Seasonal Floods Destroy Over 2,500 Homes in Eastern Sudan

A man carries belongings as he wades through of a flooded road in the town of Shaqilab, about (25 km) southwest of the capital, Khartoum, Sudan, Monday, Aug. 31, 2020. (AP Photo/Marwan Ali)
A man carries belongings as he wades through of a flooded road in the town of Shaqilab, about (25 km) southwest of the capital, Khartoum, Sudan, Monday, Aug. 31, 2020. (AP Photo/Marwan Ali)
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Seasonal Floods Destroy Over 2,500 Homes in Eastern Sudan

A man carries belongings as he wades through of a flooded road in the town of Shaqilab, about (25 km) southwest of the capital, Khartoum, Sudan, Monday, Aug. 31, 2020. (AP Photo/Marwan Ali)
A man carries belongings as he wades through of a flooded road in the town of Shaqilab, about (25 km) southwest of the capital, Khartoum, Sudan, Monday, Aug. 31, 2020. (AP Photo/Marwan Ali)

Deadly seasonal floods have collapsed more than 2,500 houses in eastern Sudan, state news has reported, leaving thousands homeless in an already impoverished region.

Another 546 houses were partially destroyed by torrential rains in River Nile province, SUNA news agency said late on Thursday.

Since the start of the rainy season in May, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says that an estimated 38,000 people have been affected by the floods across the East African country.

So far, the areas hardest hit include Kassala, South Darfur, Central Darfur, South Kordofan, the White Nile and the River Nile provinces, The Associated Press reported.

The total nationwide death toll remains undetermined. On Wednesday, SUNA reported that two children were killed when floods destroyed their home in the central province of the While Nile.

Earlier, OCHA said that at least another six people had died, and an unconfirmed number of people were injured when their houses collapsed or were washed away by floods in the Central Darfur province.

About 2,800 houses were destroyed, and more than 1,620 houses damaged in the same province, according to an OCHA statement released on Monday.

Last month, the UN said that flash floods killed another 12 people in South Darfur.

Sudan's rainy season usually lasts until September, with floods peaking up between August and September. In 2021, more than 314,000 people were affected by rains and flooding across Sudan, according to the UN.



Israel Presses Jenin Raid

Israeli army vehicles block a road on the second day of an Israeli military operation in the West Bank city of Jenin, 22 January 2025. EPA/ALAA BADARNEH
Israeli army vehicles block a road on the second day of an Israeli military operation in the West Bank city of Jenin, 22 January 2025. EPA/ALAA BADARNEH
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Israel Presses Jenin Raid

Israeli army vehicles block a road on the second day of an Israeli military operation in the West Bank city of Jenin, 22 January 2025. EPA/ALAA BADARNEH
Israeli army vehicles block a road on the second day of an Israeli military operation in the West Bank city of Jenin, 22 January 2025. EPA/ALAA BADARNEH

A Palestinian official reported shooting and explosions in the flashpoint West Bank town of Jenin on Wednesday as Israeli forces pressed a raid that the military described as a "counterterrorism" operation.

"The situation is very difficult," Kamal Abu al-Rub, the governor of Jenin, told AFP.

"The occupation army has bulldozed all the roads leading to the Jenin camp, and leading to the Jenin Governmental Hospital... There is shooting and explosions," he added.

On Tuesday, Israeli forces launched an operation in Jenin which Palestinian officials said killed 10 people, just days after a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took effect in the Gaza Strip.

According to Abu al-Rub, Israeli forces detained around 20 people from villages near Jenin, a bastion of Palestinian militancy.

The Israeli military said it had launched a "counterterrorism operation" in the area, and had "hit over 10 terrorists.”

"Additionally, aerial strikes on terror infrastructure sites were conducted and numerous explosives planted on the routes by the terrorists were dismantled," it said in a statement on Wednesday.

"The Israeli forces are continuing the operation."

Defense Minister Israel Katz vowed to continue the assault.

"It is a decisive operation aimed at eliminating terrorists in the camp," Katz said in a statement on Wednesday, adding that the military would not allow a "terror front" to be established there.

On Tuesday, the Israeli military and the Shin Bet security agency announced that, in coordination with the Border Police, they had launched an operation named "Iron Wall" in the area.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the raid aimed to "eradicate terrorism" in Jenin.

He linked the operation to a broader strategy of countering Iran "wherever it sends its arms — in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen," and the West Bank.

The Palestinian Health Ministry says more than 800 people have been killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank since October 2023.