Attack on Sudanese Southeastern Village Kills 80

Sudanese who have fled fighting in Sennar state at a displacement camp in the country's east, in July - AFP
Sudanese who have fled fighting in Sennar state at a displacement camp in the country's east, in July - AFP
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Attack on Sudanese Southeastern Village Kills 80

Sudanese who have fled fighting in Sennar state at a displacement camp in the country's east, in July - AFP
Sudanese who have fled fighting in Sennar state at a displacement camp in the country's east, in July - AFP

Sudanese Rapid Support Forces killed at least 80 people in a southeastern village, a medical source and witnesses said Friday, even as US-sponsored talks sought to end 16 months of devastating war.

The assault occurred in Jalgini village in the state of Sennar on Thursday.

"We received 55 dead and dozens of wounded at the hospital on Thursday, and 25 of them died on Friday, bringing the death toll to 80," a source at Jalgini's medical centre told AFP.

A survivor said the forces had initially faced resistance from local villagers before returning in full force.

"Yesterday morning, three military vehicles attacked Jalgini. The residents resisted, prompting the retreat of the forces, who then returned with dozens of vehicles," a Jalgini resident, who took his wounded son to the hospital, told AFP.

"They opened fire, torching homes and killing numerous people," said the man, who asked not to be named.

"On Friday, some bodies were still strewn on the street."

 



Egypt Says Gaza Truce 'Key' to Preventing Regional War

Palestinian children stand at the site of an Israeli strike on a house, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, August 14, 2024. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed
Palestinian children stand at the site of an Israeli strike on a house, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, August 14, 2024. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed
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Egypt Says Gaza Truce 'Key' to Preventing Regional War

Palestinian children stand at the site of an Israeli strike on a house, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, August 14, 2024. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed
Palestinian children stand at the site of an Israeli strike on a house, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, August 14, 2024. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said in Beirut Friday that a Gaza ceasefire was the "key" to preventing the region from slipping into all-out war.

His visit comes after Gaza ceasefire talks, mediated by Egypt, Qatar and the United States, restarted in Doha on Thursday, and follows trips to Beirut this week by US envoy Amos Hochstein and French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne.

Cairo, Doha and Washington are making every effort to quickly reach a Gaza deal "that leads to an immediate ceasefire, an end to the killing of civilians, and a prisoner and hostage exchange", Abdelatty said after meeting his Lebanese counterpart Abdallah Bou Habib.

"This is the key to the start of the solution in this region and the start of de-escalation," he said.

According to AFP, Lebanon's Hezbollah has traded near daily fire with the Israeli army in support of ally Hamas since the Palestinian militant group's October 7.

But the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran late last month in an attack blamed on Israel, hours after an Israeli strike killed a top Hezbollah commander in Lebanon, has sent diplomats scrambling to avert a wider conflict, after Iran and Hezbollah vowed to respond.

Abdelatty expressed hope for "good intentions and the political will to reach this urgent deal" in Gaza, which he said would lead to "reducing the level of tension in the region, and de-escalation".

Cairo would "make every possible effort to spare Lebanon and its brotherly people the woes of any uncalculated escalation", he added.

The cross-border violence has killed some 570 people in Lebanon, mostly Hezbollah fighters -- one of them on Friday -- but including at least 118 civilians, according to an AFP tally.

On the Israeli side, including in the annexed Golan Heights, 22 soldiers and 26 civilians have been killed, according to army figures.

Hezbollah and Israel fought a devastating war in 2006.