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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)
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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.

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Israel Hits Beirut after Rockets Fired from South Lebanon, Warns Govt to Enforce Ceasefire or it Will

People gather at the site of an Israeli strike in southern Beirut on March 28, 2025. (AFP)
People gather at the site of an Israeli strike in southern Beirut on March 28, 2025. (AFP)
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Israel Hits Beirut after Rockets Fired from South Lebanon, Warns Govt to Enforce Ceasefire or it Will

People gather at the site of an Israeli strike in southern Beirut on March 28, 2025. (AFP)
People gather at the site of an Israeli strike in southern Beirut on March 28, 2025. (AFP)

Israel made good on its threat Friday to strike Beirut after rockets were fired towards its territory, rattling an already fragile truce in Lebanon that had largely ended more than a year of hostilities with Hezbollah.

It was the second time rockets had been launched at Israel from Lebanon since the November ceasefire, and the second time the Iran-backed Hezbollah denied involvement.

After the attack, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said: "If there is no quiet in Kiryat Shmona and the Galilee communities, there will be no quiet in Beirut either."

Hours later, the Israeli military carried out its first strike in the capital's southern suburbs since the ceasefire after urging residents close to a building there to leave, warning they were "near Hezbollah facilities" and "must immediately evacuate".

It said the attack targeted a "site used to store UAVs by Hezbollah's Aerial Unit (127) in the area of Dahieh, a key Hezbollah terrorist stronghold in Beirut", which Israel bombed heavily during its war with the group last year.  

Israel's warning sparked panic in the densely populated area, with parents rushing to pick up their children from schools that quickly shut, AFP correspondents said.  

Heavy traffic clogged roads as many residents tried to flee.  

Katz said the Lebanese government must enforce the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah on its side of the border, or Israel would continue to conduct attacks.

"I am sending a clear message to the Lebanese government: If you do not enforce the ceasefire agreement, we will enforce it," he said in a statement after Israeli aircraft hit targets in Beirut.

Israel's military said early Friday two "projectiles" were fired towards Israel, with one intercepted and the other falling inside Lebanon.  

It later announced it was "striking Hezbollah terror targets in southern Lebanon".  

Hezbollah said it "confirms the party's respect for the ceasefire agreement and denies any involvement in the rockets launched today from the south of Lebanon".  

The group's leader, Naim Qassem, had been expected to give a speech in the southern suburbs later Friday, but Hezbollah said the event had now been cancelled.  

Katz said Lebanon's "government bears direct responsibility for any fire toward the Galilee".  

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam urged his army chief "to act quickly to... uncover those behind the irresponsible rocket fire that threatens Lebanon's stability" and arrest them.  

- Schools closed -  

The November ceasefire largely ended the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, although Israel has continued to conduct occasional strikes in southern Lebanon.  

French President Emmanuel Macron called the reported Israeli air strike on Lebanon "unacceptable" and a "violation of the ceasefire".  

France is on the committee tasked with overseeing the ceasefire.  

Friday's rocket fire came after Israeli strikes Thursday killed six people in the south, with Israel saying it had targeted Hezbollah members.  

NNA reported Israeli attacks in several parts of the south Friday. It said a strike on Kfar Tebnit southeast of Nabatiyeh killed one person and wounded 18, including three children.  

It also reported shelling in Naqoura, where the UN peacekeeping mission is based.  

UN special envoy for Lebanon Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert called the flare-up "deeply concerning" and urged restraint.  

"A return to wider conflict in Lebanon would be devastating for civilians on both sides of the Blue Line and must be avoided at all costs," she said.  

The NNA also reported raids on the Jezzine region north of the Litani River, about 30 kilometers (20 miles) north of the border with Israel.  

Schools closed in the Nabatieh area, an AFP correspondent said, as did some in Tyre which was hit by a deadly Israeli strike last weekend.  

"I decided to bring my children to school in spite of the situation, but the administration told me they had closed it after the Israeli threats and I had to take them back home," father of four Ali Qassem told AFP.  

- Escalation -  

Hezbollah began firing rockets at Israel on October 8, 2023 in support of its ally Hamas following the Palestinian group's unprecedented attack on southern Israel that sparked the war in Gaza.  

The cross-border hostilities ultimately escalated into all-out war, with Israel conducting an intense bombing campaign in Lebanon and sending in ground troops.  

The truce brought a partial Israeli withdrawal, although its troops still hold five positions in south Lebanon that are deemed strategic, even after the pullout deadline.  

Last weekend saw the most intense escalation since the truce, with Israeli strikes in the south after rocket fire killing eight people, according to Lebanese officials.  

Hezbollah had also denied any involvement in that rocket attack, calling Israel's accusations "pretexts for its continued attacks on Lebanon".  

Under the ceasefire, Hezbollah was to pull its forces north of the Litani, and dismantle any remaining military infrastructure in the south.  

Israel has also recently resumed intensive military operations in Gaza, shattering weeks of relative calm brought on by a January ceasefire with Hamas.