عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Arab World

Fighting Flares in South Darfur amid Fears of New Civil War

People walk among scattered objects in the market of El Geneina, the capital of West Darfur, as fighting continues in Sudan between the forces of two rival generals, on April 29, 2023. (Photo by AFP)
People walk among scattered objects in the market of El Geneina, the capital of West Darfur, as fighting continues in Sudan between the forces of two rival generals, on April 29, 2023. (Photo by AFP)
TT
TT

Fighting Flares in South Darfur amid Fears of New Civil War

People walk among scattered objects in the market of El Geneina, the capital of West Darfur, as fighting continues in Sudan between the forces of two rival generals, on April 29, 2023. (Photo by AFP)
People walk among scattered objects in the market of El Geneina, the capital of West Darfur, as fighting continues in Sudan between the forces of two rival generals, on April 29, 2023. (Photo by AFP)

Violence flared in the western Sudanese city of Nyala and elsewhere in the state of South Darfur on Sunday, witnesses said, threatening to engulf the region in Sudan's protracted war.
The conflict has brought daily battles to the streets of the capital of Khartoum, a revival of ethnically targeted attacks in West Darfur, and the displacement of more than 4 million people within Sudan and across its borders into Chad, Egypt, South Sudan and other countries.
Clashes between the Sudanese army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces have flared periodically in Nyala, the country's second biggest city and a strategic hub for the fragile Darfur region, said Reuters.
The latest flare-up has lasted three days, with both the army and RSF firing artillery into residential neighborhoods, witnesses told Reuters. Fighting has damaged electricity, water, and telecoms networks.
At least eight people were killed on Saturday alone, according to the Darfur Bar Association, a national human rights monitor.
In recent days, fighting has extended 100 km (60 miles) to the west of Nyala, in the Kubum area, killing dozens, according to witnesses.
The bar association said Arab tribesmen equipped with RSF vehicles attacked the area, burning the market and raiding the police station in an attack on a rival Arab tribe. The fighting killed 24 people, it said.
Several Arab tribes have pledged their allegiance to the RSF.
"We call on all elements not to get dragged into the conflict whose aim is power in the center of the country," the bar association said.
On Friday, Meta removed official Facebook pages belonging to the RSF for violating its "dangerous organizations and individuals policy".
Extensive fighting in the area risks returning Darfur to the bloody attacks of the early 2000s when "Janjaweed" militias - from which the RSF formed - helped the army crush a rebellion by mainly non-Arab groups.
Some 300,000 people were killed, the UN estimates, and Sudanese leaders are wanted by the International Criminal Court for genocide and crimes against humanity.
The UN's special representative to Sudan, Volker Perthes, warned in July that the conflict showed no signs of a quick resolution and "risked morphing into an ethnicised civil war".
Diplomatic mediation efforts have so far failed and ceasefires have been used by both sides to regroup.

Most Viewed

 
 
Arab World

Syrian Opposition Leader Says Lebanon Truce Opened Door to Aleppo Assault

An anti-regime fighter tears off a poster depicting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (L) and his brother Maher at the airport in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on December 2, 2024. (AFP)
An anti-regime fighter tears off a poster depicting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (L) and his brother Maher at the airport in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on December 2, 2024. (AFP)
TT
TT

Syrian Opposition Leader Says Lebanon Truce Opened Door to Aleppo Assault

An anti-regime fighter tears off a poster depicting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (L) and his brother Maher at the airport in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on December 2, 2024. (AFP)
An anti-regime fighter tears off a poster depicting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (L) and his brother Maher at the airport in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on December 2, 2024. (AFP)

Syrian opposition fighters began preparations to seize Aleppo a year ago, but the operation was delayed by war in Gaza and ultimately launched last week when a ceasefire took hold in Lebanon, the head of Syria's main opposition abroad told Reuters.

The factions were able to seize the city and parts of neighboring Idlib province so quickly in part because Hezbollah and other Iran-backed fighters were distracted by their conflict with Israel, Hadi al-Bahra said in an interview on Monday.

The Turkish military, which is allied with some of the opposition and has bases across its southern border in Syria, had heard of the armed groups' plans but made clear it would play no direct role, he added.

The assault in northwestern Syria was launched last Wednesday, the day that Israel and Lebanese armed group Hezbollah began a truce ending more than a year of fighting.

"A year ago they started really training and mobilizing and taking it more seriously," said Bahra, president of the National Coalition of Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces, the internationally-recognized Syrian opposition.

"But the war on Gaza ... then the war in Lebanon delayed it. They felt it wouldn't look good having the war in Lebanon at the same time they were fighting in Syria," he said in his Istanbul office, in the first public comments on the fighters’ preparations by an opposition figure.

"So the moment there was a ceasefire in Lebanon, they found that opportunity ... to start."

The opposition operation is the boldest advance and biggest challenge to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in years in a civil war where front lines had largely been frozen since 2020.

Syrian and allied Russian forces have launched counter attacks, which Bahra said are "destabilizing" Aleppo and Idlib and pose the biggest risk to civilians, given the earlier opposition advances had sought carefully to avoid such casualties.

IRAN, RUSSIA

The opposition retaking of Aleppo also paves the way for hundreds of thousands of Syrians displaced elsewhere in the country and in Türkiye to return home, Bahra said.

"Due to the Lebanese war and decrease in Hezbollah forces, (Assad's) regime has less support," he said, adding Iranian militias also have less resources while Russia is giving less air cover due to its "Ukraine problem".

Damascus, which is also backed by Iran, did not immediately comment on whether the opposition sought to avoid casualties and whether it risks destabilizing the region with air raids. Assad has vowed to crush the fighters and has launched air raids.

Iran-backed Hezbollah did not immediately comment on whether its war with Israel opened the door to Syrian opposition advances in Aleppo, where it also has personnel.

Tehran has pledged to aid the Syrian government and on Monday hundreds of fighters from Iran-backed Iraqi militias crossed into Syria to help fight the factions, Syrian and Iraqi sources said.

A Turkish defense ministry official said last week that Ankara was closely monitoring the mobilization and taking precautions for its troops.

The opposition fighters are a coalition of Türkiye-backed mainstream secular armed groups spearheaded by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group that has been designated a terrorist outfit by Türkiye, the US, Russia and other states.

Bahra's coalition, which does not include HTS, represents anti-Assad groups including the Türkiye-backed Syrian National Army or Free Syrian Army, which took territory north of Idlib over the last week.

It holds regular diplomatic talks with the United Nations and several states.