Sudan, Chad: Joint Plans to Fight Terrorist Groups

Head of Sudan’s Transitional Sovereignty Council (TSC) Gen. Abdel-Fattah Al-Burhan held on Sunday talks with President of the Chadian Transitional Military Council, Gen. Mahamat Idriss Deby. (SUNA)
Head of Sudan’s Transitional Sovereignty Council (TSC) Gen. Abdel-Fattah Al-Burhan held on Sunday talks with President of the Chadian Transitional Military Council, Gen. Mahamat Idriss Deby. (SUNA)
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Sudan, Chad: Joint Plans to Fight Terrorist Groups

Head of Sudan’s Transitional Sovereignty Council (TSC) Gen. Abdel-Fattah Al-Burhan held on Sunday talks with President of the Chadian Transitional Military Council, Gen. Mahamat Idriss Deby. (SUNA)
Head of Sudan’s Transitional Sovereignty Council (TSC) Gen. Abdel-Fattah Al-Burhan held on Sunday talks with President of the Chadian Transitional Military Council, Gen. Mahamat Idriss Deby. (SUNA)

Head of Sudan’s Transitional Sovereignty Council (TSC) Gen. Abdel-Fattah Al-Burhan held on Sunday talks with President of the Chadian Transitional Military Council Gen. Mahamat Idriss Deby on means to boost joint security cooperation to fight terrorist and extremist groups operating on the border of both countries and some neighboring African states.

Deby arrived in Khartoum Sunday on a two-day official visit to Sudan, the first since he assumed power in Chad last April following the assassination of his father Idriss Deby Itno, who died on the battlefield after three decades in power.

“There is a need to cooperate and work together to confront the challenges facing the two countries that are represented in terrorism and extremist groups,” Burhan said during the meeting, underscoring the importance of activating the security cooperation agreement signed between Sudan, Chad, Libya and Niger in N'Djamena in 2018 to secure the borders.

Burhan praised the distinguished deep-rooted and historical relations linking the two countries and pointed to the great role played by late President Idriss Deby in strengthening the bonds of cooperation between Sudan and Chad.

He also called for boosting cooperation between the two countries and supporting social coexistence, indicating that there are many cooperation agreements between Chad and Sudan that should be activated for the benefit of the two peoples.

For his part, Deby said, “We have the will to confront the challenges and issues facing the two countries,” adding that his country is going through a transitional period, and they look forward for support from Sudan, as it is a neighbor and friend of Chad.

The President of the Chadian Transitional Military Council then stressed the importance of activating joint cooperation agreements between the two countries, pointing out that the experience of the joint forces is a model, calling for its development.

Deby also spoke about the importance of integration, concerted efforts and joint cooperation with the African Union in border security, combating terrorism and cross-border security breaches.

The Chadian official also met with TSC’s First Vice-President, Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who called on the importance of joint action and coordination to achieve the common interests of the two peoples and for activating the bilateral mechanisms between the two countries, in order to push bilateral relations to wider horizons.



Israel Keeps Up Gaza Bombardment as Ceasefire Talks Intensify

Smoke rises following an explosion in the Gaza Strip as seen from southern Israel, Wednesday, Dec.18, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Smoke rises following an explosion in the Gaza Strip as seen from southern Israel, Wednesday, Dec.18, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
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Israel Keeps Up Gaza Bombardment as Ceasefire Talks Intensify

Smoke rises following an explosion in the Gaza Strip as seen from southern Israel, Wednesday, Dec.18, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Smoke rises following an explosion in the Gaza Strip as seen from southern Israel, Wednesday, Dec.18, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

US and Arab mediators are working round-the-clock to hammer out a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, sources close to the talks said, while in the Gaza Strip medics said Israeli strikes had killed 13 Palestinians on Thursday.
The mediators, at talks in Egypt and Qatar, seek to forge a deal to pause the 14-month-old war in the Hamas-ruled enclave that would include a release of hostages seized from Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, along with Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, Reuters said.
Mediators had managed to narrow some gaps on previous sticking points but differences remained, the sources said.
In Gaza, medics said at least 13 Palestinians were killed overnight in separate Israeli airstrikes, including on two houses in Gaza City and a central camp.
Residents of Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip, where the army has operated since October, said forces blew up clusters of houses overnight.
"The longer those talks last, the more destruction and death takes place in Gaza. Jabalia, Beit Hanoun, and Beit Lahiya are being wiped out, Rafah too," said Adel, 60, a resident of Jabalia, who is now displaced in Gaza City.
Palestinians accuse Israel of ethnic cleansing in those areas by depopulating residents to create buffer zones. Israel denies this and says its campaign aims to wipe out Hamas, a militant group, and to prevent it from regrouping.
Israel accuses Hamas of exploiting civilian infrastructure and the population as a human shield for its activities. Hamas denies it and accuses Israel of trying to justify the indiscriminate killing of Palestinian civilians.
PHASED OR COMPREHENSIVE?
Sources close to the mediation efforts said Hamas had pushed for a one-package deal but Israel wanted a phased one. Talks are focused on a first-phase release of hostages, dead or alive, as well as a number of Palestinians jailed by Israel.
On Tuesday, the sides discussed the numbers and categories of those to be released, but things have yet to be finalized, said a source who spoke anonymously because of the sensitivity of the talks.
The source said one issue was Israel's demand to retain the right to act against any possible military threat from Gaza and the stationing of Israeli forces during phases of the deal.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Tuesday Israel will have security control over Gaza with full freedom of action after defeating Hamas in the enclave.
Israel launched its air and ground assault on Gaza after Hamas-led fighters attacked Israeli communities 14 months ago, killing 1,200 people and taking over 250 hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel says about 100 hostages are still being held, but it is unclear how many are alive.
Israel's campaign has killed more than 45,000 Palestinians, displaced most of the 2.3 million population and reduced much of the coastal enclave to ruins.
On Thursday, Human Rights Watch said Israel had killed thousands of Palestinians in Gaza by denying them clean water which it says legally amounts to acts of genocide and extermination.
Israel's foreign ministry accused the rights group of lying, writing on X that Israel had facilitated the continuous flow of water and humanitarian aid into Gaza since the start of the war despite constant attacks by Hamas.