Syrians Face Death in Sudan Amid Clashes

Smoke rises from burning aircraft inside Khartoum Airport during clashes between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the army in Khartoum (Reuters)
Smoke rises from burning aircraft inside Khartoum Airport during clashes between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the army in Khartoum (Reuters)
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Syrians Face Death in Sudan Amid Clashes

Smoke rises from burning aircraft inside Khartoum Airport during clashes between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the army in Khartoum (Reuters)
Smoke rises from burning aircraft inside Khartoum Airport during clashes between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the army in Khartoum (Reuters)

The Syrian Foreign Ministry said Sunday that it was following with concern the developments in Sudan, a week after deadly clashes erupted in the country, killing 11 Syrians.

Syria is also following with great interest the situation of its nationals and the diplomatic mission in Sudan, it said.

State-owned Syrian News Agency (SANA) official news agency quoted an official source as saying that the Ministry instructed the Syrian embassy in Khartoum to register the names of Syrian community members wishing to be evacuated.

Syrian refugees residing in Sudan had sent out, via social media, distress calls to evacuate them from the troubled country.

A Syrian woman told Asharq Al-Awsat that she lost contact with her brother four days ago, who informed her earlier that the situation was challenging. She said he and his family were confined to their home without electricity, water, or enough food.

The woman was trying to find a way to help her brother out of the country, but that didn't seem easy.

Aside from the dangerous security situation, her brother cannot return to Syria because his passport has expired, and he is wanted by the Syrian security forces.

According to Syrian sources in Sudan, several Syrian workers were stabbed when they left their embassy in Khartoum on Friday. They also confirmed that the death toll had risen to eleven since the outbreak of the clashes a week ago; four of them were killed in an attack at the embassy five days ago.

Meanwhile, the Chargé d'Affaires of the Syrian Embassy in Khartoum, Bishr al-Shaar, stated that they were outside the embassy, and it was difficult to reach the premises due to the security conditions difficult situations.

Syrian website, Athr Press, quoted Shaar as confirming the difficulty of evacuating all 30,000 Syrians after Khartoum International Airport was closed.

He explained that other evacuation options included Port Sudan, which is a 15-hour car ride.

The official said that the embassy would prepare for the evacuation if airports were re-opened or land roads were secured, pointing out that the evacuation of 10,000 people to safe areas requires 50 planes or 200 buses.

Unofficial sources estimate over 90,000 Syrian refugees live in Sudan, mostly young men fleeing compulsory military service, and hundreds of families who oppose the regime.

Since the outbreak of the war in Syria in 2011, Sudan has been at the forefront of countries that received refugees "without conditions," treating them as Sudanese citizens. Several of them were also given passports.

The number of Syrian refugees in Sudan in 2019 was estimated at more than 250,000. Many left the country after the toppling of the Omar al-Bashir regime, and the transitional government imposed restrictions on Syrians.

The Syrians were required to obtain an entry visa, and the Sudanese passports of 10,000 of them were revoked.



Hezbollah Says Message from Iran Shows it 'Will Not Give up' on Group

Displaced residents wave Hezbollah flags, including one bearing a picture of its leader, Naim Qassem, as they pass rubble of destroyed buildings in Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon, Friday, April 17, 2026, following a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Displaced residents wave Hezbollah flags, including one bearing a picture of its leader, Naim Qassem, as they pass rubble of destroyed buildings in Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon, Friday, April 17, 2026, following a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
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Hezbollah Says Message from Iran Shows it 'Will Not Give up' on Group

Displaced residents wave Hezbollah flags, including one bearing a picture of its leader, Naim Qassem, as they pass rubble of destroyed buildings in Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon, Friday, April 17, 2026, following a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Displaced residents wave Hezbollah flags, including one bearing a picture of its leader, Naim Qassem, as they pass rubble of destroyed buildings in Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon, Friday, April 17, 2026, following a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Hezbollah said Saturday that a message from Tehran showed that Iran would not abandon the Lebanese militant group and that the Islamic republic's latest proposal to end the US-Iran war included a ceasefire in Lebanon.

Iran-backed Hezbollah said in a statement that its chief Naim Qassem had received a message from Tehran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, which indicated that Iran "will not give up its support for movements demanding justice and freedom, foremost among them Hezbollah".

In Iran's latest proposal through Pakistani mediators aimed at achieving "a permanent and stable end to the war, the demand to include Lebanon in the ceasefire was emphasised", the statement added.


South Lebanon Hospital Damaged in Israeli Strikes

Volunteers from the Lebanese Red Cross rescue a woman in the city of Nabatieh in South Lebanon (AFP)
Volunteers from the Lebanese Red Cross rescue a woman in the city of Nabatieh in South Lebanon (AFP)
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South Lebanon Hospital Damaged in Israeli Strikes

Volunteers from the Lebanese Red Cross rescue a woman in the city of Nabatieh in South Lebanon (AFP)
Volunteers from the Lebanese Red Cross rescue a woman in the city of Nabatieh in South Lebanon (AFP)

Israel kept up strikes on Lebanon on Saturday, hours after overnight raids on the country's south and east, including one that damaged a hospital, its chief executive told AFP.

Lebanon's state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported Israeli airstrikes on around a dozen locations in the south on Saturday including one targeting an agricultural area, "wounding several Syrian workers".

The NNA said an overnight strike in the southern city of Tyre that targeted a site near the hospital caused "severe damage" to the facility.

An AFP correspondent saw shattered glass, ceiling panels blown out and damaged medical equipment at the multi-storey Hiram hospital.

The Israeli military late on Friday night had issued evacuation warnings ahead of strikes on two locations in Tyre, saying it would target "Hezbollah facilities".

Accompanying maps advised people to leave areas within 500 metres (yards) of the target buildings, with the Hiram hospital shown within the advised evacuation area.

The hospital's CEO Dr Salman Aydibi told AFP that around 40 patients were in the facility when the warning was issued, including seven in intensive care.

"We took the patients to a safer location" elsewhere inside the hospital, he said, adding that none were harmed but some 30 staff sustained minor injuries.

He said an evaluation of the damage was ongoing and that the hospital has remained operational, though the emergency department briefly closed.

He said it was the third strike near the facility since the latest Israel-Hezbollah war erupted on March 2.

Israel's army said Saturday that it had targeted "Hezbollah infrastructure sites in Tyre" overnight where operatives from the Iran-backed group worked to "plan and execute attacks" against Israeli soldiers.

"Prior to the strike, steps were taken to mitigate harm to civilians, including the issuing of advance warnings, the use of precise munitions, and aerial surveillance," it added.

Another AFP correspondent saw heavy damage at both targeted sites in Tyre, with a man searching for his belongings among the debris at one location.

Israel's army also targeted east Lebanon overnight, saying it struck a "Hezbollah underground compound" used to manufacture weapons.

Lebanon's Hamas-aligned Islamist group Jamaa Islamiya and its armed wing the Al-Fajr Forces said Saturday in a statement that one of its members was killed in an Israeli strike in east Lebanon.

Under the terms of the ceasefire published by Washington, Israel reserves the right to act against "planned, imminent or ongoing attacks".


Israeli Strike Kills Five Gaza Police Officers

Palestinians inspect the rubble of a building that was destroyed by an Israeli airstrike at al-Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, Saturday, May 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Palestinians inspect the rubble of a building that was destroyed by an Israeli airstrike at al-Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, Saturday, May 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
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Israeli Strike Kills Five Gaza Police Officers

Palestinians inspect the rubble of a building that was destroyed by an Israeli airstrike at al-Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, Saturday, May 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Palestinians inspect the rubble of a building that was destroyed by an Israeli airstrike at al-Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, Saturday, May 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

An Israeli strike killed five police officers in the northern Gaza Strip on Saturday, said a hospital and the Palestinian territory's police force, which operates under Hamas authority

"Five martyrs, all police officers, and a number of wounded -- one of whom is in critical condition -- arrived following an Israeli airstrike that targeted a police site in the al-Tuam area," said al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.
Also, in a statement, the Gaza police directorate, charged with maintaining ‌security in ‌areas of Gaza ​that ‌fell ⁠under ​Hamas control following ⁠a US-brokered ceasefire in October, said two missiles had hit a police post in the Tawam area, Reuters reported.
Hamas' nearly 10,000 police ‌officers have ‌emerged as a sticking point ​in talks ‌to advance US President Donald ‌Trump's plan for Gaza. Hamas wants them included in a new police force envisaged under the plan. Israel objects ‌to the involvement of any officers with Hamas affiliations.
Those talks ⁠have ⁠also been deadlocked over Hamas’ refusal to lay down its weapons, as well as near-daily Israeli attacks in the enclave, which health officials say have killed more than 880 Palestinians since the truce. At least four Israeli soldiers have been killed in militant ​attacks over ​the same period.