US Condemns Conflict-related Sexual Violence in Sudan

The US State Department Building is pictured in Washington, US, January 26, 2017. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts/File Photo Acquire Licensing Rights
The US State Department Building is pictured in Washington, US, January 26, 2017. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts/File Photo Acquire Licensing Rights
TT

US Condemns Conflict-related Sexual Violence in Sudan

The US State Department Building is pictured in Washington, US, January 26, 2017. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts/File Photo Acquire Licensing Rights
The US State Department Building is pictured in Washington, US, January 26, 2017. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts/File Photo Acquire Licensing Rights

The United States condemned pervasive conflict-related sexual violence in Sudan, which the State Department said that credible sources including victims have attributed to Paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and their allied militias.

"The numerous reports of rape, gang rape and other forms of gender-based violence against women and girls in West Darfur and other areas are deeply disturbing. These acts of brutality contribute to an emerging pattern of targeted ethnic violence," the department said in a statement, Reuters reported.

"In particular, we are gravely concerned about the situation in and around Nyala, South Darfur where tens of thousands of civilians are trapped as fighting escalates between the RSF and Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF)," it added.

The United States called on the RSF and SAF to immediately halt the fighting and allow safe passage for all civilians out of the city, the department said.



Erdogan: Türkiye Stands with Lebanon Amid Tensions with Israel

A smoke plume billows during Israeli bombardment on the village of Khiam in south Lebanon near the border with Israel on June 26, 2024. (Photo by Rabih DAHER / AFP)
A smoke plume billows during Israeli bombardment on the village of Khiam in south Lebanon near the border with Israel on June 26, 2024. (Photo by Rabih DAHER / AFP)
TT

Erdogan: Türkiye Stands with Lebanon Amid Tensions with Israel

A smoke plume billows during Israeli bombardment on the village of Khiam in south Lebanon near the border with Israel on June 26, 2024. (Photo by Rabih DAHER / AFP)
A smoke plume billows during Israeli bombardment on the village of Khiam in south Lebanon near the border with Israel on June 26, 2024. (Photo by Rabih DAHER / AFP)

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that Türkiye stood in solidarity with Lebanon in light of growing tensions with Israel, and called on regional countries to also support Beirut.

Speaking in parliament, Erdogan said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu planned to spread the Gaza war to the region and that this would lead to a "catastrophe", adding the Western support for Israel was "pitiful.”

Israel’s low-level conflict with Lebanon’s Hezbollah has escalated in recent weeks, raising fears of an all-out war.

A senior Israeli official said Tuesday Israel and the United States will devote an unspecified number of weeks to trying to reach a new arrangement with Hezbollah before resorting to other means to bring calm to the Israel-Lebanon border.

“We will now dedicate long weeks ... in an attempt to reach an arrangement” along the border, National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi said.

Hezbollah began attacking northern Israel in solidarity with Hamas shortly after the Palestinian militants’ Oct. 7 attack triggered the war in Gaza. Israel has responded with airstrikes.