US Announces $200 Mn Additional Aid for Sudan

The war in Sudan has killed tens of thousands and displaced more than 11 million. AFP/File
The war in Sudan has killed tens of thousands and displaced more than 11 million. AFP/File
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US Announces $200 Mn Additional Aid for Sudan

The war in Sudan has killed tens of thousands and displaced more than 11 million. AFP/File
The war in Sudan has killed tens of thousands and displaced more than 11 million. AFP/File

The United States on Thursday announced $200 million of new funding for the humanitarian crisis in Sudan, bringing Washington's commitment to $2.3 billion, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday.
Sudan has been ravaged by 20 months of fighting between the regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), and the African country has been identified as one of the world's worst humanitarian disasters, AFP reported.
The World Food Program warned Thursday that Sudan risks becoming the world's largest hunger crisis in recent history, with 1.7 million people across the country either facing famine or at risk of famine.
"We see too many Sudanese faces hunger, despair," Blinken said at a UN Security Council meeting on Sudan.
He lamented that political and military crises have "derailed Sudan's transition to democracy and unleashed what is the worst humanitarian crisis in the world."
"The United States has worked intensively with partners to provide relief to Sudan... today we are announcing another roughly $200 million," he added, noting that in some parts of Sudan, people are forced to eat grass and peanut shells to survive.
OCHA operations director Edem Wosornu told the Security Council $4.2 billion would be needed to support the needs of Sudan's people next year.
Fraction of aid need met
"The volume of humanitarian aid reaching people in need remains a fraction of what is required," Wosornu told the Council.
"Ultimately, the only way to end this cycle of violence, death and destruction is for this Council to rise to the challenge of delivering lasting peace in Sudan."
Nearly all of the vast Darfur region of western Sudan is now controlled by the RSF, which has also taken over swathes of the neighboring Kordofan region as well as much of the center of the country.
The regular army retains control of the north and east, while the capital Khartoum and its surrounding cities are a battleground between the warring parties.
As fighting rages on the ground, 10 Sudanese civilians were killed and 20 wounded in paramilitary shelling of North Darfur's besieged capital El-Fasher that hit the city's main hospital and other areas on Wednesday.
The war has killed tens of thousands and displaced more than 11 million, creating what the United Nations describes as one of the worst humanitarian disasters in recent memory.
Both the army and the RSF have been accused of indiscriminately bombing medical facilities and civilians, as well as deliberate attacks on residential areas.
"Footage abounds of forms of brutality that defy human consciousness and no person should have to bear witness to," Shayna Lewis, a Sudan expert at the non-governmental group Preventing and Ending Mass Atrocities, told the council.
"But this Council must demonstrate through action that the imperiled lives of 49 million Sudanese will not be abandoned to the whims of armed men."

 



UK Foreign Secretary Visits Syria, Renewing Ties After 14 Years of Conflict

A handout picture released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) shows Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa (R) welcoming with British Foreign Secretary David Lammy in the Syrian capital Damascus on July 5, 2025. (SANA / AFP)
A handout picture released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) shows Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa (R) welcoming with British Foreign Secretary David Lammy in the Syrian capital Damascus on July 5, 2025. (SANA / AFP)
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UK Foreign Secretary Visits Syria, Renewing Ties After 14 Years of Conflict

A handout picture released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) shows Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa (R) welcoming with British Foreign Secretary David Lammy in the Syrian capital Damascus on July 5, 2025. (SANA / AFP)
A handout picture released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) shows Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa (R) welcoming with British Foreign Secretary David Lammy in the Syrian capital Damascus on July 5, 2025. (SANA / AFP)

British Foreign Secretary David Lammy met in Damascus on Saturday with Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, marking the restoration of relations after 14 years of tension during Syria's conflict and Assad family rule.

Syria has been improving relations with Western countries following the fall of President Bashar al-Assad in December in an offensive led by al-Sharaa’s Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group.

Al-Sharaa’s office said Lammy and the president discussed mutual relations and ways of boosting cooperation and the latest regional and international developments. Lammy later met his Syrian counterpart, Asaad al-Shaibani, state media reported.

A statement issued by Britain's foreign office said the visit showed London's commitment to support Syria as the new government seeks to rebuild the country's economy, deliver an inclusive political transition and forge a path to justice for the victims of the Assad government.

It added that there will be new UK funding to assist with the removal of Assad-era chemical weapons and provide urgent humanitarian assistance in Syria, to bolster UK and Middle East security and tackle irregular migration. The statement said the British government wants to ensure that the ISIS group's territorial defeat “endures, and they can never resurge.”

ISIS once controlled large parts of Syria and Iraq, where it planned attacks worldwide. It was defeated in Syria in March 2019 when the extremists lost the last sliver of land they once controlled.

The statement said Britain's support for Syria is set to continue, with the additional 94.5 million pounds ($129 million) package announced Saturday. It will provide urgent humanitarian aid to Syrians, support Syria’s longer-term recovery through education and livelihoods, and support countries hosting Syrian refugees in the region.

This handout photo released by the Lebanese Presidency press office on July 5, 2025 shows Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun (R) receiving British Foreign Secretary David Lammy at the presidential palace in Baabda. (Lebanese Presidency / AFP)

In April, the British government lifted sanctions against a dozen Syrian entities, including government departments and media outlets, to help the country rebuild after Assad's ouster. Weeks earlier, the UK had dropped sanctions against two dozen Syrian businesses, mostly banks and oil companies.

Earlier this week, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order ending many American economic sanctions on Syria, following through on a promise he made to al-Sharaa.

Syria’s new leaders have been struggling to rebuild the country’s decimated economy and infrastructure after nearly 14 years of civil war that has killed half a million people. In recent months, al-Sharaa visited oil-rich regional countries and France in May in his first visit to the Europe Union.

Also on Saturday, Lammy met in Beirut with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and they discussed the situation along the Lebanon-Israel border following the 14-month Israel-Hezbollah war.

A statement issued by Aoun's office, quoted the Lebanese leader as telling Lammy that Beirut plans to raise the number of Lebanese troops along the border with Israel to 10,000. Aoun added that the only armed sides on the Lebanese side of the border will be Lebanon's national army and UN peacekeepers.