Lebanon Has 'More' to Do on Hezbollah Disarming, Says US Deputy Envoy

Lebanon’s Hezbollah members carry Hezbollah flags during the funeral of a fellow fighter, in al-Ghaziyeh village, southern Lebanon May 26, 2015. REUTERS/Ali Hashisho
Lebanon’s Hezbollah members carry Hezbollah flags during the funeral of a fellow fighter, in al-Ghaziyeh village, southern Lebanon May 26, 2015. REUTERS/Ali Hashisho
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Lebanon Has 'More' to Do on Hezbollah Disarming, Says US Deputy Envoy

Lebanon’s Hezbollah members carry Hezbollah flags during the funeral of a fellow fighter, in al-Ghaziyeh village, southern Lebanon May 26, 2015. REUTERS/Ali Hashisho
Lebanon’s Hezbollah members carry Hezbollah flags during the funeral of a fellow fighter, in al-Ghaziyeh village, southern Lebanon May 26, 2015. REUTERS/Ali Hashisho

Lebanon still has "more" to do in disarming Hezbollah following the war between the Iran-backed group and Israel, Deputy US Envoy for the Middle East Morgan Ortagus said Tuesday.

As part of a deal agreed to end 14 months of fighting last November, Hezbollah was to withdraw its fighters north of Lebanon's Litani River, while Israel was to pull all its forces from south Lebanon.

The Lebanese army has been deploying in the area as Israeli forces have withdrawn and has been dismantling Hezbollah infrastructure there.

UN peacekeepers are also present in the area and play a role in supervising the ceasefire.

Lebanese authorities "have done more in the last six months than they probably have in the last 15 years," Ortagus said at the Qatar Economic Forum referring to efforts to disarm Hezbollah, AFP reported.

"However, there's a lot more to go," she added.

"We in the United States have called for the full disarmament of Hezbollah. And so that doesn't mean just south of the Litani. That means in the whole country," Ortagus said at the Qatar conference calling on Lebanese politicians "to make a decision".

It has also continued to launch raids on its neighbour despite the ceasefire.

Last month, President Joseph Aoun said the army was deployed in more than 85 percent of Lebanon's south, and that the sole obstacle to full control across the frontier area was "Israel's occupation of five border positions".

In defiance of the ceasefire agreement, the Israeli military continues to occupy five positions close to the border that it has declared to be strategic.



RSF Shelling On Camp Kills 8 in Sudan's Darfur, Say Rescuers

A view of a street in the city of Omdurman damaged in the year-long civil war in Sudan, April 7, 2024. REUTERS/El Tayeb Siddig
A view of a street in the city of Omdurman damaged in the year-long civil war in Sudan, April 7, 2024. REUTERS/El Tayeb Siddig
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RSF Shelling On Camp Kills 8 in Sudan's Darfur, Say Rescuers

A view of a street in the city of Omdurman damaged in the year-long civil war in Sudan, April 7, 2024. REUTERS/El Tayeb Siddig
A view of a street in the city of Omdurman damaged in the year-long civil war in Sudan, April 7, 2024. REUTERS/El Tayeb Siddig

Rapid Support Forces (RSF) shelled a displacement camp in Sudan's Darfur region on Thursday, killing eight civilians and injuring others, a local rescue group said.

The bombardment hit Abu Shouk camp, which hosts tens of thousands of displaced people on the outskirts of El Fasher, the besieged capital of North Darfur.

El-Fasher remains the last major stronghold in Sudan's western Darfur region not under the control of the RSF, who have been at war with the regular army since April 2023, AFP reported.

"The Abu Shouk camp witnessed heavy artillery bombardment by the RSF... killing eight people," the camp's Emergency Response Room said in a statement.

In recent weeks, El-Fasher, which has been under RSF siege since last year, has been locked in intense fighting between warring sides in a region also gripped by famine.

Thursday's offensive comes just days after a series of attacks by the RSF targeted another battleground region of Sudan.

More than 450 people, including 35 children, were killed in several villages of North Kordofan, southwest of the capital Khartoum, according to a statement released this week by the UN's children agency.

"No child should ever experience such horrors," said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell. "Violence against children is unconscionable and must end now."

On Sunday, the RSF claimed to have killed more than 470 army personnel near the town of El-Obeid, also in North Kordofan, in a statement posted to its Telegram channel.

Independent verification of casualties in Sudan remains difficult due to restricted access to its conflict zones.

Now in its third year, the conflict has killed tens of thousands and forced millions to flee, creating what the United Nations describes as the world's largest displacement crisis.

In December last year, famine was officially declared in three displacement camps near El-Fasher, namely Zamzam, Abu Shouk and Al-Salam, according to the UN.

Since the Sudanese army regained control of the capital Khartoum in March, the RSF has shifted its operations westward, focusing on Darfur and Kordofan in a bid to consolidate territorial gains.

In April, RSF fighters seized the Zamzam displacement camp, located near Abu Shouk.

The assault forced nearly 400,000 people to flee, according to UN figures, effectively emptying one of the country's largest camps for the displaced.

Sudanese analyst Mohaned el-Nour told AFP the RSF aims to redefine its role in the conflict.

"Their goal is no longer to be seen as a militia, but as an alternative government in western Sudan, undermining the legitimacy of the authorities in Port Sudan."

He added that the recent surge in violence in North Kordofan was likely intended to divert the army's attention from El Fasher, where the military is trying "at all costs" to maintain.