Clashes Escalate in Sudan’s North Darfur

Rapid Support Forces members. (AP)
Rapid Support Forces members. (AP)
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Clashes Escalate in Sudan’s North Darfur

Rapid Support Forces members. (AP)
Rapid Support Forces members. (AP)

Clashes renewed on Monday between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in several locations in North Darfur, while each side claimed to have inflicted the other with heavy losses in lives and military equipment.

Eyewitnesses said fierce ground clashes took place early in the morning in the vicinity of El Fasher, and around the Zarq and Um Baar areas, which are controlled by the RSF.

Meanwhile, residents fear counter-attacks following threats launched by several RSF leaders, who vowed to strongly respond to the killing of Ali Yagoub Gibril, one of their senior commanders during a battle in the besieged north Darfur city of El Fasher last Friday.

Social media accounts affiliated with the RSF posted videos showing violent clashes that took place Monday in the Um Baar area.

The video also showed destroyed military and armored vehicles of the army and the armed movements backing it.

Since the outbreak of fighting in Sudan, the RSF has pushed large numbers of its forces to capture the town of El Fasher. The city is the army's last stronghold in the western Darfur region.

On Sunday, RSF commander Mohammed Hamdan Daglo, also known as Hemedti, blamed the escalation in El Fasher on armed factions “that have abandoned neutrality and chosen to side with their slaughterer.”

A resident of El Fasher said the Eid Al-Adha celebrations were completely absent, and that many residents did not leave their homes to perform religious rituals for fear of bombs targeting residential neighborhoods.



Israeli Strike Kills at Least 10 People in the West Bank

FILED - 24 January 2025, Palestinian Territories, Jenin: Smoke billows from buildings during the Israeli army operations in Jenin. Photo: Ayman Nobani/dpa
FILED - 24 January 2025, Palestinian Territories, Jenin: Smoke billows from buildings during the Israeli army operations in Jenin. Photo: Ayman Nobani/dpa
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Israeli Strike Kills at Least 10 People in the West Bank

FILED - 24 January 2025, Palestinian Territories, Jenin: Smoke billows from buildings during the Israeli army operations in Jenin. Photo: Ayman Nobani/dpa
FILED - 24 January 2025, Palestinian Territories, Jenin: Smoke billows from buildings during the Israeli army operations in Jenin. Photo: Ayman Nobani/dpa

Palestinian health authorities said an Israeli airstrike in the northern West Bank killed at least 10 people late Wednesday.

The Israeli military said the strike by a warplane targeted a Palestinian militant cell in the area based on intelligence.

Israel’s use of a jet fighter to strike the rural village of Tamoun late Wednesday marked the latest escalation in its intensifying crackdown on Palestinian militants in the occupied territory.

Residents of Tamoun said that the airstrike hit a house in a crowded neighborhood. The Palestinian Health Ministry cautioned that the death toll was likely to rise.

Before the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, Israeli airstrikes in the West Bank were relatively rare. Israel says its increased military raids are aimed at combating rising Palestinian militant attacks against Israelis, including shootings.

Palestinians say the extensive military operations — such as the ongoing raid in the Jenin refugee camp that has so far killed at least 18 Palestinians — only deepen resentment for Israel and prolong the cycle of bloodshed.

In a statement, Hamas mourned the men killed in Tamoun but did not claim them as members. It called on Palestinians across Israel and the occupied West Bank to mobilize against Israel in hopes of making it “pay the price for its crimes.”