UN Says Floods Affect More than 50,000 in Sudan

More than 50,000 people have been affected by flooding across Sudan over the past week. (Reuters)
More than 50,000 people have been affected by flooding across Sudan over the past week. (Reuters)
TT

UN Says Floods Affect More than 50,000 in Sudan

More than 50,000 people have been affected by flooding across Sudan over the past week. (Reuters)
More than 50,000 people have been affected by flooding across Sudan over the past week. (Reuters)

More than 50,000 people have been affected by flooding across Sudan over the past week, the United Nations said Wednesday.

"Torrential rains continued in several parts of Sudan... leading to flooding, landslides, damages to houses and infrastructure in at least 14 of the (country's) 18 states," the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said.

"More than 50,000 people have been affected," it said in a statement. "The numbers are expected to rise."

Interior Minister Eltrafi Elsdik has said at least five people were killed and almost 3,500 homes damaged by floods last week.

Torrential rains often hit Sudan between June and October, resulting in heavy flooding. Last week's downpours burst a dam in Blue Nile state, destroying more than 600 houses.

"Last year, we had over 400,000 people affected during the whole season," said Saviano Abreu, the OCHA spokesman in Sudan.



Separate Israeli Drone Strikes Kill 4 People in Lebanon

Forensic experts and firefighters work around the wreckage of a vehicle at the site of an Israeli drone attack in Araya, east of Beirut, on November 7, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (Photo by Fadel ITANI / AFP)
Forensic experts and firefighters work around the wreckage of a vehicle at the site of an Israeli drone attack in Araya, east of Beirut, on November 7, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (Photo by Fadel ITANI / AFP)
TT

Separate Israeli Drone Strikes Kill 4 People in Lebanon

Forensic experts and firefighters work around the wreckage of a vehicle at the site of an Israeli drone attack in Araya, east of Beirut, on November 7, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (Photo by Fadel ITANI / AFP)
Forensic experts and firefighters work around the wreckage of a vehicle at the site of an Israeli drone attack in Araya, east of Beirut, on November 7, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (Photo by Fadel ITANI / AFP)

An Israeli drone strike on Thursday hit a car at an army checkpoint in the southern port city of Sidon, killing three people and wounding several others, including Lebanese soldiers and UN peacekeepers, Lebanon’s state news agency and the army said.

The Lebanese army said in a communique that three soldiers and four Malaysian peacekeepers were injured.

The National News Agency said one of the wounded was taken to the hospital while the peacekeepers were treated for minor injuries at the scene of the attack at the northern entrance of Sidon, Lebanon’s third-largest city. There was no immediate information on the identities of those who died.

The UN peacekeeping force known as UNIFIL said in a statement that a convoy bringing newly-arrived peacekeepers to south Lebanon was passing by when a drone strike took place near it. The strike lightly injured five peacekeepers, it said.
“We remind all actors of their obligation to avoid actions putting peacekeepers or civilians in danger. Differences should be resolved at the negotiating table, not through violence,” the statement said.

A drone strike earlier Thursday hit a car on a main highway just outside Beirut, killing one woman, according to local media.

The attack took place near Araya, where several similar drone strikes have taken place in the past week.