Latest news with #Rapid Support Forces
Asharq Al-Awsat
a day ago
- Politics
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Sudan's Humanitarian Crisis Worsens amid Escalating Violence
Fighting in Sudan's Kordofan region that has killed hundreds and ongoing violence in Darfur — the epicenters of the country's conflict — have worsened Sudan's humanitarian crisis, with aid workers warning of limited access to assistance. The United Nations said more than 450 civilians, including at least 35 children, were killed during the weekend of July 12 in attacks in villages surrounding the town of Bara in North Kordofan province. 'The suffering in Kordofan deepens with each passing day,' Mercy Corps Country Director for Sudan Kadry Furany said in a statement shared with The Associated Press. 'Communities are trapped along active and fast changing front lines, unable to flee, unable to access basic needs or lifesaving assistance.' Sudan plunged into war after simmering tensions between the army and its rival, the Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, escalated to fighting in April 2023. The violence has killed at least 40,000 people and created one of the world's worst displacement and hunger crises, according to humanitarian organizations. In recent months, much of the fighting has been concentrated in the Darfur and Kordofan regions. On Thursday, the UN human rights office confirmed that since July 10, the RSF has killed at least 60 civilians in the town of Bara, while civil society groups reported up to 300 people were killed, the office said. A military airstrike on Thursday in Bara killed at least 11 people, all from the same family, according to the UN office. Meanwhile, between July 10 and 14, the army killed at least 23 civilians and injured over two dozen others after striking two villages in West Kordofan. An aid worker with Mercy Corps said his brother was fatally shot on July 13 during an attack on the village of Um Seimima in El Obeid City in North Kordofan, Grace Wairima Ndungu, the group's communications manager told AP. Furany said that movement between the western and eastern areas of the Kordofan region is 'practically impossible.' The intensified fighting forced Mercy Corps to temporarily suspend operations in three out of four localities, with access beyond Kadugli, the capital of South Kordofan, now being in 'serious doubt,' Furany said, as a safe sustained humanitarian corridor is needed. Mathilde Vu, an aid worker with the Norwegian Refugee Council who is often based in Port Sudan, told the AP that fighting has intensified in North Kordofan and West Kordofan over the past several months. 'A large number of villages are being destroyed, burned to the ground, people being displaced,' she said. 'What is extremely worrying about the Kordofan is that there is very little information and not a lot of organizations are able to support. It is a complete war zone there.' Marwan Taher, head of mission with humanitarian group Doctors Without Borders, told the AP that military operations in Kordofan heightened insecurity, prompting scores of people to flee to Darfur, a region already in a dire humanitarian situation. The NRC said that since April, Tawila has already received 379,000 people escaping violence in famine-hit Zamzam Camp and Al Fasher. Meanwhile, the International Organization for Migration recently reported that over 46,000 people were displaced from different areas in West Kordofan in May alone due to clashes between warring parties. Taher said those fleeing El Fasher to Tawila walk long distances with barely enough clothes and little water, and sleep on the streets until they arrive at the area they want to settle in. The new wave of displacement has brought diseases, including measles, which began spreading in parts of Zalingi in Central Darfur in March and April as camps received people fleeing Kordofan. Aid workers also warned about ongoing fighting in Darfur. Vu said there have been 'uninterrupted campaigns of destruction' against civilians in North Darfur. 'In Darfur there's been explicit targeting of civilians. There's been explicit execution,' she said. Shelling killed five children Wednesday in El Fasher in North Darfur, according to UN spokesperson Stephanie Tremblay. Meanwhile, between July 14 and 15, heavy rains and flooding displaced over 400 people and destroyed dozens of homes in Dar As Salam, North Darfur. With a looming rainy season, a cholera outbreak and food insecurity, the situation in Darfur is 'getting worse every day and that's what war is,' said Taher.
Al Arabiya
a day ago
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
Sudan's humanitarian crisis worsens amid escalating violence in Kordofan and Darfur
Fighting in Sudan's Kordofan region, which has killed hundreds, and ongoing violence in Darfur–the epicenters of the country's conflict–have worsened Sudan's humanitarian crisis, with aid workers warning of limited access to assistance. The United Nations said more than 450 civilians, including at least 35 children, were killed during the weekend of July 12 in attacks in villages surrounding the town of Bara in North Kordofan province. 'The suffering in Kordofan deepens with each passing day,' Mercy Corps Country Director for Sudan Kadry Furany said in a statement shared with The Associated Press. 'Communities are trapped along active and fast changing front lines, unable to flee, unable to access basic needs or lifesaving assistance.' At least 60 were killed in Bara over the past week. Sudan plunged into war after simmering tensions between the army and its rival, the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces or RSF, escalated to fighting in April 2023. The violence has killed at least 40,000 people and created one of the world's worst displacement and hunger crises, according to humanitarian organizations. In recent months, much of the fighting has been concentrated in the Darfur and Kordofan regions. On Thursday, the UN human rights office confirmed that since July 10, the RSF has killed at least 60 civilians in the town of Bara, while civil society groups reported up to 300 people were killed, the office said. A military airstrike on Thursday in Bara killed at least 11 people, all from the same family, according to the UN office. Meanwhile, between July 10 and 14, the army killed at least 23 civilians and injured over two dozen others after striking two villages in West Kordofan. An aid worker with Mercy Corps said his brother was fatally shot on July 13 during an attack on the village of Um Seimima in El Obeid City in North Kordofan. Grace Wairima Ndungu, the group's communications manager, told AP. Furany said that movement between the western and eastern areas of the Kordofan region is practically impossible. 'The intensified fighting forced Mercy Corps to temporarily suspend operations in three out of four localities with access beyond Kadugli, the capital of South Kordofan, now being in serious doubt,' Furany said, 'as a safe, sustained humanitarian corridor is needed.' Fighting in Kordofan worsens displacement. Mathilde Vu, an aid worker with the Norwegian Refugee Council who is often based in Port Sudan, told the AP that fighting has intensified in North Kordofan and West Kordofan over the past several months. 'A large number of villages are being destroyed, burned to the ground, people being displaced,' she said. 'What is extremely worrying about the Kordofan is that there is very little information and not a lot of organizations are able to support. It is a complete war zone there.' Marwan Taher, head of mission with humanitarian group Doctors Without Borders, told the AP that military operations in Kordofan heightened insecurity, prompting scores of people to flee to Darfur, a region already in a dire humanitarian situation. Though exact figures are yet to be confirmed, Taher estimated that hundreds were recently displaced from Kordofan to Tawila in North Darfur province. The NRC said that since April, Tawila has already received 379,000 people escaping violence in famine-hit Zamzam Camp and Al Fasher. Meanwhile, the International Organization for Migration recently reported that over 46,000 people were displaced from different areas in West Kordofan in May alone due to clashes between warring parties. Taher said those fleeing El Fasher to Tawila walk long distances with barely enough clothes and little water and sleep on the streets until they arrive at the area they want to settle in. The new wave of displacement has brought diseases, including measles, which began spreading in parts of Zalingi in Central Darfur in March and April as camps received people fleeing Kordofan. Aid workers also warned about ongoing fighting in Darfur. Vu said, 'There have been uninterrupted campaigns of destruction against civilians in North Darfur. In Darfur there's been explicit targeting of civilians. There's been explicit execution,' she said. Shelling killed five children Wednesday in El Fasher in North Darfur, according to UN spokesperson Stephanie Tremblay. Meanwhile, between July 14 and 15, heavy rains and flooding displaced over 400 people and destroyed dozens of homes in Dar As Salam, North Darfur. With a looming rainy season, a cholera outbreak, and food insecurity, 'the situation in Darfur is getting worse every day, and that's what war is,' said Taher.
Sky News
11-07-2025
- Politics
- Sky News
Sudan: War crimes and crimes against humanity taking place, International Criminal Court believes
The International Criminal Court (ICC) believes war crimes and crimes against humanity are taking place in Sudan, where civil war has raged for more than two years. The tribunal's deputy prosecutor has told the UN Security Council that the humanitarian crisis and depth of suffering in the country's western Darfur region "has reached an intolerable state". Nazhat Shameem Khan said: "People are being deprived of water and food. "Rape and sexual violence are being weaponised. Abductions for ransom or to bolster the ranks of armed groups have become common practice." "And yet we should not be under any illusion," she told the UN's most powerful body. "Things can still get worse." The war in Sudan began in April 2023, when long-simmering tensions between the Sudanese army and paramilitary forces broke out in the capital, Khartoum. The conflict soon spread to other regions, including Darfur, and some 40,000 people have been killed and almost 13 million displaced, according to UN agencies. Ms Khan said the ICC has been closely tracking the dire situation in North Darfur in recent weeks. The region's capital, El Fasher, has been besieged by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and affiliated groups. The RSF, which controls the capitals of all other states in Darfur, has also attacked famine-hit Zamzam and other camps for displaced Sudanese in North Darfur. Ms Khan said: "On the basis of our independent investigations, the position of our office is clear, we have reasonable grounds to believe that war crimes and crimes against humanity have been and are continuing to be committed in Darfur." The conclusion is based on documentary, testimonial and digital evidence collected by ICC investigations over the last six months and over 7,000 items of evidence collected to date, she added. Ms Khan emphasised that the ICC considers the situation in Darfur "of the utmost importance" and said it will not be deterred until justice is delivered to the perpetrators. 2:51 Darfur became synonymous with genocide and war crimes two decades ago, particularly by the notorious Janjaweed Arab militias. Up to 300,000 people were killed and 2.7 million were driven out of their homes. Ms Khan said those now "inflicting unimaginable atrocities on [Darfur's] population" should know Janjaweed leader Ali Kushayb is currently on trial and the ICC hopes it will be the first of many.
Arab News
11-07-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
ICC warns of worsening atrocities in Darfur, cites evidence of war crimes, crimes against humanity
NEW YORK CITY: The International Criminal Court has 'reasonable grounds to believe' that war crimes and crimes against humanity are being committed in Darfur, its deputy prosecutor, Nazhat Shameem Khan, told the UN Security Council on Thursday. The humanitarian situation in the region has reached an 'intolerable' level, he warned. Speaking in New York, Khan described an escalating crisis marked by widespread famine, targeted attacks on hospitals and aid convoys, and sexual violence. 'People are being deprived of food and water,' she said. 'Rape and sexual violence are being weaponized. Abductions have become common practice. Things can still get worse.' Her comments came amid escalating violence in Sudan's Darfur region, where the Rapid Support Forces, one of two main rival military factions in the country, and allied groups have been accused of targeting civilians at displacement camps such as Zamzam and Abu Shouk, and during attacks on the regional capital, Al-Fashir. Khan said the findings of the ICC were based on extensive evidence gathered from various sources over the past six months, including field missions to refugee camps in Chad, and cooperation with civil society organizations and UN fact-finding agencies. 'We have collected over 7,000 evidence items, documentary, testimonial and digital, supporting our conclusion,' she added. Highlighting gender-based crimes as a key focus of the investigations, Khan detailed ongoing efforts to increase the visibility of such violations, which remain 'underreported and insufficiently recognized.' A dedicated team is working with Darfuri women and girls to gather testimonies of sexual violence, she said, adding: 'There is an inescapable pattern of offending targeting gender and ethnicity through rape and sexual violence. These crimes are being given particular priority.' There were signs of growing cooperation with the court from the Sudanese government, including a recent visit to Port Sudan that allowed investigators to identify potential new witnesses, Khan said, and a second visit is planned in the near future. But she urged Sudanese authorities to take bolder steps, particularly in the execution of ICC warrants for the arrest of senior officials, including the former president, Omar Bashir, as well as Ahmad Harun and Abdul Raheem Mohammed Hussein, former officials wanted by the ICC over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the Darfur conflict of the early 2000s. 'Transferring Mr. Harun now would carry exceptional weight,' Khan said. She noted that the charges against him closely resemble those at the heart of another ongoing case, against Ali Mohammed Ali Abd-Al-Rahman, also known as Ali Kushayb, a former Janjaweed militia leader accused by the ICC of orchestrating war crimes and crimes against humanity during the Darfur conflict. A verdict in that case is expected this year. Khan urged the Security Council and the wider international community to act collectively to address the crisis and break what she described as a 'seemingly never-ending cycle of violence fueled by impunity.' She added: 'Every single state here is appalled by what is happening in Darfur. Let us take our report as a blueprint. With your support, we can not only deliver justice but prevent this cycle of violence.' Despite mounting challenges, including limited resources and obstruction on the ground, Khan said the ICC remains determined to pursue accountability in Darfur. 'We need your support now more than ever before,' she said. Though the ICC's progress is 'never sufficient, relative to the scale of the suffering,' if it can be reinforced through international support, 'justice delivered collectively can reduce suffering and lay foundations for peace,' Khan added. 'If we can come together, if we can agree that such suffering needs the support of all those who are able to provide it, I believe the present crisis can ultimately demonstrate how justice delivered collectively can set the foundations for the reduction of suffering and the beginning of work towards peace.'
Yahoo
11-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
War crimes are likely being committed in Darfur, ICC finds
There are "reasonable grounds" to believe war crimes and crimes against humanity are being committed in western Sudan, said the International Criminal Court (ICC) at the United Nations Security Council on Thursday. Targeted sexual violence against women and girls of specific ethnicities was named as one of the most disturbing findings to emerge from the ICC probe on crimes committed in Darfur. War broke out between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in April 2023, leading to what the UN calls "devastating civilian casualties". ICC Deputy Prosecutor Nazhat Shameem Khan said it was "difficult to find appropriate words to describe the depth of suffering" in the region. The UN Security Council gave the ICC a mandate to investigate and prosecute crimes in Darfur two decades ago, with the body opening multiple investigations into war crimes and genocide committed in the region from July 2002 onwards. The ICC launched a fresh probe in 2023 after civil war broke out once again, interviewing victims who had fled the most recent iteration of the conflict to neighbouring Chad. Ms Khan described an "inescapable pattern of offending", and stressed that the team were working to translate such crimes into evidence for the court. Allegations of war crimes have persisted throughout the past two years, and in January 2025 the US determined that the RSF and allied militias had committed a genocide. The RSF has denied the claims, and said it was not involved in what it describes as a "tribal conflict" in Darfur. Sudan war: A simple guide to what is happening Reports from the UN indicate that conditions in Darfur have continued to worsen, with hospitals and humanitarian convoys suffering targeted attacks, and food and water deliberately withheld. Civilians in the capital city of El-Fasher have been cut off from aid entirely due to armed encirclement by RSF forces, and an outbreak of cholera across conflict zones poses a serious threat to already scarce water supplies. An escalating famine has gripped the region, with the UN's children's agency (Unicef) reporting that more than 40,000 children were admitted for treatment due to severe acute malnutrition between January and May 2025 – more than double the number admitted in the same period last year. "Children in Darfur are being starved by conflict and cut off from the very aid that could save them," said Sheldon Yett from Unicef. In the past two years, more than 150,000 people have died in the conflict and approximately 12 million have fled their homes, but Ms Khan warned that "We should not be under any illusion - things can still get worse." Hundreds may have been killed in recent Darfur attacks, says UN 'Death is everywhere': Sudan camp residents shelter from attacks Famine looms in Sudan as civil war survivors tell of killings and rapes
