عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Arab World

UN: More than 12,000 Killed in Sudan War

A camp for Sudanese refugees in Chad (Reuters)
A camp for Sudanese refugees in Chad (Reuters)
TT
TT

UN: More than 12,000 Killed in Sudan War

A camp for Sudanese refugees in Chad (Reuters)
A camp for Sudanese refugees in Chad (Reuters)

The United Nations announced Thursday that more than 12,000 people have been killed since fighting between the Sudanese Army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) erupted in mid-April, saying the country is now facing the largest child displacement crisis in the world.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a report that an estimated 6.6 million people have fled their homes, taking refuge inside and outside the country, with children representing about half of the people displaced.
“Sudan is now the country with the largest number of displaced people and the largest child displacement crisis in the world,” it noted.
The report also said that the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project website (ACLED) estimates that more than 12,190 people have been killed since the fighting broke out in April, including 1,300 people who were killed between 28 October and 24 November.
Compared to the previous four weeks, the website recorded a 10 percent decrease in battles and a 38 percent decrease in explosions and remote violence in Sudan.
According to the Humanitarian Aid Commission (HAC), over 700 people detained by RSF, many of whom are children, have yet to be released. The condition of the detainees is reported to be dire.
HAC also noted that between April and 15 October, international humanitarian partners reached about 4.5 million people with life-saving assistance.
Humanitarian organizations operating in Sudan require $2.6 billion to provide life-saving multi-cluster and protection assistance to 18.1 million people in desperate need through the end of this year.
The appeal is only 38.6 percent funded, with $989.3 million received as of 7 December, according to the Financial Tracking Service.
Humanitarian Response
In a related development, head of the Peace Commission and Rapporteur of the Supreme Peace Council, Suleiman Mohamed al-Dabello, said on Thursday that the impact of the war and its effects on the displaced people have put great pressure at the health and educational levels in cities and villages across the country, stressing the need to provide essential services to Sudan.
Speaking at a forum on humanitarian response operations in the city of Port Sudan, al-Dabello stressed the need for strict adherence to the laws and regulations governing humanitarian work among all parties working in this field.
He said the forum reaffirms the government's commitment to all laws and agreements signed with agencies and humanitarian organizations.
Shelling in Khartoum
At the field level, the Sudanese Army and the RSF traded fire in several areas of the capital. Eyewitnesses said they heard the sound of violent and successive artillery shelling in areas located east of Khartoum.
They said the Sudanese army, positioned in the Wadi Seidna military base in north Omdurman, shelled a number of RSF positions in various districts of the city.
Local sources in Khartoum said bombs fell in the Jarif West district of Sudan's capital, destroying a number of houses without causing any casualties. However, they said, the shelling caused panic among citizens.

Most Viewed

 
 
Arab World

Thirst Grips Khartoum Residents as War Enters Fourth Year

Water sellers gather with donkey-drawn carts to collect and sell water. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Water sellers gather with donkey-drawn carts to collect and sell water. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
TT
TT

Thirst Grips Khartoum Residents as War Enters Fourth Year

Water sellers gather with donkey-drawn carts to collect and sell water. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Water sellers gather with donkey-drawn carts to collect and sell water. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

As Sudan’s war enters its fourth year, civilians are enduring worsening hardship on an unprecedented scale, with prolonged power outages and the broad collapse of basic services turning access to water into one of the harshest challenges of daily life.

Obtaining drinking water is no longer routine. It has become a daily struggle, no less grueling than the sound of artillery and shells, draining time, effort, and money amid suffocating humanitarian and economic conditions.

Since the war erupted, drinking water has shifted from an available basic service into a heavy burden on Sudanese families. Residents spend long hours in extended queues to obtain barrels of water that cover their daily needs and keep life going in homes, markets, and small restaurants, many of which have been disrupted by the lack of water supplies.

In several outskirts of the capital, Khartoum, the impact of the crisis is clear in the details of daily life. Children and women carry containers over long distances, while donkey-drawn carts have become the main means of transporting water to homes.

Residents complain of rising prices and declining water quality, amid growing fears of the spread of diseases linked to contamination and the lack of safe alternatives. They are increasingly calling for urgent intervention by the authorities to restore basic services and ease the suffering of the population.

A grinding daily struggle

Al-Tayeb Bilal, who owns a donkey-drawn cart used to transport water, said the crisis had worsened sharply because of continuous power outages, which have knocked water stations out of service in many areas.

Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, he said he sometimes spends more than 10 hours waiting to obtain a barrel of water, which he buys for 5,000 Sudanese pounds, about $1, before selling it for around 20,000 pounds, or $4, at parallel market rates to cover transport costs and the effort of his daily work.

Resident Zeinab al-Tom described the suffering as “harsh and continuous,” saying families have been forced to buy water daily for more than a year despite deteriorating living conditions. She said some of the water that reaches residents is contaminated or not fully fit for use, but people are forced to use it because there are no alternatives.

Makkah Abdullah, a tea seller, said power outages have imposed growing burdens on small business owners. She said she has to buy two 24-pound containers of water every day, along with charcoal and other supplies, which consume most of her limited income.

She appealed to the authorities to intervene urgently to restore electricity and water services, saying the continued crisis has greatly deepened people’s suffering.

In the same context, Fatima Hassan, a restaurant owner, said the steady rise in the prices of water and ice had directly affected her business, with most of her revenue going toward operating costs, leaving little profit.

She said she works under difficult conditions to support her family, while her husband suffers from illness and hemiplegia, and her five children continue their studies amid rising expenses.

Mohamed al-Nour, a butcher, said the water crisis had become one of the most serious problems facing citizens, given its direct impact on daily life and professional activity. He called on the relevant authorities to act urgently to find lasting, fundamental solutions that ensure regular water supplies to residential neighborhoods.

Resident Abbas Mahjoub said about 60,000 people in the East Nile and Green Valley areas, east of Khartoum, were still facing a severe water shortage, amid a weak official response and, in some areas, reliance on local efforts to repair groundwater wells.

Consumption rises sharply

Relevant authorities attributed the worsening crisis to repeated power outages and unstable electricity supplies feeding water stations, as well as declining electricity production and higher consumption during the summer.

Al-Tayeb Saadeddin, spokesman for the Khartoum state government, said authorities had resorted to operating some water stations using diesel generators to keep supplies running. He said the Al-Manara water station in Omdurman alone needs about 80 barrels of diesel a day to operate normally.

Saadeddin said urgent interventions had been carried out in recent days to address the water crisis in the Umm Badda locality, west of Khartoum. These included drilling 10 high-output wells to cover the areas of Umm Badda al-Sabeel and Dar al-Salam. He said he expected the crisis to ease gradually once the Al-Manara water station becomes fully operational.

In a country exhausted by war and weighed down by successive crises, Sudanese hardship is no longer limited to fear, displacement, and loss of security. It has extended to the most basic necessities of life.

Between waiting in queues, soaring prices, and the continued collapse of services, civilians continue their daily struggle to survive in a scene that reflects the scale of the humanitarian deterioration engulfing the country.

Arab World

Lebanon PM Says Country Has Had Enough ‘Reckless’ Wars for Foreign Interests

This handout photo provided by Syria's SANA news agency's Telegram channel on May 9, 2026, shows Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam meeting with the Syrian president (unseen) at the People's Palace in Damascus. (SANA / AFP / Handout)
This handout photo provided by Syria's SANA news agency's Telegram channel on May 9, 2026, shows Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam meeting with the Syrian president (unseen) at the People's Palace in Damascus. (SANA / AFP / Handout)
TT
TT

Lebanon PM Says Country Has Had Enough ‘Reckless’ Wars for Foreign Interests

This handout photo provided by Syria's SANA news agency's Telegram channel on May 9, 2026, shows Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam meeting with the Syrian president (unseen) at the People's Palace in Damascus. (SANA / AFP / Handout)
This handout photo provided by Syria's SANA news agency's Telegram channel on May 9, 2026, shows Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam meeting with the Syrian president (unseen) at the People's Palace in Damascus. (SANA / AFP / Handout)

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam on Friday said his country has had enough "reckless" wars for foreign interests, calling for Arab and international support in Beirut's negotiations with Israel.

Speaking at an NGO dinner, Salam said that he hoped to "mobilize all Arab and international support to bolster our position in the negotiations" with Israel, shortly after the last round of talks ended and extended the ongoing truce for 45 days.

In an implicit rebuke to Hezbollah, which joined the Middle East war in support of Iran on March 2, Salam said the country had "enough of these reckless adventures serving foreign projects or interests, the latest being a war we did not choose but was forced upon us, which led to Israel occupying 68 towns and villages".

Israeli attacks since the start of the war have killed more than 2,900 people in Lebanon, including more than 400 since an April 17 truce took effect, according to Lebanese authorities.

More than a million people were displaced, and Israeli soldiers are operating inside an Israeli-declared occupied "yellow line", which runs around 10 kilometers (six miles) north of the Israel-Lebanon border, carrying out broad demolition operations there.

"And after all this, with all the killing, destruction, displacement, and tragedies (the war) brought, someone comes along trying to insult our intelligence and calls it a victory," he added, also hinting at Hezbollah.

"Enough with the incitement and accusations of treason; this will not and cannot intimidate us."

Salam also said that the Lebanese military should be the only armed body in the country.

Beirut last year committed to disarming Hezbollah after the group was weakened by its 2024 war with Israel.

After the group started the latest war in March, the Lebanese government outlawed its military activities.

Hezbollah strongly rejected all of Beirut's moves against it, and is opposed to direct negotiations with Israel, accusing the government of committing a "sin" and urging it to withdraw from the talks.

Arab World

Lebanon, Israel Say Extending Ceasefire Despite New Strikes

Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the southern Lebanese village of Deir al-Zahrani on May 13, 2026. (AFP)
Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the southern Lebanese village of Deir al-Zahrani on May 13, 2026. (AFP)
TT
TT

Lebanon, Israel Say Extending Ceasefire Despite New Strikes

Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the southern Lebanese village of Deir al-Zahrani on May 13, 2026. (AFP)
Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the southern Lebanese village of Deir al-Zahrani on May 13, 2026. (AFP)

Lebanon and Israel agreed to extend a ceasefire and hold expanded talks on a political settlement, the United States announced Friday, even as Israel carried out new strikes that it insists are not subject to the truce.

Israel has been pounding Lebanon and invaded its south in response to fire from Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed movement that is not part of the ceasefire diplomacy.

Envoys from Israel and Lebanon's government, which has struggled to restrain Hezbollah, met for two days in Washington and said they would extend the ceasefire that was set to expire Sunday.

The cessation of hostilities "will be extended by 45 days to enable further progress," State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said.

He said that the State Department would hold negotiations aimed at reaching a permanent political agreement on June 2 and 3 and that the Pentagon would bring together delegations from the countries' militaries on May 29.

Lebanon's delegation said in a statement that the ceasefire extension and opening of military talks would offer "critical breathing room for our citizens" with a goal of "lasting stability."

In an implicit rebuke to Hezbollah, Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam told an NGO dinner in Beirut that his country has had "enough of these reckless adventures serving foreign projects or interests."

The latest brought "a war we did not choose but was forced upon us, which led to Israel occupying 68 towns and villages," he said.

The United States steadfastly backs Israel, with which it launched attacks on Iran on February 28, but has also gently voiced unease about Israeli troops' encroachments into southern Lebanon.

Israel's ambassador to Washington, Yechiel Leiter, who led his country's delegation, said after the talks that the priority was ensuring Israel's security.

"There will be ups and downs, but the potential for success is great," Leiter wrote on X.

Iran's clerical state, Hezbollah's patron, has demanded a lasting ceasefire in Lebanon before any peace agreement with US President Donald Trump, who has been frustrated by Tehran's refusal to an accord on his terms.

- Truce met with violence -

Hundreds of people have died in Israeli strikes despite the truce announced on April 17.

Moments after the ceasefire renewal was announced, an Israeli strike hit a center of the Hezbollah-linked Islamic Health Committee in the southern town of Hanuf, authorities said. Six people died, including three paramedics, according to the Lebanese health ministry.

Israel also carried out strikes in the southern city of Tyre after issuing evacuation orders, and Hezbollah said it targeted Israeli barracks in the northern city of Kiryat Shmona with drones.

Lebanon's health ministry said strikes in the Tyre district also wounded at least 37 people, including six hospital personnel, nine women and four children.

Hafez Ramadan, a resident near the building targeted by the airstrike, said it had housed people who had fled their towns due to the war and was adjacent to a hotel where more displaced were staying.

"There are only women, children and the elderly here," he said. "Because of this strike, people have been displaced again."

The Israeli military said another of its soldiers was killed in southern Lebanon, bringing the number of Israeli soldiers killed in clashes with Hezbollah since early March to 19. A civilian contractor was also killed.

It said it killed more than 220 Hezbollah fighters over the past week and struck hundreds of targets.

- 'Unacceptable' toll -

The United Nations humanitarian coordinator for Lebanon, Imran Riza, said that diplomacy needed to stop the violence.

"The reality on the ground in Lebanon has been deeply alarming," he said. "Airstrikes and demolitions continue daily, with an unacceptable toll on civilians and civilian infrastructure."

But he expressed his hope that the Lebanon-Israel talks "will pave the way toward a political solution."

During the last talks between Israel and Lebanon, Trump brought envoys to the White House and predicted within the current ceasefire period that he would host a historic meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun.

That meeting has not happened, with Aoun saying a security deal was necessary first, and there was no mention of a summit in the last ceasefire extension.

Lebanon was dragged into the Middle East war on March 2 when Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel in retaliation for the killing of Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei.

Israeli attacks since then have killed more than 2,900 people in Lebanon, including more than 400 since the truce took effect, according to Lebanese authorities.