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Germany Arrests Two Hezbollah Members

German police transfer materials from the headquarters of the Irshad Association in Berlin, after the decision to ban Hezbollah in 2020. (EPA)
German police transfer materials from the headquarters of the Irshad Association in Berlin, after the decision to ban Hezbollah in 2020. (EPA)
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Germany Arrests Two Hezbollah Members

German police transfer materials from the headquarters of the Irshad Association in Berlin, after the decision to ban Hezbollah in 2020. (EPA)
German police transfer materials from the headquarters of the Irshad Association in Berlin, after the decision to ban Hezbollah in 2020. (EPA)

German federal prosecutors announced on Wednesday the arrest of two alleged members of the Hezbollah group which Germany designated as a “terrorist” organization in 2020.

 

The detainees face charges of belonging to “a foreign terrorist organization”.

 

They were identified as Lebanese national Hassan M. and German-Lebanese dual citizen Abdul-Latif W. They were arrested in northern Germany on suspicions of recruiting and organizing activities for the group, the federal prosecutor’s office said in a statement.

 

The statement also said that “Hezbollah” is an extremist organization of approximately “20,000 trained fighters” and that it sees the targeting of civilians as a permitted act during the fighting.

 

It further noted that “Hezbollah” is responsible for several murders and attacks.

 

In 2022, authorities in the German city of Bremen closed down Al-Mustafa community center, accusing it of acting as an “arm of Hezbollah” and collecting donations for supporting the group.

 

In 2020, Germany designated Hezbollah as a terrorist organization banning its activities, prohibiting it from raising its flag, and preventing it from raising and sending funds to Hezbollah in Lebanon.

 

But since the ban, the public prosecution has not taken any actions against any association or members of the group on its soil.

 

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Arab World

Sudan Army Says Recaptures Key State Capital

Sudanese civilians displaced by offensive south of Khartoum earlier this year dream of returning to their homes after the regular army retakes territory - AFP
Sudanese civilians displaced by offensive south of Khartoum earlier this year dream of returning to their homes after the regular army retakes territory - AFP
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Sudan Army Says Recaptures Key State Capital

Sudanese civilians displaced by offensive south of Khartoum earlier this year dream of returning to their homes after the regular army retakes territory - AFP
Sudanese civilians displaced by offensive south of Khartoum earlier this year dream of returning to their homes after the regular army retakes territory - AFP

The Sudanese army said Saturday it had retaken a key state capital south of Khartoum from rival Rapid Support Forces who had held it for the past five months.

The Sennar state capital of Sinja is a strategic prize in the 19-month-old war between the regular army and the RSF as it lies on a key road linking army-controlled areas of eastern and central Sudan.

It posted footage on social media that it said had been filmed inside the main base in the city.

"Sinja has returned to the embrace of the nation," the information minister of the army-backed government, Khaled al-Aiser, said in a statement.

Aiser's office said armed forces chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan had travelled to the city of Sennar, 60 kilometres (40 miles) to the north, on Saturday to "inspect the operation and celebrate the liberation of Sinja", AFP reported.

The RSF had taken the two cities in a lightning offensive in June that saw nearly 726,000 civilians flee, according to UN figures.

Human rights groups have said that those who were unwilling or unable to leave have faced months of arbitrary violence by RSF fighters.

Sinja teacher Abdullah al-Hassan spoke of his "indescribable joy" at seeing the army enter the city after "months of terror".

"At any moment, you were waiting for militia fighters to barge in and beat you or loot you," the 53-year-old told AFP by telephone.

Both sides in the Sudanese conflict have been accused of war crimes, including indiscriminately shelling homes, markets and hospitals.

The RSF has also been accused of summary executions, systematic sexual violence and rampant looting.

The RSF control nearly all of the vast western region of Darfur as well as large swathes of Kordofan in the south. They also hold much of the capital Khartoum and the key farming state of Al-Jazira to its south.

Since April 2023, the war has killed tens of thousands of people and uprooted more than 11 million -- creating what the UN says is the world's largest displacement crisis.

From the eastern state of Gedaref -- where more than 1.1 million displaced people have sought refuge -- Asia Khedr, 46, said she hoped her family's ordeal might soon be at an end.

"We'll finally go home and say goodbye to this life of displacement and suffering," she told AFP.