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Washington Accuses Sudanese Army of Blocking Aid Along Chad Border

Relief aid comes from the city of Gedaref in eastern Sudan on February 22. (AFP)
Relief aid comes from the city of Gedaref in eastern Sudan on February 22. (AFP)
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Washington Accuses Sudanese Army of Blocking Aid Along Chad Border

Relief aid comes from the city of Gedaref in eastern Sudan on February 22. (AFP)
Relief aid comes from the city of Gedaref in eastern Sudan on February 22. (AFP)

Sudan on Saturday denounced a statement by the US State Department accusing the Sudanese authorities of obstructing people's access to humanitarian aid in the areas under the Rapid Support Forces' control.

In a statement, Sudan's Foreign Ministry said the US allegations against the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Government of Sudan relating to humanitarian aid and civilian activities are "false accusations."

It reiterated the Sudanese government's commitment to the Jeddah Declaration of Commitment to Protect the Civilians, signed on May 11, 2023.

The ministry added that the US statement avoided issuing an explicit, clear, and exclusive condemnation of the RSF.

"The United States is deeply concerned by the Sudanese Armed Forces' (SAF) recent decision to prohibit cross-border humanitarian assistance from Chad and reports that the SAF is obstructing assistance from reaching communities in areas controlled by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF)," said the US State Department.

“We are also concerned that the RSF are looting homes, markets, and humanitarian assistance warehouses in areas under their control.”

- Commitment to the Jeddah Declaration

“We remind the SAF and RSF of their obligations under international humanitarian law, as well as their commitments in the Jeddah Declaration to protect civilians and facilitate humanitarian deliveries to meet the needs of civilians,” the statement added.

“In addition, the United States strongly condemns actions by the SAF and RSF, as well as some civilian officials, to constrain civic space, restrict access to internet and mobile phone networks, stoke interethnic conflict, and criminalize groups providing support for communities harmed by conflict.”

It added that “hate speech, including vilification of individuals who call for stopping the fighting, has surged. We have seen the targeting of Resistance Committees, pro-peace activists, community leaders, humanitarian actors, medical personnel, journalists, and political party members.”

"We unequivocally condemn these acts, as well as pervasive rape, torture, and other reprehensible violations against Sudanese civilians."

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Arab World

Houthis Sentence 19 to Death for Fighting for Yemen’s Legitimate Govt

People ride a vehicle driving past a digital billboard featuring Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi in Sanaa, Yemen, 14 May 2026. (EPA)
People ride a vehicle driving past a digital billboard featuring Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi in Sanaa, Yemen, 14 May 2026. (EPA)
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Houthis Sentence 19 to Death for Fighting for Yemen’s Legitimate Govt

People ride a vehicle driving past a digital billboard featuring Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi in Sanaa, Yemen, 14 May 2026. (EPA)
People ride a vehicle driving past a digital billboard featuring Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi in Sanaa, Yemen, 14 May 2026. (EPA)

A Houthi-controlled court in Yemen has sentenced 19 people to death after their conviction for fighting for the legitimate government.

Sunday's verdict, which can be appealed, came a few days after the Houthis and the government agreed on the largest prisoner swap in the conflict there, in which 1,600 detainees from both sides will be released.

The Specialized Criminal Court in the Houthi-held capital, Sanaa, handed down the verdict, according to the Houthi-run Justice Ministry. Four other people received prison terms ranging between two and 10 years, the ministry said in a statement.

The defendants were convinced of establishing an armed group that provided support to the legitimate government between 2015 and 2023, the ministry said. They carried out attacks against Houthi-manned checkpoints and security facilities in the southern province of Dhale, it said.

The charges against five others were dropped after their deaths, the ministry said without explaining the circumstances.

The verdict was the latest in a yearslong crackdown by the Houthis in areas under their control. The militants have imprisoned thousands of people including United Nations staffers, resisting repeated calls for their release.

Courts in Houthi-controlled areas previously handed harsh sentences to those accused of collaborating with the government, in trials criticized by rights groups as unfair. In November, a Sanaa court convicted 17 people of spying for foreign governments and sentenced them to death.

In September 2021, the militants executed nine people who were convicted of involvement in the killing of a senior Houthi official, Saleh al-Samad, in an airstrike by the Arab coalition in April 2018.

Arab World

Iraqi Kataib Hezbollah Denies Link to Man Charged in US

Judge Sarah Netburn presides as Mohammad Al-Saadi, accused of planning an attack on a synagogue, appears in federal court in Manhattan, New York, US, May 15, 2026 in this courtroom sketch. (Reuters)
Judge Sarah Netburn presides as Mohammad Al-Saadi, accused of planning an attack on a synagogue, appears in federal court in Manhattan, New York, US, May 15, 2026 in this courtroom sketch. (Reuters)
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Iraqi Kataib Hezbollah Denies Link to Man Charged in US

Judge Sarah Netburn presides as Mohammad Al-Saadi, accused of planning an attack on a synagogue, appears in federal court in Manhattan, New York, US, May 15, 2026 in this courtroom sketch. (Reuters)
Judge Sarah Netburn presides as Mohammad Al-Saadi, accused of planning an attack on a synagogue, appears in federal court in Manhattan, New York, US, May 15, 2026 in this courtroom sketch. (Reuters)

The Iran-backed Iraqi group Kataib Hezbollah, denied on Monday that a man accused of plotting attacks in the United States and Europe was a member of the group.

US authorities on Friday detailed charges against Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi, 32, who was identified as a senior figure in Kataib Hezbollah, which the US designates as a terrorist organization.

"The abductee, Mohammaed Baqer al-Saadi does not belong to Kataib Hezbollah," the group's security commander Abou Moujahed al-Assaf said in a statement.

But he added that Saadi "will return to his country with his head held high, because he is among the lovers and supporters of the resistance."

According to US court filings, Saadi and unidentified associates planned, coordinated and claimed responsibility for at least 18 attacks in Europe, and two in Canada, including a non-fatal stabbing of two Jewish men in London, and several arson attacks on synagogues in other countries.

He is most recently alleged to have also plotted attacks in the United States.

He appeared on Friday at a Manhattan court where he was charged with six counts including conspiracy to provide material support to Kataib Hezbollah and Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

A senior Iraqi security source told AFP that Saadi was arrested in Türkiye before being transferred to the US.

Kataib Hezbollah is part of the umbrella movement known as the “Islamic Resistance in Iraq”, which claimed hundreds of attacks against US interests in Iraq and the wider region during the Middle East war.

The attacks have ceased since a ceasefire was announced in April.

The US State Department announced last month that it was offering up to $10 million for information on the group's leader, Ahmad al-Hamidawi.

Arab World

Lebanon Death Toll Reaches 3,000 in Fighting Between Israel and Hezbollah

Smoke rises following Israeli bombardment on the village of Zibdin in the Nabatieh district in southern Lebanon on May 18, 2026. (AFP)
Smoke rises following Israeli bombardment on the village of Zibdin in the Nabatieh district in southern Lebanon on May 18, 2026. (AFP)
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Lebanon Death Toll Reaches 3,000 in Fighting Between Israel and Hezbollah

Smoke rises following Israeli bombardment on the village of Zibdin in the Nabatieh district in southern Lebanon on May 18, 2026. (AFP)
Smoke rises following Israeli bombardment on the village of Zibdin in the Nabatieh district in southern Lebanon on May 18, 2026. (AFP)

The death toll in the latest round of fighting between Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon has surpassed 3,000, Lebanon's health ministry said Monday.

The ministry said the toll is now 3,020 in the fighting that has not stopped despite a fragile ceasefire, including 292 women and 211 children. Fighting began on March 2 with the Hezbollah group firing at Israel, two days after the US and Israel attacked Iran.

Israel has since invaded southern Lebanon and bombarded the capital, Beirut, and other areas, saying it is targeting Hezbollah efforts to rearm. Hezbollah has resisted pressure, including by the Lebanese government, to disarm.

More than a million people have been displaced in Lebanon by the fighting, with some sheltering in tents along roads and the sea in Beirut. Israel, meanwhile, has struggled to halt frequent Hezbollah drone attacks.

Groundbreaking direct talks between Israel and Lebanon, facilitated by the United States, produced the ceasefire that began on April 17 and has been extended into June. The neighbors have been officially in a state of war since Israel was created in 1948.

Hezbollah, however, is not part of the talks.

Israeli officials have focused on disarming Hezbollah and described the negotiations as a precursor to a potential normalization of diplomatic relations. Lebanese officials have said they seek a security agreement or armistice that would stop short of normalization.

US President Donald Trump has publicly called for a meeting between Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, while Aoun has declined to meet or speak directly with Netanyahu at this stage — a move that would likely generate blowback in Lebanon, where talks with Israel were met with protests.

Twenty Israeli soldiers, two Israeli civilians inside Israel and a defense contractor working in southern Lebanon have been killed on the Israeli side.

UN peacekeeping forces in southern Lebanon have also been caught in the crossfire and six have been killed.