RSF Forms Parallel Civilian Govt in Khartoum

 Smoke billows in southern Khartoum on June 12, 2023 during fighting between Sudan's army and paramilitaries. (AFP)
Smoke billows in southern Khartoum on June 12, 2023 during fighting between Sudan's army and paramilitaries. (AFP)
TT
20

RSF Forms Parallel Civilian Govt in Khartoum

 Smoke billows in southern Khartoum on June 12, 2023 during fighting between Sudan's army and paramilitaries. (AFP)
Smoke billows in southern Khartoum on June 12, 2023 during fighting between Sudan's army and paramilitaries. (AFP)

The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Sudan announced the formation of a civilian parallel government in Khartoum, 19 months after seizing the majority of the Sudanese capital, including the presidential palace and various ministries.

The RSF named Abdul Latif Abdullah al-Amin al-Hassan as prime minister and formed a 90-member legislative civilian council that would offer services to the people and restore security.

The council has elected a judicial council and has been sworn in.

The legislative council vowed to provide essential services to the people, protect them and offer them civil assistance. It also vowed to restore state agencies that have collapsed during the war that erupted in April 2023.

Khartoum had been without a government or administration since the cabinet relocated to Port Sudan during the war.

Head of the legislative council, Nael Babakir Nael Al-Mak Nasser, said the vacuum caused by the war led to the collapse in basic and essential services, leading the people to demand the establishment of a civilian administration.

“The people of Khartoum took on this historic responsibility and communicated with the RSF leaderships in the state to request their approval to establish a civilian administration that can offer basic services,” he told a press conference on Friday.

The civilian and judicial councils will cooperate to ensure the services and humanitarian aid reach the people in Khartoum.



Israeli Strikes Kill at Least 72 People in Gaza

Mourners carry the body of a Palestinian killed in an Israeli strike near a school sheltering displaced people, according to Gaza’s health ministry, near the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City, June 28, 2025. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Mourners carry the body of a Palestinian killed in an Israeli strike near a school sheltering displaced people, according to Gaza’s health ministry, near the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City, June 28, 2025. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
TT
20

Israeli Strikes Kill at Least 72 People in Gaza

Mourners carry the body of a Palestinian killed in an Israeli strike near a school sheltering displaced people, according to Gaza’s health ministry, near the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City, June 28, 2025. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Mourners carry the body of a Palestinian killed in an Israeli strike near a school sheltering displaced people, according to Gaza’s health ministry, near the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City, June 28, 2025. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas

Israeli strikes killed at least 72 people across Gaza overnight and into Saturday, health workers said, as ceasefire prospects were said to be improving after 21 months of war.

Three children and their parents were killed in an Israeli strike on a tent camp in Muwasi near the southern city of Khan Younis. They were struck while sleeping, relatives said.

“What did these children do to them? What is their fault?” said the children’s grandmother, Suad Abu Teima, as others knelt to kiss their bloodied faces and wept. Some placed red flowers into the body bags.

Also among the dead were 12 people near the Palestine Stadium in Gaza City, which was sheltering displaced people, and eight more in apartments, according to staff at Shifa Hospital. More than 20 bodies were taken to Nasser Hospital, according to health officials.

A midday strike killed 11 people on a street in eastern Gaza City, and their bodies were taken to Al-Ahli Hospital. Another strike on a gathering in eastern Gaza City killed eight including five children, the hospital said. A strike on a gathering at the entrance to the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza killed two, according to Al-Awda Hospital.

US President Donald Trump says there could be a ceasefire agreement within the next week. Taking questions from reporters on Friday, he said, “We’re working on Gaza and trying to get it taken care of.”

An official with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press that Israeli Minister for Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer will arrive in Washington next week for talks on a Gaza ceasefire, Iran and other subjects. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

Indirect talks between Israel and Hamas have been on again, off again since Israel broke the latest ceasefire in March, continuing its military campaign in Gaza and furthering the territory's dire humanitarian crisis. Some 50 hostages remain in Gaza, fewer than half believed to still be alive. They were among 251 hostages taken when Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, sparking the war.