Sudan's Army Says it Has Killed RSF Darfur Commander

 Supporters of the Sudanese armed popular resistance ride on trucks in Gedaref in eastern Sudan - Photo by AFP)
Supporters of the Sudanese armed popular resistance ride on trucks in Gedaref in eastern Sudan - Photo by AFP)
TT
20

Sudan's Army Says it Has Killed RSF Darfur Commander

 Supporters of the Sudanese armed popular resistance ride on trucks in Gedaref in eastern Sudan - Photo by AFP)
Supporters of the Sudanese armed popular resistance ride on trucks in Gedaref in eastern Sudan - Photo by AFP)

Sudan's army said on Friday it had killed Ali Yagoub Gibril, a senior commander for the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) who was under US sanctions, during a battle in the besieged north Darfur city of al-Fashir.

Gibril was a leading commander for the RSF in al-Fashir, the last major city in the Darfur region of Sudan that the force does not control.

The army said in a statement Yacoub was killed as an RSF attack was thwarted early on Friday by its troops and allied "joint forces" fighting alongside it, Reuters reported.

The RSF has been besieging al-Fashir, a city of 1.8 million people, for weeks and top UN officials have warned that the worsening conflict there could trigger widespread intercommunal violence.

The UN Security Council called on Thursday for a halt to the siege.

War between the army and the RSF erupted over conditions for a transition to democracy in mid-April last year in the capital Khartoum, soon spreading to other parts of the country.

The conflict has led to the world's largest displacement crisis, renewed ethnic violence in Darfur blamed on the RSF and its allies, and a sharp increase in extreme hunger.



WHO Says Polio Mass Vaccination Campaign to Resume in Gaza 

Palestinian families gather at Gaza port to enjoy and watch the sunset, 17 February 2025. (EPA)
Palestinian families gather at Gaza port to enjoy and watch the sunset, 17 February 2025. (EPA)
TT
20

WHO Says Polio Mass Vaccination Campaign to Resume in Gaza 

Palestinian families gather at Gaza port to enjoy and watch the sunset, 17 February 2025. (EPA)
Palestinian families gather at Gaza port to enjoy and watch the sunset, 17 February 2025. (EPA)

The World Health Organization said on Wednesday that a mass campaign to vaccinate children against polio in Gaza would resume on Saturday, with over half a million children targeted.

"The current environment in Gaza, including overcrowding in shelters and severely damaged water, sanitation and hygiene infrastructure, which facilitates fecal-oral transmission, create ideal conditions for further spread of poliovirus," the WHO statement said.

"Extensive population movement consequent to the current ceasefire is likely to exacerbate the spread of poliovirus infection," it added.