Al-Hammadi, and Kazgeil, all located near the embattled city. In West Kordofan, fierce clashes continue in the town of Babanusa, where the Sudanese army's 22nd Infantry Division is headquartered. The division has lost control of three key garrisons in Al-Nuhud, Al-Fula, and the oil-rich area of Heglig amid the RSF's westward advances. The RSF said on Monday it now controls the entire town of Babanusa in West Kordofan and is encircling the 22nd Infantry Division from multiple directions, claiming the fall of the strategic town is 'only a matter of time.' Babanusa lies along the key Western Salvation Road, a vital artery linking the capital Khartoum to the Kordofan and Darfur regions. Control of the route has become a major objective for both sides: the army views it as a pathway for advancing into Darfur, while the RSF sees it as a forward defensive line and potential springboard for a renewed push on Khartoum. West Kordofan, which borders South Sudan and contains most of Sudan's oil fields, has emerged as one of the fiercest battlegrounds in the war. The state includes around 15 localities and has seen intensifying combat as both sides vie for control of critical infrastructure and territory. Meanwhile, the army is attempting to drive the RSF out of northern and southern pockets of the state to lift the siege on South Kordofan. In South Kordofan, clashes have intensified between the army, the RSF, and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) led by Abdelaziz al-Hilu. The army briefly regained control of the towns of Al-Debeibat and Al-Hammadi in an effort to relieve pressure on Dilling and Kadugli, but the RSF later retook the areas, prolonging the deadlock in the region. Sudanese army forces are fending off ongoing attempts by the RSF to storm El-Fasher, the largest city in the Darfur region, a senior military official said. Major General Mohamed Ahmed Al-Khader, commander of the army's 6th Infantry Division, said the military has been repelling RSF assaults on the city for over a year. Witnesses told Asharq Al-Awsat that army units have launched targeted operations around El-Fasher to push back RSF fighters from the city's outskirts.
Asharq Al-Awsat
30-05-2025
- Health
- Asharq Al-Awsat
RSF Drone Strike Kills Several in Sudan Hospital
Sudan's Rapid Support Forces bombarded El-Obeid on Friday, killing six people in a hospital in the key southern city, medical and army sources said. "The militia launched a drone strike on the Social Insurance Hospital, killing six and wounding 12, simultaneously attacking residential areas of the city with heavy artillery," an army source told AFP, adding that the bombardment had also hit a second hospital in the city center. A medical source at El-Obeid Hospital, the city's main facility, confirmed the toll, adding that the Social Insurance Hospital had been forced shut "due to damage" sustained in the drone strike. El-Obeid, a strategic city 400 kilometres (250 miles) southwest of Khartoum which is the capital of North Kordofan state, was besieged by the RSF for nearly two years before the regular army broke the siege in February. It was one of a series of counteroffensives that also saw the army recapture Khartoum, but El-Obeid has continued to come under RSF bombardment. The city is a key staging post on the army's supply route to the west, where the besieged city of El-Fasher is the only state capital in the vast Darfur region still under its control. The RSF and the army have clashed repeatedly along the road between El-Obeid and El-Fasher in recent weeks. On Thursday, the RSF said they retaken the town of Al-Khoei, around 100 kilometres (60 miles) west of El-Obeid, after the army recaptured it earlier this month. The war between army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his former deputy, RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, has killed tens of thousands of people and uprooted 13 million since it erupted in April 2023. The United Nation says the conflict has created the world's biggest hunger and displacement crises. It has also effectively split Sudan in two, with the army holding the centre, east and north, while the RSF forces and their allies control nearly all of Darfur and parts of the south. Since losing Khartoum in March, the RSF has adopted a two-prong strategy: long-range drone strikes on army-held cities accompanied by a counteroffensive in the south. On Thursday, the RSF also announced they had recaptured Dibeibat, in South Kordofan state some 100 kilometres (60 miles) south of El-Obeid, another town that the army had retaken earlier this month. Swathes of South Kordofan are controlled by a rebel group allied with the RSF, Abdelaziz al-Hilu's faction of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North.
Al Jazeera
30-05-2025
- Health
- Al Jazeera
Six killed as RSF attack devastates Sudanese hospital in North Kordofan
At least six people have been killed in a suspected drone attack by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on a hospital in southern Sudan, the latest civilian facility targeted in the brutal civil war, officials and rights advocates have said. The Emergency Lawyers, a rights group, blamed the RSF for the attack on Friday on the Obeid International Hospital, al-Dhaman, in Obeid, the capital city of North Kordofan province. At least 15 others were wounded in the attack, it said. In a statement on social media, the hospital said the attack resulted in severe damage to its main building. Services at the hospital, the main medical facility serving the region, were suspended until further notice, it said. A Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) source told the AFP news agency that the bombardment also hit a second hospital in the city centre. The city is a key staging post on the army's supply route to the west, where the besieged city of el-Fasher is the only state capital in the vast Darfur region still under the army-led government's control. El-Fasher has witnessed attritional fighting between SAF and RSF since May 2024, despite international warnings about the risks of violence in a city that serves as a key humanitarian hub for the five Darfur states. Adding to humanitarian woes on the ground, the Health Ministry in Khartoum state on Thursday reported 942 new cholera infections and 25 deaths the previous day, following 1,177 cases and 45 deaths the day before. Aid workers say the effort to control the cholera outbreak is deteriorating due to the near-total collapse of health services, with about 90 percent of hospitals in key warzones no longer operational. Since August 2024, Sudan has reported more than 65,000 suspected cholera cases and at least 1,700 deaths across 12 of its 18 states. Khartoum alone has seen 7,700 cases and 185 deaths, including more than 1,000 infections in children under five, as it contends with more than two years of fighting between the army and the RSF. 'Sudan urgently needs an increase in aid to help combat the cholera outbreak, hundreds of cases per day, which has even exceeded the more than 1000 cases per day,' Jean-Nicolas Armstrong Dangelser, Doctors Without Borders's, known by its French initials MSF, emergency coordinator in Sudan, told Al Jazeera. 'This is only the tip of the iceberg, because nobody has the full picture at the moment, unfortunately,' Dangelser said. Fighting in the al-Salha district, south of Ondurman, where there was a pocket of people sick with cholera, 'greatly contributed' to the spread of the disease, said Dangelser. The army said on May 19 it had seized control of the al-Salha district, considered the last stronghold of the RSF in Khartoum State. 'Now it's not just the returnees to Khartoum that are exacerbating the situation because of the devastated water system and the lack of healthcare, but it's also now spreading to Darfur, where people have been displaced by fighting,' Dangelser added. Violence and death follow Sudanese fleeing the war beyond their country's borders. On Friday, 11 Sudanese refugees and a Libyan driver were killed in a car crash in the desert in Libya, according to local authorities. Since fighting between the RSF and SAF broke out in April 2023, the UN has said 11 million people have been forced out of their homes, including 250,000 who have escaped into neighbouring Libya. Tens of thousands have been killed in the civil war.
