Rocket Launched near Peacekeeper Post in Lebanon on Sunday, UN Says

 Vehicles of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) patrol near the Lebanon-Israel border, at Marjeyoun area in southern Lebanon, 27 August 2024. (EPA)
Vehicles of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) patrol near the Lebanon-Israel border, at Marjeyoun area in southern Lebanon, 27 August 2024. (EPA)
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Rocket Launched near Peacekeeper Post in Lebanon on Sunday, UN Says

 Vehicles of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) patrol near the Lebanon-Israel border, at Marjeyoun area in southern Lebanon, 27 August 2024. (EPA)
Vehicles of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) patrol near the Lebanon-Israel border, at Marjeyoun area in southern Lebanon, 27 August 2024. (EPA)

One of the rockets launched from Lebanon in the heavy exchange between armed group Hezbollah and the Israeli military on Sunday was fired from near a position operated by international peacekeepers, the United Nations force told Reuters on Tuesday.

The UN peacekeeping force for Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, said it had detected a "high number of air strikes and rocket launches in its area of operations" starting on Sunday morning.

"One such launch was detected from near one of our positions in Hanniyeh," UNIFIL spokesperson Kandice Ardiel said, referring to a town in southern Lebanon approximately 10 km (6 miles) north of the border with Israel.

The spokesperson said another explosion occurred later in the day near a UNIFIL position in Mays al-Jabal, along the border, but said there was no damage and no casualties.

"We continually stress to everyone that using areas near our positions to launch attacks across the Blue Line or targeting that puts peacekeepers in danger is unacceptable and a violation of Resolution 1701," the spokesperson said.

The Blue Line is the demarcation line between Lebanon and Israel, where parts of the international border are disputed.

UN resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah, tasks UNIFIL with ensuring that its area of operations "is not utilized for hostile activities of any kind".

A spokesperson for the Israeli military said on Monday that it had identified Hezbollah rocket launch sites approximately 150 meters (490 feet) away from a UN position in Hanniyeh, without specifically naming UNIFIL.

There was no immediate response from Hezbollah to a Reuters request for comment.

Hezbollah on Sunday fired rockets and drones at Israeli military sites in retaliation for the killing of a top commander by Israel last month, and Israeli jets targeted approximately 40 launch sites in Lebanon.

It was one of the most intense exchanges of fire between the armed foes in more than 10 months of hostilities playing out in parallel with the Gaza war.



At Least 30 Killed after Sudan Flooding Causes Dam to Collapse, Says UN

 People look at their homes damaged by floods in Meroe, Sudan, Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024. (AP)
People look at their homes damaged by floods in Meroe, Sudan, Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024. (AP)
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At Least 30 Killed after Sudan Flooding Causes Dam to Collapse, Says UN

 People look at their homes damaged by floods in Meroe, Sudan, Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024. (AP)
People look at their homes damaged by floods in Meroe, Sudan, Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024. (AP)

At least 30 people were killed in northeast Sudan after a dam collapsed due to flooding, the United Nations' humanitarian office has said.

The war-torn country has experienced an intense rainy season since last month, with intermittent torrential flooding mainly in the country's north and east.

"Thirty fatalities have been confirmed" following the Sunday collapse of the Arbaat Dam in Sudan's Red Sea state, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) cited a government delegation as saying Monday.

"However, the number of casualties could be much higher," it said, adding that "scores of people are reportedly missing or displaced".

The Arbaat Dam lies about 38 kilometers (24 miles) northwest of Port Sudan, the de facto seat of government after authorities were driven out of the capital Khartoum due to fighting between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

"Up to 50,000 people living in areas to the west of the Dam have been severely affected," OCHA said.

"About 70 villages around Arbaat Dam have reportedly been affected by the flash flooding of which 20 villages have been destroyed," it added.

Sudan's health ministry on Monday said 132 people had died as a result of flooding and heavy rains in 10 states this year, with the heaviest flooding reported in the Northern and River Nile states.

Sudan has been gripped by fighting that broke out in April 2023 between the army, led by de facto ruler Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the RSF, commanded by his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.

Both sides have been accused of committing atrocities and violations, including impeding the delivery of much-needed aid in the ravaged country, parts of which have been gripped by famine.

The impoverished country's infrastructure -- already fragile before the war -- has been decimated, with both sides accused of targeting civilian facilities and active fighting preventing repairs and maintenance.