RSF: We Don’t Have Heavy Weapons, Sudanese Army Is Shelling Cities

People are seen getting on a bus to leave Khartoum, Sudan. (AP)
People are seen getting on a bus to leave Khartoum, Sudan. (AP)
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RSF: We Don’t Have Heavy Weapons, Sudanese Army Is Shelling Cities

People are seen getting on a bus to leave Khartoum, Sudan. (AP)
People are seen getting on a bus to leave Khartoum, Sudan. (AP)

Ammar al-Siddiq, member of the foreign consultative council of Rapid Support Forces (RSF) leader Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, denied claims that the RSF was shelling residential areas in cities, saying the forces don't have those kinds of weapons.

Speaking to the Arab World Press, he blamed the army for the attacks on these areas. He also accused it of recruiting child soldiers.

In a statement on Friday, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk accused the RSF of recruiting hundreds of children in the Darfur region. He also said the military was recruiting children in eastern parts of Sudan.

Turk warned that such practices are flagrant violations of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict (OPAC).

“Also troubling are the reports of civilians themselves mobilizing under the new Popular Armed Resistance movement. There are real fears this may result in the formation of an armed civil militia with no defined control, increasing the chances of Sudan sliding into a spiral of protracted civil war,” he warned.

Siddiq dismissed Turk's claims, saying the RSF has denied such accusations on several occasions.

Moreover, he revealed that the RSF found several reports, has acquired testimonies and videos that showed children and minors recruited at military camps in response to recruitment calls made by army commander Abdul Fattah al-Burhan.

He further denied that the RSF possesses heavy weapons, accusing the army of air raids that have killed scores of women, children and soldiers.

He stressed that the RSF only possesses anti-aircraft weapons that are aimed at drones, jets and army locations.

The RSF, he stressed, has the army surrounded in specific areas, so its attacks are focused on military camps, such as in Babanusa town and the Al Mohandiseen and Seidna areas in Omdurman.

In his statement, Turk added: “In the space of eleven months, at least 14,600 people have been killed, and 26,000 others injured. Actual figures are undoubtedly much higher. The toll encompasses thousands of civilians, including many children and women.”



US Launches Airstrikes by Fighter Jets and Ships on Yemen’s Iran-Backed Houthis

 Smoke rises from the site of strikes in Sanaa, Yemen October 4, 2024. (Reuters)
Smoke rises from the site of strikes in Sanaa, Yemen October 4, 2024. (Reuters)
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US Launches Airstrikes by Fighter Jets and Ships on Yemen’s Iran-Backed Houthis

 Smoke rises from the site of strikes in Sanaa, Yemen October 4, 2024. (Reuters)
Smoke rises from the site of strikes in Sanaa, Yemen October 4, 2024. (Reuters)

The US military struck more than a dozen Houthi targets in Yemen on Friday, going after weapons systems, bases and other equipment belonging to the Iranian-backed militias, US officials confirmed.

Military aircraft and warships bombed Houthi strongholds at roughly five locations, according to the officials.

Houthi media said seven strikes hit the airport in Hodeidah, a major port city, and the Katheib area, which has a Houthi-controlled military base. Four more strikes hit the Seiyana area in Sanaa, the capital, and two strikes hit the Dhamar province. The Houthi media office also reported three air raids in Bayda province, southeast of Sanaa.

The strikes come just days after the Houthis threatened “escalating military operations” targeting Israel after they apparently shot down a US military drone flying over Yemen. And just last week, the Houthis claimed responsibility for an attack targeting American warships.

The militias fired more than a half dozen ballistic missiles and anti-ship cruise missiles and two drones at three US ships that were traveling through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, but all were intercepted by the Navy destroyers, according to several US officials.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details not yet publicly released.

Houthis have targeted more than 80 merchant vessels with missiles and drones since the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza started last October. They have seized one vessel and sunk two in the campaign that has also killed four sailors.

Other missiles and drones have either been intercepted by a US-led coalition in the Red Sea or failed to reach their targets, which have included Western military vessels.

The Houthis have maintained that they target ships linked to Israel, the US or the United Kingdom to force an end to Israel’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza. However, many of the ships attacked have little or no connection to the conflict, including some bound for Iran.