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.



Israel Strikes Beirut's Southern Suburbs once Again

Smoke billows over Beirut's southern suburbs after an Israeli strike, amid the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, as seen from Baabda, Lebanon November 16, 2024. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani
Smoke billows over Beirut's southern suburbs after an Israeli strike, amid the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, as seen from Baabda, Lebanon November 16, 2024. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani
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Israel Strikes Beirut's Southern Suburbs once Again

Smoke billows over Beirut's southern suburbs after an Israeli strike, amid the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, as seen from Baabda, Lebanon November 16, 2024. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani
Smoke billows over Beirut's southern suburbs after an Israeli strike, amid the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, as seen from Baabda, Lebanon November 16, 2024. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani

Israeli airstrikes hit Beirut’s Haret Hreik area in the southern suburbs again on Friday after evacuation warnings were issued to residents prior to the attacks by an Israeli spokesman.
The Israeli army issued evacuation orders to residents in the areas of al-Hadath and Haret Hreik, as well as several villages in Lebanon’s south requesting they move to north of Awwali River.
When it issues such a warning, Israel cites alleged presence of Hezbollah fighters or infrastructure in civilian areas as a justification for its airstrikes.
Avichay Adraee, spokesperson for the Israeli army, issued an evacuation warning to the residents of the towns of Tayba, Aadchit, Qusayr, and Deir Seryan, as well as to the residents of the towns of Burj al-Shamali and Maashuq in southern Lebanon.
He also requested the evacuation of residents from specific buildings in Hadath and Haret Hreik in the southern suburbs of Beirut.

Later during the day, Lebanon’s health ministry said two medics were killed in the Israeli strikes on a southern Lebanon town.

Israeli attacks have killed at least 3,583 people and wounded 15,244 in Lebanon since October 2023, with 25 fatalities reported on Wednesday, the Lebanese health ministry said on Thursday.