Sudan’s First Vice President: ‘Emergency’ Meant to Curb Smuggling

Sudanese demonstrators chant slogans as they march along the street during anti-government protests in Khartoum, Sudan December 25, 2018. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah/File Photo
Sudanese demonstrators chant slogans as they march along the street during anti-government protests in Khartoum, Sudan December 25, 2018. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah/File Photo
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Sudan’s First Vice President: ‘Emergency’ Meant to Curb Smuggling

Sudanese demonstrators chant slogans as they march along the street during anti-government protests in Khartoum, Sudan December 25, 2018. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah/File Photo
Sudanese demonstrators chant slogans as they march along the street during anti-government protests in Khartoum, Sudan December 25, 2018. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah/File Photo

Sudan's newly appointed First Vice President Awad Mohamed Ahmed Ibn Auf said, after his meeting with Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on Wednesday, that the state of emergency declared across the country is aimed at stopping smuggling activities "destroying" the economy, not targeting the ongoing anti-government demonstrations.

Emergency doesn’t mean to ‘suppress protests’, he stressed, but is a response for calls to impose security and safety in the country.

Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA) revealed in a statement that the kid Muayed Yasir Juma, 5, was run over by a vehicle that belongs to the ‘regime militias’. The police arrested the criminals and handed them out to be trialed according to the emergency law.

SPA denounced the incident and listed it under the 'crimes committed by the government.'

Sudanese Prime Minister Mohamed Tahir Ayala said, following his meeting with Bashir on Wednesday, that they agreed on a number of procedures and decisions that will be taken in the coming days. These procedures are related to economic topics that include removing gaps that weakened the economy in the country.

Ayala vowed to revise all imposed fees and taxes on goods and to guarantee the activation of procedures to ease access to bread, medicine, fuel, and funding.

The Sudanese ‘uprising’ has entered the second week of its 3rd month, after protests first erupted on Dec. 19. The protests were faced with excessive violence, killing 31 citizens according to official numbers, and more than 50 as confirmed by the opposition and the Amnesty International.



Two Officials: Israel is Being Attacked Daily by One-Way Drones from Iraq

A member of the Israeli security forces works next to a damaged car at the site of a drone attack, amid ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, in Karmiel, northern Israel October 27, 2024. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes
A member of the Israeli security forces works next to a damaged car at the site of a drone attack, amid ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, in Karmiel, northern Israel October 27, 2024. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes
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Two Officials: Israel is Being Attacked Daily by One-Way Drones from Iraq

A member of the Israeli security forces works next to a damaged car at the site of a drone attack, amid ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, in Karmiel, northern Israel October 27, 2024. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes
A member of the Israeli security forces works next to a damaged car at the site of a drone attack, amid ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, in Karmiel, northern Israel October 27, 2024. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes

Iranian-backed militias are launching one-way attack drones against Israel from inside Iraq, which US and partner forces have had to intercept, two officials told The Associated Press.
Both a US defense official and a regional security official said the one-way drones have been an issue since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel, and aren’t a retaliation from Iran for Israel’s strikes last week.
However the drone attacks have increased in number in recent weeks. There’s been an average of about five launches a day from within Iraq targeting Israel by Iranian-aligned militia groups, and within the last week, eight UAVs were fired in one 24-hour period, the regional security officer said.
US and partnered forces have been intercepting the attack drones, both officials said. They spoke on the condition of anonymity to provide details that have not been made public on the Iraq-launched drone attacks.
The ongoing launches have increased the chance that Israel will respond directly to those attacks, the regional security official said.