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Yemen: Little Progress in Abyan’s Battles

Caption: A tank belonging to forces loyal to Yemen's Southern Transitional Council (STC) separatists during clashes with pro-government forces for control of Zinjibar [Nabil Hasan/AFP]
Caption: A tank belonging to forces loyal to Yemen's Southern Transitional Council (STC) separatists during clashes with pro-government forces for control of Zinjibar [Nabil Hasan/AFP]
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Yemen: Little Progress in Abyan’s Battles

Caption: A tank belonging to forces loyal to Yemen's Southern Transitional Council (STC) separatists during clashes with pro-government forces for control of Zinjibar [Nabil Hasan/AFP]
Caption: A tank belonging to forces loyal to Yemen's Southern Transitional Council (STC) separatists during clashes with pro-government forces for control of Zinjibar [Nabil Hasan/AFP]

Following heavy battles between Yemen’s pro-government forces and Southern Transitional Council (STC) separatists in Abyan governorate, there has been no military progress on both sides.

Confrontations, in which the two sides exchanged missiles Sunday, were mainly concentrated on two fronts - the village of Sheikh Salem that leads to Zinjibar and al-Tariya, from where Yemeni legitimate forces are trying to advance towards Jaar, Abyan’s second largest city.

Both sides kept silence on the number of soldiers killed and the size of inflicted damages since early last week.

Observers said the fighting left several casualties on both sides. However, no exact number could be revealed due to the ongoing battles.

A balanced military strength has made it difficult for any part to win the Abyan battle.

The STC declared about three weeks ago a state of emergency in areas falling under its control. On May 11, government troops launched an offensive to expel the separatists from southern provinces including the port city of Aden.

Pro-STC observers said the separatists brought on Sunday military reinforcements from Aden and Lahj to advance against government forces.

On Saturday, the STC said it had captured Brig. Saif Al-Qufaish, the commander of Brigade 115 in Abyan. The next day, pro-government forces said they detained STC commander Anis al-Sabhi along with seven of his associates near al-Tariya area.

Meanwhile, Yemen’s Information Minister Muamer al-Iryani warned Sunday of the serious consequences of the declaration of the so-called "self-administration of the south" by the STC.

He told the Saba news agency that the separatists’ reckless move is creating an ideal environment for terrorist activities and weapons smuggling in Yemen’s southern coast, namely the smuggling of Iranian arms to Houthi militias.

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Arab World

Sudan Army Says Recaptures Key State Capital

Sudanese civilians displaced by offensive south of Khartoum earlier this year dream of returning to their homes after the regular army retakes territory - AFP
Sudanese civilians displaced by offensive south of Khartoum earlier this year dream of returning to their homes after the regular army retakes territory - AFP
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Sudan Army Says Recaptures Key State Capital

Sudanese civilians displaced by offensive south of Khartoum earlier this year dream of returning to their homes after the regular army retakes territory - AFP
Sudanese civilians displaced by offensive south of Khartoum earlier this year dream of returning to their homes after the regular army retakes territory - AFP

The Sudanese army said Saturday it had retaken a key state capital south of Khartoum from rival Rapid Support Forces who had held it for the past five months.

The Sennar state capital of Sinja is a strategic prize in the 19-month-old war between the regular army and the RSF as it lies on a key road linking army-controlled areas of eastern and central Sudan.

It posted footage on social media that it said had been filmed inside the main base in the city.

"Sinja has returned to the embrace of the nation," the information minister of the army-backed government, Khaled al-Aiser, said in a statement.

Aiser's office said armed forces chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan had travelled to the city of Sennar, 60 kilometres (40 miles) to the north, on Saturday to "inspect the operation and celebrate the liberation of Sinja", AFP reported.

The RSF had taken the two cities in a lightning offensive in June that saw nearly 726,000 civilians flee, according to UN figures.

Human rights groups have said that those who were unwilling or unable to leave have faced months of arbitrary violence by RSF fighters.

Sinja teacher Abdullah al-Hassan spoke of his "indescribable joy" at seeing the army enter the city after "months of terror".

"At any moment, you were waiting for militia fighters to barge in and beat you or loot you," the 53-year-old told AFP by telephone.

Both sides in the Sudanese conflict have been accused of war crimes, including indiscriminately shelling homes, markets and hospitals.

The RSF has also been accused of summary executions, systematic sexual violence and rampant looting.

The RSF control nearly all of the vast western region of Darfur as well as large swathes of Kordofan in the south. They also hold much of the capital Khartoum and the key farming state of Al-Jazira to its south.

Since April 2023, the war has killed tens of thousands of people and uprooted more than 11 million -- creating what the UN says is the world's largest displacement crisis.

From the eastern state of Gedaref -- where more than 1.1 million displaced people have sought refuge -- Asia Khedr, 46, said she hoped her family's ordeal might soon be at an end.

"We'll finally go home and say goodbye to this life of displacement and suffering," she told AFP.