Burhan Says Dismantling Security Services Aims at Dividing Sudan

Burhan Says Dismantling Security Services Aims at Dividing Sudan
TT

Burhan Says Dismantling Security Services Aims at Dividing Sudan

Burhan Says Dismantling Security Services Aims at Dividing Sudan

Head of Sudan’s Sovereign Council, Lt. Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan has pledged to “put things right” in regards to the armed forces.

He said this is one of the military component’s responsibilities in the Council, as stipulated by the constitutional document governing the transitional period in the country.

El-Geneina and Port Sudan cities saw tribal clashes last week, leaving dozens of dead and wounded.

These incidents led to widespread criticism of the security services for not intervening to contain the events before their aggravation.

“Unfortunate events that had taken place over the past few days were intended to divide the country, which can only be achieved by dismantling its security services,” Burhan noted.

Addressing non-commissioned officers and police soldiers in Khartoum on Wednesday, Burhan promised to enact laws that reserve full rights for the police to perform their duties in preserving security in the country and for its citizens.

He called for foiling plots of those seeking to sow rift between official forces and the people.

“Armed forces, police forces, and security services have been patient despite all provocations in order to preserve the country’s security.”

He affirmed that police forces are carrying out their jobs to the fullest, stressing that they are not the people’s enemies. He also highlighted their role in containing the security unrest in Darfur region.

Meanwhile, Information Minister Faisal Mohammad Saleh, also government spokesman, said conflicting parties pointed to the involvement of members of the regular forces in the incidents that had taken place in Geneina city.

They resulted in the death of 64 and the injury of 60 others, according to United Nations statistics.

“Authorities have been working to identify these elements involved to lift immunity off them and bring them to court,” he said, stressing that this method will be used to deal with such conflicts.

In press statements on Wednesday, Saleh said the commission to investigate in Geneina incidents will finish its work soon, and authorities will begin bringing those involved to justice.



Israel Says it Has Confirmed that Chief of Hamas' Military Wing was Killed in a July Strike in Gaza

FILE -Palestinians inspect the damage at a site hit by an Israeli bombardment on Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Saturday, July 13, 2024. Israel said it targeted Hamas’ shadowy military commander Mohammed Deif in a massive strike Saturday in the crowded southern Gaza Strip that killed at least 71 people, according to local health officials. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi, File)
FILE -Palestinians inspect the damage at a site hit by an Israeli bombardment on Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Saturday, July 13, 2024. Israel said it targeted Hamas’ shadowy military commander Mohammed Deif in a massive strike Saturday in the crowded southern Gaza Strip that killed at least 71 people, according to local health officials. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi, File)
TT

Israel Says it Has Confirmed that Chief of Hamas' Military Wing was Killed in a July Strike in Gaza

FILE -Palestinians inspect the damage at a site hit by an Israeli bombardment on Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Saturday, July 13, 2024. Israel said it targeted Hamas’ shadowy military commander Mohammed Deif in a massive strike Saturday in the crowded southern Gaza Strip that killed at least 71 people, according to local health officials. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi, File)
FILE -Palestinians inspect the damage at a site hit by an Israeli bombardment on Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Saturday, July 13, 2024. Israel said it targeted Hamas’ shadowy military commander Mohammed Deif in a massive strike Saturday in the crowded southern Gaza Strip that killed at least 71 people, according to local health officials. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi, File)

The Israeli military said Thursday that it has confirmed that the head of Hamas’ military wing, Mohammed Deif, was killed in an airstrike in Gaza in July. The announcement came a day after an apparent Israeli strike in the Iranian capital killed Hamas’ top political leader.

The rapid events this week have left US, Egyptian and Qatari mediators scrambling to salvage talks for a ceasefire deal in Gaza.

At the same time, international diplomats tried to avert an escalation into all-out regional war after the assassination in Tehran of Hamas’ Ismail Haniyeh, Israel’s killing of a top Hezbollah commander in a Beirut strike and – now – Israel’s announcement of Deif’s death, The AP news reported.

There was no immediate comment on the Israeli claim by Hamas, which had previously said Deif survived the July strike in Gaza. A member of Hamas’ political bureau, Izzat al-Risheq, said in a statement Thursday that confirming or denying his death is the responsibility of the group's military wing, known as the Qassam Brigades, which so far has been silent.

The elimination of Haniyeh and Deif — two of Hamas’ most senior figures — brings a victory for Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. It also puts him at a crossroads.

It potentially presents him with a political off-ramp to end the war, allowing him to retreat from his lofty promises of “total victory” while showing Israelis that Hamas’ military capabilities suffered a debilitating blow.

It could also lead him to harden Israel’s position in ceasefire talks, with Israeli officials insisting the blows to Hamas will force it to compromise. Hamas too could dig in as well in the talks — or quit them entirely.

Israel believes that Deif, the head of Hamas’ military, and Yahya Sinwar, the top Hamas leader in Gaza, were the chief architects of the Oct. 7 attack that killed some 1,200 people in southern Israel and triggered the Israel-Hamas war. Sinwar is believed to remain in hiding in Gaza.

Israel targeted Deif in a July 13 strike that hit a compound on the outskirts of the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis. The military said at the time that another Hamas commander, Rafa Salama, was killed. More than 90 other people, including displaced civilians in nearby tents, were killed in the strike, Gaza health officials said at the time.

In a statement Thursday, the Israeli military said that “following an intelligence assessment, it can be confirmed that Mohammed Deif was eliminated in the strike.”

In its 10-month-old campaign of bombardment and offensives in Gaza, Israel has killed some 39,480 Palestinians and wounded more than 91,100 others, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, whose count does not differentiate between civilians and combatants. More than 80% of the population of 2.3 million has been driven from their homes, the vast majority crammed into tent camps in the southwest corner of the territory, with limited food and water.