HRW Accuses Army-aligned Force Of Attack On Central Sudan Village

A cloud of smoke rises over Nyala after the Sudanese city was bombed on February 3, 2025. © X / Alhilalia_Sudan - AFP
A cloud of smoke rises over Nyala after the Sudanese city was bombed on February 3, 2025. © X / Alhilalia_Sudan - AFP
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HRW Accuses Army-aligned Force Of Attack On Central Sudan Village

A cloud of smoke rises over Nyala after the Sudanese city was bombed on February 3, 2025. © X / Alhilalia_Sudan - AFP
A cloud of smoke rises over Nyala after the Sudanese city was bombed on February 3, 2025. © X / Alhilalia_Sudan - AFP

Human Rights Watch accused a Sudanese army-aligned force on Tuesday of an attack on a village in the center of the war-torn country that left at least 26 people dead.

In a statement, the rights monitor said the Sudan Shield Forces "intentionally targeted civilians in a January 10 attack" on the village of Tayba in Al-Jazira state, where fighting between the army and its rival the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has intensified in recent weeks.

Tayba is located 30 kilometres (12 miles) east of state capital Wad Madani, which the army recaptured from the RSF last month.

The attack, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said, left at least 26 civilians dead, one of them a child, and saw the systematic looting of property, including food supplies, as well as the burning of houses, AFP reported.

"These acts constitute war crimes and some, such as the deliberate killings of civilians, may also constitute potential crimes against humanity," it added.

The Sudan Shield Forces are led by Abu Aqla Kaykal, who defected from the RSF last year and has been accused of atrocities against civilians both during his tenure with RSF and now on the army's side.

Since April 2023, the conflict in Sudan has pitted army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan against his former deputy, RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.

The war has claimed tens of thousands of lives, uprooted more than 12 million people and triggered the world's largest displacement and hunger crisis.

Both the army and the RSF have been accused of grave atrocities against civilians, with their leaders sanctioned by the United States.

HRW's investigation, based on survivor testimonies, satellite imagery, and verified videos and photos, documented widespread destruction and extrajudicial killings.

It said that the communities in Tayba were targeted twice on January 10.

"The Sudanese authorities should urgently investigate all reported abuses and hold to account those responsible, including the commanders of the Sudan Shield Forces," said Jean-Baptiste Gallopin, senior crisis, conflict and arms researcher at HRW.

In a statement after the attack, the army denied any involvement, attributing it to "individual violations" and pledged to hold perpetrators accountable.



Iraq's Kurdish Oil Exports Restart is Not Imminent

An oil field in Iraqi Kurdistan. Photo: Kurdistan government media/AFP
An oil field in Iraqi Kurdistan. Photo: Kurdistan government media/AFP
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Iraq's Kurdish Oil Exports Restart is Not Imminent

An oil field in Iraqi Kurdistan. Photo: Kurdistan government media/AFP
An oil field in Iraqi Kurdistan. Photo: Kurdistan government media/AFP

A restart of Iraq's Kurdish oil exports is not imminent, sources close to the matter said on Friday, despite Iraq's federal government saying on Thursday that shipments would resume immediately.

Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government have been in negotiations since February to end a stand-off that has halted flows from the north of the country to Türkiye's port of Ceyhan. The KRG was producing about 435,000 barrels per day (bpd) before the pipeline closure in March 2023, Reuters reported.

On Thursday the federal government said that Iraqi Kurdistan would resume oil exports immediately through the pipeline to Türkiye's despite drone attacks that have shut down half of the region's output.

But on Friday a source at APIKUR, a group of oil companies working in Kurdistan, said that a restart depended on the receipt of written agreements. Another at KAR Group, which operates the pipeline, said that no preparations had been made for a restart.

Baghdad and the companies have not yet agreed how to restart the exports, a KRG government source said, while a source at Türkiye's Ceyhan said there was also no preparation at the terminal for a restart of flows.

On Thursday, a statement from KRG Prime Minister Masrour Barzani said the government had approved a joint understanding with the federal government and it was awaiting financial details.

Similar agreements in the past failed to secure a resumption in exports and it remains unclear if this deal will succeed.

Oil companies working in Kurdistan have previously demanded that their production-sharing contracts should remain unchanged and their debts of nearly $1 billion be settled under any agreement.

Oilfields in Iraqi Kurdistan have been attacked by drones this week, with officials pointing to Iran-backed militias as the likely source of the attacks, although no group has claimed responsibility.

They are the first such attacks on oilfields in the region and coincide with the first attacks in seven months on shipping in the Red Sea by Iran-aligned Houthi militants in Yemen.

On Thursday a strike hit an oilfield operated by Norway's DNO in Tawke, the region's counter-terrorism service said.

It was the week's second strike on a site operated by DNO, which operates the Tawke and Peshkabour oilfields in the Zakho area that borders Türkiye.

No casualties have been reported, but oil output in the region has been cut by between 140,000 bpd and 150,000 bpd, two energy officials said.