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Sudanese Army Strikes Hemedti’s Hometown as Fighting Erupt Again in Khartoum 

Damage is seen following an army attack in El Daein. (Social media)
Damage is seen following an army attack in El Daein. (Social media)
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Sudanese Army Strikes Hemedti’s Hometown as Fighting Erupt Again in Khartoum 

Damage is seen following an army attack in El Daein. (Social media)
Damage is seen following an army attack in El Daein. (Social media)

The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) said on Tuesday that at least 11 people were killed and dozens wounded in Sudanese army air raids on the city of El Daein, the capital of the East Darfur state and hometown of RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, also known as Hemedti.

The army confirmed that it carried out strikes on military targets in El Daein, saying it “hit and completely destroyed a weapons depot belonging to a terrorist militia”

The army’s WhatsApp channel said several “field commanders and Dagalo terrorist mercenaries” were killed in the attack.

In a post on the X platform, the RSF said nine of the victims were members of the same family and included women and children. Dozens of innocent civilians were wounded and hundreds of homes were damaged in the attack.

It accused the army of targeting the “al-Neem” refugee camp, a hospital and water plant in El Daein.

The city is the hometown of the Rizeigat tribe, whose members make up the majority of the RSF commanders and fighters.

The RSF accused the army of repeatedly attacking civilians with explosive bombs in “deliberate cowardly criminal acts.”

“The attack is the latest in the series of crimes committed by [army commander Abdul Fattah al-Burhan's] militia and remnants of the former regime,” it added.

It called on international rights and human rights groups to “condemn these barbaric extremist acts against innocent people.”

The RSF captured El Daein after the army retreated from it in November.

Activists on Facebook said the army’s strikes on Tuesday targeted residential areas, while others said they hit RSF positions, causing losses in lives and damaging military equipment.

Separately, witnesses said clashes erupted again in the capital Khartoum. They said the RSF shelled army positions with heavy artillery in the general command area.

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Italy Plans to Return Ambassador to Syria to Reflect New Diplomatic Developments, Minister Says

Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)
Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)
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Italy Plans to Return Ambassador to Syria to Reflect New Diplomatic Developments, Minister Says

Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)
Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)

Italy plans to send an ambassador back to Syria after a decade-long absence, the country’s foreign minister said, in a diplomatic move that could spark divisions among European Union allies.

Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, speaking in front of relevant parliamentary committees Thursday, announced Rome’s intention to re-establish diplomatic ties with Syria to prevent Russia from monopolizing diplomatic efforts in the Middle Eastern country.

Moscow is considered a key supporter of Syrian President Bashar Assad, who has remained in power despite widespread Western isolation and civilian casualties since the start of Syria’s civil war in March 2011.

Peaceful protests against the Assad government — part of the so-called “Arab Spring” popular uprisings that spread across some of the Middle East — were met by a brutal crackdown, and the uprising quickly spiraled into a full-blown civil war.

The conflict was further complicated by the intervention of foreign forces on all sides and a rising militancy, first by al-Qaida-linked groups and then the ISIS group until its defeat on the battlefield in 2019.

The war, which has killed nearly half a million people and displaced half the country’s pre-war population of 23 million, is now largely frozen, despite ongoing low-level fighting.

The country is effectively carved up into areas controlled by the Damascus-based government of Assad, various opposition groups and Syrian Kurdish forces.

In the early days of the conflict, many Western and Arab countries cut off relations with Syria, including Italy, which has since managed Syria-related diplomacy through its embassy in Beirut.

However, since Assad has regained control over most of the territory, neighboring Arab countries have gradually restored relations, with the most symbolically significant move coming last year when Syria was re-admitted to the Arab League.

Tajani said Thursday the EU’s policy in Syria should be adapted to the “development of the situation,” adding that Italy has received support from Austria, Croatia, Greece, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Cyprus and Slovakia.

However, the US and allied countries in Europe have largely continued to hold firm in their stance against Assad’s government, due to concerns over human rights violations.