Sudan’s Military Says It Breaks RSF’s Siege of a Key Town

A member of security walks in front of a destroyed building as efforts to restore the city's infrastructure resumes after nearly three years of devastation caused by war, in the Sudanese capital Khartoum on January 17, 2025. (AFP)
A member of security walks in front of a destroyed building as efforts to restore the city's infrastructure resumes after nearly three years of devastation caused by war, in the Sudanese capital Khartoum on January 17, 2025. (AFP)
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Sudan’s Military Says It Breaks RSF’s Siege of a Key Town

A member of security walks in front of a destroyed building as efforts to restore the city's infrastructure resumes after nearly three years of devastation caused by war, in the Sudanese capital Khartoum on January 17, 2025. (AFP)
A member of security walks in front of a destroyed building as efforts to restore the city's infrastructure resumes after nearly three years of devastation caused by war, in the Sudanese capital Khartoum on January 17, 2025. (AFP)

Sudan’s military said Monday it has broken a siege imposed by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces on a key town in the central Kordofan region during the country's civil war.

In a statement, the military said it had opened a route leading to Dilling town in South Kordofan province, which the RSF for months has attempted to control. Holding the town means control over major supply lines.

“Our forces inflicted heavy losses on the enemy, both personal and equipment,” the statement said.

There was no immediate comment from the RSF, which has been at war with the military for nearly three years.

Sudan plunged into chaos in April 2023 when a power struggle between the military and the RSF exploded into open fighting in the capital, Khartoum, and elsewhere. The war has killed more than 40,000 people, according to UN figures, but aid groups say the true number could be many times higher.

The fighting has created the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, with over 14 million people forced to flee their homes. Parts of the country have been pushed into famine.

Dilling has reportedly experienced severe hunger, but the world's leading authority on food security, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, didn’t declare famine there in its November report because of a lack of data.

After being forced out of Khartoum in 2025, the paramilitary group has focused on Kordofan and the city of el-Fasher, which was the military’s last stronghold in the sprawling Darfur region until the RSF seized it in October.



Israel’s Detention of Prominent Gazan Doctor Is Arbitrary, UN Body Says

A woman holds a sign that reads "Free Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, Free Gaza" during a protest in front of the Shin Bet offices, calling for his release, in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Jan. 1, 2025. (AP)
A woman holds a sign that reads "Free Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, Free Gaza" during a protest in front of the Shin Bet offices, calling for his release, in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Jan. 1, 2025. (AP)
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Israel’s Detention of Prominent Gazan Doctor Is Arbitrary, UN Body Says

A woman holds a sign that reads "Free Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, Free Gaza" during a protest in front of the Shin Bet offices, calling for his release, in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Jan. 1, 2025. (AP)
A woman holds a sign that reads "Free Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, Free Gaza" during a protest in front of the Shin Bet offices, calling for his release, in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Jan. 1, 2025. (AP)

A UN human rights body on Monday called Israel's detention of Gazan doctor Hussam Abu Safiya arbitrary and sought his immediate release as rights groups and his lawyer warned that his life was in imminent danger.

In its finding, the ‌UN Working ‌Group on Arbitrary Detention said ‌that ⁠Israel's actions contravened multiple articles ⁠of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as well as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

"The appropriate remedy would be to release Mr. Abu Safiya immediately and accord him an enforceable ⁠right to compensation and other reparations, ‌in accordance with ‌international law," it said.

It also voiced broader concerns ‌that the case, one of several ‌it has received, "may indicate a widespread or systematic practice of arbitrary detention in the country."

Earlier on Monday, the doctor's lawyer alleged that his health was ‌in grave danger and that he had been subjected to brutal ⁠abuse ⁠on a daily basis, prompting calls for his release from rights groups.

The Israel Prison Service did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Previously, it has rejected allegations that Abu Safiya and other doctors have been mistreated in prison.

The Israeli Supreme Court has in the past declined to comment on appeals for his release.


Morocco Says Arrested 10 People over Thwarted Terror Plots

File photo of a police officer standing near a Moroccan national flag near the main stadium during preparations for the FIFA Club World Cup in Agadir, December 10, 2013. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
File photo of a police officer standing near a Moroccan national flag near the main stadium during preparations for the FIFA Club World Cup in Agadir, December 10, 2013. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
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Morocco Says Arrested 10 People over Thwarted Terror Plots

File photo of a police officer standing near a Moroccan national flag near the main stadium during preparations for the FIFA Club World Cup in Agadir, December 10, 2013. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
File photo of a police officer standing near a Moroccan national flag near the main stadium during preparations for the FIFA Club World Cup in Agadir, December 10, 2013. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh

Moroccan authorities said on Monday they had arrested 10 people, including a minor, involved in foiled "terrorist plots" across several cities.

The kingdom's Central Bureau of Judicial Investigations (BCIJ) said in a statement carried by state news agency MAP that the suspects were linked to ISIS in the Sahel region, AFP reported.

Simultaneous raids were carried out in several cities, including Casablanca and Agadir, to foil the "extremely dangerous" plots which were "in an advanced stage of preparation", the authorities said.

Searches uncovered "manuscripts detailing the manufacture of explosive devices" and recordings of a pledge of allegiance to IS, the statement said.

In Inezgane, near Agadir, police also discovered a vehicle with its "fuel tank modified to run on butane gas", meant for a "suicide bombing or a car-ramming attack", the statement added.


Algeria's FLN Gets Most Seats in Parliament with Record Low Turnout

The FLN secured 90 of the parliament's 407 seats in the July 2 poll (File photo/AFP)
The FLN secured 90 of the parliament's 407 seats in the July 2 poll (File photo/AFP)
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Algeria's FLN Gets Most Seats in Parliament with Record Low Turnout

The FLN secured 90 of the parliament's 407 seats in the July 2 poll (File photo/AFP)
The FLN secured 90 of the parliament's 407 seats in the July 2 poll (File photo/AFP)

Algeria's legislative elections saw a record low turnout, with just 21 percent of the 25-million electorate casting ballots, as the incumbent National Liberation Front (FLN) won the most seats, the election board said on Monday, AFP reportd.

The FLN secured 90 of the parliament's 407 seats in the July 2 poll, which was marred by public apathy and controversy over the government's disqualification of roughly a third of would-be candidates.