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Sudan Official: Death Toll from Days of Tribal Clashes at 79

Scores of Hausa people gather outside local government offices in Port Sudan, on the Red Sea, on July 19, 2022 to demand justice for comrades killed in a deadly land dispute with a rival ethnic group in the country's south. (AFP)
Scores of Hausa people gather outside local government offices in Port Sudan, on the Red Sea, on July 19, 2022 to demand justice for comrades killed in a deadly land dispute with a rival ethnic group in the country's south. (AFP)
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Sudan Official: Death Toll from Days of Tribal Clashes at 79

Scores of Hausa people gather outside local government offices in Port Sudan, on the Red Sea, on July 19, 2022 to demand justice for comrades killed in a deadly land dispute with a rival ethnic group in the country's south. (AFP)
Scores of Hausa people gather outside local government offices in Port Sudan, on the Red Sea, on July 19, 2022 to demand justice for comrades killed in a deadly land dispute with a rival ethnic group in the country's south. (AFP)

Days of tribal clashes in a southern province in Sudan have killed at least 79 people, a senior Sudanese official said Tuesday as violent protests erupted in two nearby provinces in the East African nation.

The clashes between the Hausa and Birta ethnic groups in the Blue Nile province grew out of a killing of a farmer last week. The violence has also injured around 200 people, according to Gamal Nasser al-Sayed, the province’s health minister.

The minister appealed to the United Nations and global aid agencies to step up medical and humanitarian assistance to help those who were forced to flee their homes because of the fighting.

"Thousands, mostly women and children, are now living in schools and in the open," said al-Sayed, speaking over the phone. "They need help, they need food, they need healthcare."

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said the tribal violence has displaced about 15,500 people, who are now mostly sheltering in schools in the town of Damazin.

Earlier this week, authorities deployed the military and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in efforts to stabilize the region. They also imposed a nightly curfew and banned gatherings in the towns of Roseires and Damazin, where the clashes took place.

The violence in Blue Nile triggered violent demonstrations in the neighboring province of Sennar and the nearby Kassala province. Thousands, mostly from the Hausa, took to the streets over the past two days to protest the government’s lack of response to the clashes.

Local media reported that at least three people were killed in protests in Kassala on Monday, and that angry protesters burned government buildings there. Local authorities banned all gatherings in the provincial capital, the city of Kassala.

The clashes were the latest tribal violence to hit Sudan, which is in turmoil since the military took over in a coup last October. The coup removed a civilian-led and Western backed government, upending the country’s short-lived transition to democracy after nearly three decades of rule of president Omar al-Bashir.

A popular uprising forced the removal of Bashir and his government in April 2019.

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Arab World

Israel's Netanyahu Says No Reconstruction of Gaza before Demilitarization

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu - File Photo/AFP
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu - File Photo/AFP
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Israel's Netanyahu Says No Reconstruction of Gaza before Demilitarization

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu - File Photo/AFP
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu - File Photo/AFP

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday there would be no reconstruction of war-shattered Gaza before the disarmament of Hamas, as the "Board of Peace" convened for its inaugural meeting in Washington.

Around two dozen world leaders and senior officials met for the first meeting of the board, which was set up after the United States, Qatar and Egypt negotiated a ceasefire in October to halt two years of war in the Gaza Strip.

"We agreed with our ally the US there will be no reconstruction of Gaza before the demilitarization of Gaza," Netanyahu said during a televised speech at a military ceremony on Thursday, AFP reported.

The meeting in Washington will also look at how to launch the International Stabilization Force (ISF) that will ensure security in Gaza.

One of the most sensitive issues before the board is the future of the Islamist movement Hamas, which fought the war with Israel and still exerts influence in the territory.

Disarmament of the group is a central Israeli demand and a key point in negotiations over the ceasefire's next stage.

US officials including Steve Witkoff, Trump's friend and roving negotiator, have insisted that solid progress is being made and that Hamas is feeling pressure to give up weapons.

Israel has suggested sweeping restrictions including seizing small personal rifles from Hamas.

It remains unclear whether, or how, the Palestinian technocratic committee formed to handle day-to-day governance of Gaza will address the issue of demilitarization.

The 15-member National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG) will operate under the supervision of the "Board of Peace", and its head, Ali Shaath, is attending the meeting in Washington on Thursday.

Arab World

Trump Tells First Meeting of Board of Peace that $7 billion Raised for Gaza

US President Donald Trump speaking in Washington - AFP
US President Donald Trump speaking in Washington - AFP
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Trump Tells First Meeting of Board of Peace that $7 billion Raised for Gaza

US President Donald Trump speaking in Washington - AFP
US President Donald Trump speaking in Washington - AFP

US President Donald Trump told the first meeting of his Board of Peace on Thursday that $7 billion has been contributed to a Gaza reconstruction fund that aims to rebuild the enclave once Hamas disarms, an objective that is far from becoming a reality.

The disarmament of Hamas militants and accompanying withdrawal of Israeli troops, the size of the reconstruction fund and the flow of humanitarian aid to the war-battered populace of Gaza are among the major questions likely to test the effectiveness of the board in the weeks and months ahead.

In a flurry of announcements at the end of a long, winding speech, Trump said the United States will make a contribution of $10 billion to the Board of Peace. He said contributing nations had raised $7 billion as an initial down payment for Gaza reconstruction.

Trump first proposed the board last September when he announced his plan to end Israel's war in Gaza. He later made clear the board's remit would be expanded beyond Gaza to tackle other conflicts worldwide.

Trump also said FIFA will raise $75 million for soccer-related projects in Gaza and that the United Nations will chip in $2 billion for humanitarian assistance.

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The Board of Peace includes Israel but not Palestinian representatives and Trump's suggestion that the Board could eventually address challenges beyond Gaza has stirred anxiety that it could undermine the U.N.'s role as the main platform for global diplomacy and conflict resolution.

"We're going to strengthen the United Nations," Trump said, trying to assuage his critics. "It's really very important."

The meeting came as Trump threatens war against Iran and has embarked on a massive military buildup in the region in case Tehran refuses to give up its nuclear program.

Trump said he should know in 10 days whether a deal is possible. "We have to have a meaningful deal," he said.

The event had the feel of a Trump campaign rally, with music blaring from his eclectic playlist from Elvis Presley to the Beach Boys. Red Trump hats were given to participants.

Senior US officials said Trump will also announce that several nations are planning to send thousands of troops to participate in an International Stabilization Force that will help keep the peace in Gaza when it eventually deploys.

Hamas, fearful of Israeli reprisals, has been reluctant to hand over weaponry as part of Trump's 20-point Gaza plan that brought about a fragile ceasefire last October in the two-year Gaza war.

Trump said he hoped use of force to disarm Hamas would not be necessary. He said Hamas had promised to disarm and it "looks like they're going to be doing that, but we'll have to find out."

Arab World

Few People Left at Syria Camp that Held ISIS Families, Former Director Says

Children, part of a group of detainees, look through a fence at al-Hol camp after the Syrian government took control of it following the withdrawal of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), in Hasaka, Syria, January 21, 2026. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi
Children, part of a group of detainees, look through a fence at al-Hol camp after the Syrian government took control of it following the withdrawal of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), in Hasaka, Syria, January 21, 2026. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi
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Few People Left at Syria Camp that Held ISIS Families, Former Director Says

Children, part of a group of detainees, look through a fence at al-Hol camp after the Syrian government took control of it following the withdrawal of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), in Hasaka, Syria, January 21, 2026. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi
Children, part of a group of detainees, look through a fence at al-Hol camp after the Syrian government took control of it following the withdrawal of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), in Hasaka, Syria, January 21, 2026. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi

Fewer than 1,000 families remain at a camp where relatives of suspected ISIS militants had been held in Syria's northeast, the camp's former director said on Wednesday, with thousands having fled last month as government forces seized control of the area from Kurdish-led fighters.

Al-Hol, near the Iraqi border, was one of the main detention camps for relatives of suspected ISIS militants who were detained during the US-backed campaign against the terrorist group in Syria.

Control of the camp changed hands last month when government forces under President Ahmed al-Sharaa seized swathes of the northeast from the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, including several jails holding ISIS militants. The US military said last week it had completed a mission to transfer 5,700 adult male ISIS detainees to Iraq.

Jihan Hanna, the former director who still coordinates with international agencies and the Syrian government, told Reuters the remaining families were Syrian nationals and were being transferred to a camp in Aleppo. Most of the camp’s foreign nationals had fled, she said.

The Syrian government did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

According to the latest camp data obtained by Reuters, dated January 19 - a day before the government took control of the camp - its population was 6,639 families comprising 23,407 people, mostly Syrians and Iraqis, as well as 6,280 foreigners from more than 40 nationalities.

UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, said it had observed "a significant decrease in the number of residents in al-Hol camp in recent weeks," adding in a statement to Reuters that there were no confirmed figures on the remaining population.

"Over the weekend the camp administration advised UNHCR not to enter the camp due to the unrest and anxiety in the camp," UNHCR added.

The Syrian government accused the SDF of withdrawing from al-Hol on January 20 without any coordination.

The SDF, in a statement that day, said its forces had been "compelled to withdraw from al-Hol camp and redeploy to areas surrounding cities in northern Syria that are facing increasing risks and threats."

A Syrian government security source said most people in the camp fled that day during a five-hour period when it was unguarded, and that some had left with men who came to take their relatives to unknown destinations.

The security source and a source from a non-governmental organization working there said a section of the camp that housed its most dangerous residents, known as the annex, was empty.

The security source said the escapees had spread throughout Syria and that security authorities, working in cooperation with international partners, had established a unit to "follow up on the matter and pursue those who are wanted."

Some have left Syria.

In Lebanon, the army has questioned more than a dozen Lebanese who crossed illegally from Syria after leaving al-Hol, a Lebanese security source said.

The Syrian government’s Directorate of International Cooperation said on Tuesday that hundreds of people, mostly women and children, had been transferred from al-Hol to a newly prepared camp near the town of Akhtarin in northern Aleppo.