Lebanon Foils Plot to Smuggle Hashish from Sidon Port to Egypt

Caretaker Interior Minister Mohammed Fahmy and security officers in front of the seized hashish shipment (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Caretaker Interior Minister Mohammed Fahmy and security officers in front of the seized hashish shipment (Asharq Al-Awsat)
TT
20

Lebanon Foils Plot to Smuggle Hashish from Sidon Port to Egypt

Caretaker Interior Minister Mohammed Fahmy and security officers in front of the seized hashish shipment (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Caretaker Interior Minister Mohammed Fahmy and security officers in front of the seized hashish shipment (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Lebanon has foiled a plot to smuggle four tons of hashish from Sidon to the Egyptian port of Alexandria

President Michel Aoun praised the security operation that thwarted the smuggling attempt of the KayfHash to Alexandria, saying it is an “achievement” for the Lebanese Customs.

Aoun stressed that cooperation and coordination between various security apparatuses achieve such results that show Lebanon's keenness to combat smuggling of all kinds and thwart all attempts that harm the country's reputation and its relations with brotherly and friendly countries, the National News Agency (NNA) reported.

The NNA stated that the Caretaker Interior Minister Mohammed Fahmy visited the old port of Sidon, after the Anti-Narcotics Office in South Lebanon, in coordination with Sidon’s customs office, managed to seize two trucks containing cannabis inside metal containers, ready to be transported for shipping.

Fahmy inspected the seized shipment, praising the distinguished coordination between the Customs Directorate, the Anti-Narcotics Office, and the Information Division, which led to this achievement.

He confirmed that Lebanon will soon have the most modern equipment, indicating that the operation is a completion of all the measures taken to end all kinds of smuggling networks.

The Acting Director-General of Customs, Raymond Khoury, spoke about the difficulties they face, referring to the power outage in the port in the absence of the required capabilities.

Khoury indicated that Lebanese Customs suffers from personnel and equipment shortage, especially modern equipment, noting there are also some problems with a number of vehicles.



UN: At Least 542 Killed in North Darfur in Past 3 Weeks

World Food Program (WFP) food assistance is unloaded in Tawila, where people displaced from El Fasher and Zamzam camp have arrived over the past week across four locations, in North Darfur, Sudan April 28, 2025. WFP/Mohamed Galal /Handout via REUTERS
World Food Program (WFP) food assistance is unloaded in Tawila, where people displaced from El Fasher and Zamzam camp have arrived over the past week across four locations, in North Darfur, Sudan April 28, 2025. WFP/Mohamed Galal /Handout via REUTERS
TT
20

UN: At Least 542 Killed in North Darfur in Past 3 Weeks

World Food Program (WFP) food assistance is unloaded in Tawila, where people displaced from El Fasher and Zamzam camp have arrived over the past week across four locations, in North Darfur, Sudan April 28, 2025. WFP/Mohamed Galal /Handout via REUTERS
World Food Program (WFP) food assistance is unloaded in Tawila, where people displaced from El Fasher and Zamzam camp have arrived over the past week across four locations, in North Darfur, Sudan April 28, 2025. WFP/Mohamed Galal /Handout via REUTERS

At least 542 civilians have been confirmed killed in Sudan's North Darfur region in the past three weeks, the United Nations said Thursday, warning the actual death toll was likely "much higher.”

"The horror unfolding in Sudan knows no bounds," UN rights chief Volker Turk said in a statement, referring to the country's ongoing civil war.

Darfur in particular has become a key battleground in the war that erupted on April 15, 2023 between the regular army, led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), headed by his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.

The war has left tens of thousands dead and triggered what aid agencies describe as the world's largest displacement and hunger crises.

The battle for El-Fasher, the last major city in Darfur to elude RSF control, has intensified in recent weeks as the paramilitaries have sought to compensate for their loss of the capital Khartoum last month.

According to AFP, Turk pointed to an attack three days ago by the RSF on El-Fasher and the Abu Shouk camp that killed at least 40 civilians.

"This brings the confirmed number of civilians killed in North Darfur to at least 542 in just the last three weeks," he said.

"The actual death toll is likely much higher."

He also cited "the ominous warning by the RSF of 'bloodshed' ahead of imminent battles with the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and their associated armed movements."

"Everything must be done to protect civilians trapped amid dire conditions in and around El-Fasher."

Turk also highlighted "reports of extrajudicial executions in Khartoum state", which he described as "extremely disturbing".

"Horrific videos circulating on social media show at least 30 men in civilian clothing being rounded up and executed by armed men in RSF uniforms in Al-Salha in southern Omdurman," he said, adding that in a subsequent video, "an RSF field commander acknowledged the killings."

Those videos came after "shocking reports in recent weeks of the extrajudicial execution of dozens of people accused of collaborating with the RSF in southern Khartoum, allegedly committed by the Al-Baraa Brigade", a pro-SAF militia, Turk said.

"Deliberately taking the life of a civilian or anyone no longer directly taking part in hostilities is a war crime," he insisted.

The UN rights chief said he had "personally alerted both leaders of the RSF and SAF to the catastrophic human rights consequences of this war".

"These harrowing consequences are a daily, lived reality for millions of Sudanese. It is well past time for this conflict to stop."