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US Sanctions Iraq's Asaib Ahl al-Haq

Members of Asaib Ahl al-Haq walk outside their premises in Basra, Iraq November 8, 2018. REUTERS/Essam al-Sudani
Members of Asaib Ahl al-Haq walk outside their premises in Basra, Iraq November 8, 2018. REUTERS/Essam al-Sudani
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US Sanctions Iraq's Asaib Ahl al-Haq

Members of Asaib Ahl al-Haq walk outside their premises in Basra, Iraq November 8, 2018. REUTERS/Essam al-Sudani
Members of Asaib Ahl al-Haq walk outside their premises in Basra, Iraq November 8, 2018. REUTERS/Essam al-Sudani

The United States has designated Iraq’s Asaib Ahl al-Haq as a terrorist organization along with two of the militia group's leaders, the State Department said in a statement on Friday.

The group and its leaders are “violent proxies” of Iran, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said.

The group is backed by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force, which has also been sanctioned by Washington, according to the State Department.

The designation came after a US airstrike killed Gen. Qassem Soleimani, a top Iranian commander, in Baghdad.

The White House justified the killing with a tweet saying that Soleimani “was actively developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region."

The 62-year-old led the Quds Force, which undertakes the country's foreign campaigns.

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Arab World

MSF Suspends Operations at Key Hospital in Sudan's Capital

FILE - South Sudanese people sit outside a nutrition clinic at a transit center in Renk, South Sudan, on May 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick, File)
FILE - South Sudanese people sit outside a nutrition clinic at a transit center in Renk, South Sudan, on May 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick, File)
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MSF Suspends Operations at Key Hospital in Sudan's Capital

FILE - South Sudanese people sit outside a nutrition clinic at a transit center in Renk, South Sudan, on May 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick, File)
FILE - South Sudanese people sit outside a nutrition clinic at a transit center in Renk, South Sudan, on May 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick, File)

Medical aid agency MSF said on Friday it has been forced to suspend its activities at one of the few remaining hospitals in southern Khartoum due to repeated attacks, cutting off yet another lifeline for those who remain in the Sudanese capital.
War has been raging in Sudan since April 2023, sparked by a power struggle between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) ahead of a planned transition to civilian rule, triggering the world's largest displacement and hunger crisis.
The hospital, which lies in territory controlled by the RSF, helped treat the victims of frequent airstrikes by the Sudanese Armed Forces, as well as hundreds of malnourished women and children in an area where two neighborhoods have been judged at risk of famine, reported Reuters.
"In the 20 months MSF teams have worked alongside hospital staff and volunteers, Bashair Hospital has experienced repeated incidents of armed fighters entering the hospital with weapons and threatening medical staff, often demanding fighters be treated before other patients," MSF said in a statement.
"Despite extensive engagements with all stakeholders, these attacks have continued in recent months. MSF has now taken the very difficult decision to suspend all medical activities in the hospital."
The fighting in Sudan has cut off up to 80% of hospitals in conflict areas, where millions who cannot afford to escape the violence remain. Civilians face frequent air and artillery fire and hunger as supplies are blocked by both warring parties and prices skyrocket.
Medical facilities, including MSF-supported ones that have suspended operations, have frequently come under attack by RSF soldiers demanding treatment or looting supplies. Bashair Hospital has served more than 25,000 people, MSF said, including 9,000 hurt by blasts, gunshot wounds, and other violence.
"Sometimes dozens of people arrived at the hospital at the same time after shelling or airstrikes on residential areas and markets," MSF said in the statement, citing an incident on Sunday where an airstrike one kilometer away drove 50 people to the emergency room, 12 of them already dead.