عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Arab World

Sudan: Tensions Rise as Military Confrontation Looms

An image of reinforcements belonging to the Rapid Support Forces in Sudan (Social Media)
An image of reinforcements belonging to the Rapid Support Forces in Sudan (Social Media)
TT
20
TT

Sudan: Tensions Rise as Military Confrontation Looms

An image of reinforcements belonging to the Rapid Support Forces in Sudan (Social Media)
An image of reinforcements belonging to the Rapid Support Forces in Sudan (Social Media)

Tensions between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have peaked, with both sides resorting to military mobilization and counter-mobilization.

International, regional, and domestic mediators from civil and armed factions have rushed to take urgent action to halt the mutual escalation and calm the situation before it worsens.

The dispute arose on Wednesday after the RSF, an elite paramilitary force, deployed troops in the city of Meroe, north of Khartoum.

However, the army intercepted these forces and prevented them from advancing from around the international airport of the city.

Local sources informed Asharq Al-Awsat that the situation in Meroe remained tense until Thursday evening.

Both parties remain in a state of extreme readiness in their positions, sources added.

Reports from military sources indicated that the army gave the RSF a 24-hour deadline, which ended on Thursday, to withdraw immediately from the city.

Despite the army’s deadline, RSF units are still stationed in their positions, sources revealed.

Social media activists reported that RSF armored and military vehicles, led by the deputy chairman of the Sovereignty Council, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (Hemetti), had arrived from Darfur and were bound for military sites and headquarters in the center of the capital, Khartoum.

The military movements by the army and RSF have raised concerns and serious worries among citizens about the country being dragged into a civil war.

A convoy of vehicles belonging to the RSF, which included armored trucks, was spotted entering Khartoum and roaming its streets.

Rising tensions led the US embassy in Khartoum to issue a warning to its citizens against traveling to the northern state and adjacent areas.

“Due to the increased presence of security forces, American citizens are advised to avoid travel to Karima, Northern Sudan, and surrounding areas,” said a statement released by the US embassy.

Most Viewed

 
Arab World

UN Envoy Condemns Intense Wave of Israeli Airstrikes on Syria

A Druze woman waves to relatives fleeing violence in Damascus, as they arrive in the buffer zone across from the village of Majdal Shams in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on May 3, 2025. (AFP)
A Druze woman waves to relatives fleeing violence in Damascus, as they arrive in the buffer zone across from the village of Majdal Shams in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on May 3, 2025. (AFP)
TT
20
TT

UN Envoy Condemns Intense Wave of Israeli Airstrikes on Syria

A Druze woman waves to relatives fleeing violence in Damascus, as they arrive in the buffer zone across from the village of Majdal Shams in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on May 3, 2025. (AFP)
A Druze woman waves to relatives fleeing violence in Damascus, as they arrive in the buffer zone across from the village of Majdal Shams in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on May 3, 2025. (AFP)

The United Nations special envoy for Syria on Saturday condemned an intense wave of Israeli airstrikes as Israel said its forces were on the ground in Syria to protect the Druze minority sect following days of clashes with Syrian pro-government gunmen.

The late Friday airstrikes were reported in different parts of the capital, Damascus, and its suburbs, as well as southern and central Syria, local Syrian media reported. They came hours after Israel’s air force struck near Syria’s presidential palace after warning Syrian authorities not to march toward villages inhabited by Syrian Druze.

Israel’s military spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, wrote on X that the strikes targeted a military post and anti-aircraft units. He also said the Israeli troops in Southern Syria were “to prevent any hostile force from entering the area or Druze villages" and that five Syrian Druze wounded in the fighting were transported for treatment in Israel.

The Israeli military issued another statement later Saturday saying that 12 warplanes carried out dozens of airstrikes targeting infrastructure components and weapons across Syria, including anti-aircraft cannons and surface-to-air missile launchers.

Syria’s state news agency, SANA, reported Saturday that four people were wounded in central Syria, and that the airstrikes hit the eastern Damascus suburb of Harasta as well as the southern province of Daraa and the central province of Hama.

UN Special Envoy for Syria, Geir O. Pedersen, denounced the strikes on X.

“I strongly condemn Israel’s continued and escalating violations of Syria’s sovereignty, including multiple airstrikes in Damascus and other cities,” Pedersen wrote Saturday, calling for an immediate cease of attacks and for Israel to stop “endangering Syrian civilians and to respect international law and Syria’s sovereignty, unity, territorial integrity, and independence.”

Four days of clashes between pro-government gunmen and Druze fighters have left nearly 100 people dead and raised fears of deadly sectarian violence.

The clashes are the worst between forces loyal to the government and Druze fighters since the early December fall of President Bashar al-Assad, whose family ruled Syria with an iron grip for more than five decades.

Israel has its own Druze community and officials have said they will protect the Druze of Syria and warned armed groups from entering predominantly Druze areas. Israeli forces have carried out hundreds of airstrikes since Assad’s fall and captured a buffer zone along the Golan Heights.

More than half of the roughly 1 million Druze worldwide live in Syria.

Most of the other Druze live in Lebanon and Israel, including in the Golan Heights, which Israel seized from Syria in the 1967 Mideast War and annexed in 1981. In Syria, they largely live in the southern Sweida province and some suburbs of Damascus, mainly in Jaramana and Ashrafiyat Sahnaya to the south.