After ‘Doomsday’ Floods, Sudanese Fear Worse to Come

Over 30,000 houses have been damaged in floods in Sudan: this home is in the village of Makaylab in River Nile state - AFP
Over 30,000 houses have been damaged in floods in Sudan: this home is in the village of Makaylab in River Nile state - AFP
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After ‘Doomsday’ Floods, Sudanese Fear Worse to Come

Over 30,000 houses have been damaged in floods in Sudan: this home is in the village of Makaylab in River Nile state - AFP
Over 30,000 houses have been damaged in floods in Sudan: this home is in the village of Makaylab in River Nile state - AFP

In the Sudanese village of Makaylab, Mohamed Tigani picked through the pile of rubble that was once his mud-brick home, after torrential rains sparked heavy floods that swept it away.

"It was like doomsday," said Tigani, 53, from Makaylab in Sudan's River Nile state, some 400 kilometers (250 miles) north of the capital Khartoum.

"We have not seen rains and floods like that in this area for years," he said, scouring for anything to help build a shelter for his pregnant wife and child.

In Sudan, heavy rains usually fall between May and October, and the country faces severe flooding every year, wrecking property, infrastructure and crops.

This year, floods have killed at least 79 people and left thousands homeless, according to official figures.

On Sunday, Sudan declared a state of emergency due to floods in six states, including River Nile.

The crisis comes as Sudan reels from deepening political unrest and a spiralling economic crisis exacerbated by last year's military coup led by army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.

Almost a quarter of Sudan's population -- 11.7 million people -- need food aid.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), citing government figures, estimates over 146,000 people have been affected by flooding this year, with 31,500 homes damaged or destroyed.

But the UN warns that with more than a month of rain still expected, flooding could affect up to 460,000 people this year -- far higher than the average 388,600 people affected between 2017 and 2021.

"Compared to the same period of 2021, the number of affected people and localities this year has doubled," OCHA said Monday.

The flooding is not just along the Nile River, with the war-ravaged western region of Darfur the hardest hit, where over 90,000 people are affected.

Since the start of the devastating rainy season, thousands of Sudanese families have been left homeless, sheltering under tattered sacking.

"Everything is totally destroyed," said Haidar Abdelrahman, sitting in the ruins of his home at Makaylab.

OCHA warns that "swollen rivers and pools of standing water increase the risk of water-borne disease such as cholera, acute watery diarrhoea, and malaria".

Abdelrahman said he fears the floodwaters have also forced scorpions and snakes to move. "People are scared," he said.

"People are in serious need of basic aid against insects and mosquitoes," said Seifeddine Soliman, 62, from Makaylab.

But health ministry official Yasser Hashem said the situation is "so far under control" with "spraying campaigns to prevent mosquitoes".

Out of around 3,000 residents in Makaylab, they had been receiving about six or seven cases daily, mainly diarrhoea, he said.

Upstream, on the White Nile, neighboring South Sudan has seen record rainfalls and overflowing rivers in recent years, forcing hundreds of thousands of people from their homes, with the UN saying the "extraordinary flooding" was linked to the effects of climate change.

The floods on the Nile in Sudan also come despite Ethiopia's controversial construction upstream across the Blue Nile of a 145-metre (475-foot) tall hydroelectric dam.

Some experts, such as the US-based research and campaign group International Rivers, have warned that changing weather patterns due to climate change could result in irregular episodes of flooding and drought in the Nile drainage basin, the world's longest river.

In Makaylab, many fear the devastating floods are only the beginning.

"The rainy season is just starting," said Abdelrahman. "And there is no place for people to go."



Damascus Says Security Operation Ends in Ashrafiyat Sahnaya

Armed members of Syria's Druze community attend the funeral of seven people killed during overnight clashes with Syrian security forces, in Damascus, on April 30, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
Armed members of Syria's Druze community attend the funeral of seven people killed during overnight clashes with Syrian security forces, in Damascus, on April 30, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
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Damascus Says Security Operation Ends in Ashrafiyat Sahnaya

Armed members of Syria's Druze community attend the funeral of seven people killed during overnight clashes with Syrian security forces, in Damascus, on April 30, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
Armed members of Syria's Druze community attend the funeral of seven people killed during overnight clashes with Syrian security forces, in Damascus, on April 30, 2025. (Photo by AFP)

The head of security in Syria’s Damascus countryside, Hussam Al-Tahan, said a security operation in the flashpoint town of Ashrafiyat Sahnaya had concluded, with Syrian forces now deployed across all neighborhoods to restore calm and stability.

State-run SANA news agency quoted Tahan as saying security forces had taken full control of the area, located southwest of the capital, and were launching measures to secure civilians and stabilize the situation.

Syrian state television reported that large reinforcements from General Security had entered the town to pursue what it described as “outlawed groups,” with forces now deployed at all entry and exit points to prevent further violence.

At least 75 people were injured over the past 48 hours in Sahnaya, according to state television, amid heavy gunfire and attacks blamed on armed groups. The clashes have stoked fears of deepening sectarian tensions in the area.

In an effort to defuse the crisis, local dignitaries and religious leaders from the Druze community held a meeting with the governors of Damascus countryside, Sweida, and Quneitra. Syria’s top cleric, Grand Mufti Sheikh Osama Abdul Karim Al-Rifai, called on citizens to reject sectarian strife.

“Any act of revenge or retaliation is unjust,” the Mufti said in a televised address on Wednesday. “Syrian blood is sacred. Do not listen to calls for revenge – extinguishing this strife will save lives,” he added, urging Syrians to allow justice to take its course.

The Interior Ministry said in a statement that armed militants had launched a surprise assault on several General Security checkpoints in Ashrafiyat Sahnaya using light weapons and rocket-propelled grenades, injuring a number of personnel.

In response, security forces fanned out across the area. But snipers from the armed groups reportedly took up positions on rooftops, targeting officers and killing five General Security members and wounding others.

In the early hours of Wednesday, the ministry added, militants opened fire on a vehicle arriving from the southern province of Daraa, killing six civilians inside.

General Security forces have since tightened control in and around the town, sending additional units to contain the violence and ensure the safety of residents.

A curfew was imposed on Tuesday after gunmen based in a nearby town launched an attack on security posts surrounding Ashrafiyat Sahnaya. The situation briefly calmed after General Security forces took up positions at the town’s eastern entrance, but clashes flared again overnight and continued into Wednesday morning.

A security source in Damascus said a wide-scale sweep was underway to arrest armed groups accused of using the town as a base for launching “terrorist operations” against civilians.

Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, residents described a harrowing night of intense gunfire, explosions, and drone activity. “We didn’t sleep. The sound of gunfire and mortars didn’t stop,” said one civilian source. “Snipers were on rooftops, and drones hovered all night.”

With no reliable news source other than conflicting and fear-inducing social media updates, residents expressed confusion about the unfolding events.

Locals called on Syrian civil society to act and protest against incitement and militia activity, urging the disarmament of rogue groups. They warned that armed factions from outside Sahnaya were launching attacks from the town’s outskirts, including a shooting incident on Tuesday that targeted a General Security checkpoint.

Tensions flared further in and around the Syrian capital as the town of Jaramana, south of Damascus, held funerals on Wednesday for seven people killed in overnight clashes earlier this week.

The city witnessed heavy fighting between Monday and Tuesday night, part of a broader wave of unrest in southern Damascus and surrounding areas.