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 Defers Removal of Some Lebanese, Citing Israel-Hezbollah Tensions

Smoke billows from a site targeted by Lebanon's Hezbollah, along the northern Israeli border with Lebanon on July 25, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. (AFP)
Smoke billows from a site targeted by Lebanon's Hezbollah, along the northern Israeli border with Lebanon on July 25, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. (AFP)
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US Defers Removal of Some Lebanese, Citing Israel-Hezbollah Tensions

Smoke billows from a site targeted by Lebanon's Hezbollah, along the northern Israeli border with Lebanon on July 25, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. (AFP)
Smoke billows from a site targeted by Lebanon's Hezbollah, along the northern Israeli border with Lebanon on July 25, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. (AFP)

The United States is deferring the removal of certain Lebanese citizens from the country, President Joe Biden said on Friday, citing humanitarian conditions in southern Lebanon amid tensions between Israel and Hezbollah.

The deferred designation, which lasts 18 months, allows Lebanese citizens to remain in the country with the right to work, according to a memorandum Biden sent to the Department of Homeland Security.

"Humanitarian conditions in southern Lebanon have significantly deteriorated due to tensions between Hezbollah and Israel," Biden said in the memo.

"While I remain focused on de-escalating the situation and improving humanitarian conditions, many civilians remain in danger; therefore, I am directing the deferral of removal of certain Lebanese nationals who are present in the United States."

Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah have been trading fire since Hezbollah announced a "support front" with Palestinians shortly after its ally Hamas attacked southern Israeli border communities on Oct. 7, triggering Israel's military assault in Gaza.

The fighting in Lebanon has killed more than 100 civilians and more than 300 Hezbollah fighters, according to a Reuters tally, and led to levels of destruction in Lebanese border towns and villages not seen since the 2006 Israel-Lebanon war.

On the Israeli side, 10 Israeli civilians, a foreign agricultural worker and 20 Israeli soldiers have been killed. Tens of thousands have been evacuated from both sides of the border.