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Sudan's 100 Days of War between Rival Military Factions

Women and children gather in a building at a camp for the internally displaced in al-Suwar, about 15 kilometers north of Wad Madani in Sudan, on June 22, 2023. (Photo by AFP)
Women and children gather in a building at a camp for the internally displaced in al-Suwar, about 15 kilometers north of Wad Madani in Sudan, on June 22, 2023. (Photo by AFP)
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Sudan's 100 Days of War between Rival Military Factions

Women and children gather in a building at a camp for the internally displaced in al-Suwar, about 15 kilometers north of Wad Madani in Sudan, on June 22, 2023. (Photo by AFP)
Women and children gather in a building at a camp for the internally displaced in al-Suwar, about 15 kilometers north of Wad Madani in Sudan, on June 22, 2023. (Photo by AFP)

A war that broke out in mid-April between Sudan's army and the paramilitary Rapid Response Forces (RSF) has devastated the capital Khartoum, caused a sharp increase in ethnically-driven violence in Darfur, and displaced over three million people, Reuters said.
The following is a timeline of major events since fighting began 100 days ago:
April 15 - After weeks of tensions building over a plan to hand power to civilians, heavy fighting erupts in Khartoum and clashes are reported in several other cities.
RSF forces loyal to Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, better known as Hemedti, storm the residence of army chief General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, as they try to seize strategic sites in the heart of the capital.
April 16 - The UN World Food Program says it is temporarily suspending operations in Sudan, one of its biggest programs globally, after three of its staff were among aid workers killed in early fighting. The WFP says on May 1 that it is resuming work, alongside warnings that more than three million more people could slip into hunger and farmers may be unable to plant crops.
April 21 - The number of residents fleeing Khartoum accelerates as areas across the city are subjected to army air strikes, clashes, and looting by the RSF. Many seek refuge outside Khartoum and some head for Sudan's borders.
April 22 - The United States says special operations forces have evacuated all its embassy staff from Khartoum. France, Britain and other nations follow, leaving Sudanese worrying they will be left to fend for themselves.
April 25 - Ahmed Haroun, a former minister wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges he committed crimes in Darfur, says he and other ex-officials from ousted leader Omar al-Bashir's administration have walked free from prison.
Officials later confirm that Bashir, who is also wanted by the ICC, had been transferred to a military hospital before fighting began.
May 5 - More than 1 million polio vaccines intended for children have been destroyed as a result of looting, UNICEF says, following warnings that the provision of medical care and hospital capacity is collapsing as a result of the fighting. The WFP also reports extensive looting of its supplies.
May 20 - At talks convened by Saudi Arabia and the United States in Jeddah, Sudan's warring factions agree to a seven-day ceasefire designed to allow delivery of humanitarian aid. Violations of the deal by both sides are later reported, and aid agencies still struggle to deliver relief. The Jeddah talks are adjourned in June.
May 29 - The head of the UN refugee agency says estimates that one million people could flee Sudan by October may prove conservative, warning that arms and people trafficking could spread across a fragile region.
June 8 - The mobilization of the powerful SPLM-N rebel force in South Kordofan raises fears of the conflict extending through Sudan's southern regions. Clashes in South Kordofan and Blue Nile states later caused residents to flee.
June 14 - West Darfur Governor Khamis Abbakar is killed hours after a TV interview in which he accused the RSF and allied militias of conducting genocide against non-Arab groups.
Thousands of civilians try to escape by foot to nearby Chad following his death but are targeted as they flee.
June 19 - International donors pledge $1.5 billion in aid for Sudan and the surrounding region at a fundraising conference in Geneva, about half the estimated needs for a deepening humanitarian crisis.
July 13 - Egypt begins a new mediation attempt between Sudan's rival factions at a summit for Sudan's neighbors in Cairo. Ethiopia's leader says the push should be coordinated with an existing initiative led by East African regional bloc IGAD, amid concerns about competing and ineffective diplomatic efforts.
July 14 - The US-based Sudan Conflict Observatory reports that the RSF and aligned forces were suspected of the targeted destruction of at least 26 communities in Darfur. A day earlier, the International Criminal Court said it was investigating violence in Darfur. The RSF says hostilities there are tribal.

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On Lebanon Border, Israel and Hezbollah’s Deadly Game of Patience

Smoke is seen as an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is intercepted following its launch from Lebanon, amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, at Kibbutz Eilon in northern Israel, July 23, 2024. (Reuters)
Smoke is seen as an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is intercepted following its launch from Lebanon, amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, at Kibbutz Eilon in northern Israel, July 23, 2024. (Reuters)
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On Lebanon Border, Israel and Hezbollah’s Deadly Game of Patience

Smoke is seen as an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is intercepted following its launch from Lebanon, amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, at Kibbutz Eilon in northern Israel, July 23, 2024. (Reuters)
Smoke is seen as an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is intercepted following its launch from Lebanon, amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, at Kibbutz Eilon in northern Israel, July 23, 2024. (Reuters)

In deserted villages and communities near the southern Lebanon border, Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters have watched each other for months, shifting and adapting in a battle for the upper hand while they wait to see if a full scale war will come.

Ever since the start of the Gaza war last October, the two sides have exchanged daily barrages of rockets, artillery, missile fire and air strikes in a standoff that has just stopped short of full-scale war.

Tens of thousands have been evacuated from both sides of the border, and hopes that children may be able to return for the start of the new school year in September appear to have been dashed following an announcement by Israeli Education Minister Yoav Kisch on Tuesday that conditions would not allow it.

"The war is almost the same for the past nine months," Lieutenant Colonel Dotan, an Israeli officer, who could only be identified by his first name. "We have good days of hitting Hezbollah and bad days where they hit us. It's almost the same, all year, all the nine months."

As the summer approaches its peak, the smoke trails of drones and rockets in the sky have become a daily sight, with missiles regularly setting off brush fires in the thickly wooded hills along the border.

Israeli strikes have killed nearly 350 Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon and more than 100 civilians, including medics, children and journalists, while 10 Israeli civilians, a foreign agricultural worker and 20 Israeli soldiers have been killed.

Even so, as the cross border firing has continued, Israeli forces have been training for a possible offensive in Lebanon which would dramatically increase the risk of a wider regional war, potentially involving Iran and the United States.

That risk was underlined at the weekend when the Yemen-based Houthis, a militia which like Hezbollah is backed by Iran, sent a drone to Tel Aviv where it caused a blast that killed a man and prompted Israel to launch a retaliatory raid the next day.

Standing in his home kibbutz of Eilon, where only about 150 farmers and security guards remain from a normal population of 1,100, Lt. Colonet Dotan said the two sides have been testing each other for months, in a constantly evolving tactical battle.

"This war taught us patience," said Dotan. "In the Middle East, you need patience."

He said Israeli troops had seen an increasing use of Iranian drones, of a type frequently seen in Ukraine, as well as Russian-made Kornet anti tank missiles which were increasingly targeting houses as Israeli tank forces adapted their own tactics in response.

"Hezbollah is a fast-learning organization and they understood that UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) are the next big thing and so they went and bought and got trained in UAVs," he said.

Israel had responded by adapting its Iron Dome air defense system and focusing its own operations on weakening Hezbollah's organizational structure by attacking its experienced commanders, such as Ali Jaafar Maatuk, a field commander in the elite Radwan forces unit who was killed last week.

"So that's another weak point we found. We target them and we look for them on a daily basis," he said.

Even so, as the months have passed, the wait has not been easy for Israeli troops brought up in a doctrine of maneuver and rapid offensive operations.

"When you're on defense, you can't defeat the enemy. We understand that, we have no expectations," he said, "So we have to wait. It's a patience game."