Turkish Forces Supervise Training, Graduation of Batch of Libyan Officers  

Head of the Government of National Unity Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah. (Reuters)
Head of the Government of National Unity Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah. (Reuters)
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Turkish Forces Supervise Training, Graduation of Batch of Libyan Officers  

Head of the Government of National Unity Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah. (Reuters)
Head of the Government of National Unity Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah. (Reuters)

The Commander of the Turkish forces in Libya, Colonel Osman Itaj, and Muhammad Al-Haddad, the chief of staff of the forces loyal to Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah's Government of National Unity (GNU) attended on Friday the graduation ceremony of a new batch of infantry, artillery and armored school officers, after they received training by the Turkish army.  

Meanwhile, the Chief of Staff of the Land Forces announced his intention to form and build two infantry brigades and an artillery regiment, to boost the military.  

On a different note, Libya’s second vice-president, Abdallah El Lafi, arrived in Niamey on Friday participate in a summit on African industrialization and economic diversification.  

On Thursday, Parliament Speaker Aguila Saleh announced that he met in the city of Al-Qubba, with Qatar’s ambassador, Khaled Al-Dosari, with whom he discussed bilateral relations, the latest developments on Libya, and means to end the Libyan crisis by holding elections.  

Al-Dosari was quoted as confirming his country’s support for Libya to overcome the current crisis, preserve the unity of the Libyan territory, support the political track, and hold free and fair elections based on consensus among Libyans.  

On the other hand, the Anti-Illegal Migration Authority in Libya organized, on Friday, land convoys to the eastern and southern borders of the country, to return more than 200 migrants to their countries of origin, in an unusual coordination between the divided authorities in eastern and western Libya.  

Since the beginning of this year and until last month, more than 20,000 migrants have been returned to Libya. While the fate of 714 migrants remains unknown, more than 400 drowned, according to the International Organization for Migration. Most of them cross Libya’s vast desert borders from Sudan, Chad, Niger and Egypt. 



Sudan Army Says Recaptures Key State Capital

Sudanese civilians displaced by offensive south of Khartoum earlier this year dream of returning to their homes after the regular army retakes territory - AFP
Sudanese civilians displaced by offensive south of Khartoum earlier this year dream of returning to their homes after the regular army retakes territory - AFP
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Sudan Army Says Recaptures Key State Capital

Sudanese civilians displaced by offensive south of Khartoum earlier this year dream of returning to their homes after the regular army retakes territory - AFP
Sudanese civilians displaced by offensive south of Khartoum earlier this year dream of returning to their homes after the regular army retakes territory - AFP

The Sudanese army said Saturday it had retaken a key state capital south of Khartoum from rival Rapid Support Forces who had held it for the past five months.

The Sennar state capital of Sinja is a strategic prize in the 19-month-old war between the regular army and the RSF as it lies on a key road linking army-controlled areas of eastern and central Sudan.

It posted footage on social media that it said had been filmed inside the main base in the city.

"Sinja has returned to the embrace of the nation," the information minister of the army-backed government, Khaled al-Aiser, said in a statement.

Aiser's office said armed forces chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan had travelled to the city of Sennar, 60 kilometres (40 miles) to the north, on Saturday to "inspect the operation and celebrate the liberation of Sinja", AFP reported.

The RSF had taken the two cities in a lightning offensive in June that saw nearly 726,000 civilians flee, according to UN figures.

Human rights groups have said that those who were unwilling or unable to leave have faced months of arbitrary violence by RSF fighters.

Sinja teacher Abdullah al-Hassan spoke of his "indescribable joy" at seeing the army enter the city after "months of terror".

"At any moment, you were waiting for militia fighters to barge in and beat you or loot you," the 53-year-old told AFP by telephone.

Both sides in the Sudanese conflict have been accused of war crimes, including indiscriminately shelling homes, markets and hospitals.

The RSF has also been accused of summary executions, systematic sexual violence and rampant looting.

The RSF control nearly all of the vast western region of Darfur as well as large swathes of Kordofan in the south. They also hold much of the capital Khartoum and the key farming state of Al-Jazira to its south.

Since April 2023, the war has killed tens of thousands of people and uprooted more than 11 million -- creating what the UN says is the world's largest displacement crisis.

From the eastern state of Gedaref -- where more than 1.1 million displaced people have sought refuge -- Asia Khedr, 46, said she hoped her family's ordeal might soon be at an end.

"We'll finally go home and say goodbye to this life of displacement and suffering," she told AFP.