PORT SUDAN: At least 132 people have died in war-torn Sudan as a result of flooding and heavy rains this year, the health ministry said Monday.
The country has experienced an intense rainy season since last month, with intermittent torrential flooding mainly in the country’s north and east.
“The total number of affected states is 10, while the number of affected families rose to 31,666 families and individuals to 129,650,” it said in a statement.
“The total number of deaths reached 132.”
While flooding takes place annually in Sudan, the impact is expected to be worse this year after more than 16 months of fighting between rival generals which has pushed millions of displaced people into flood zones.
Some 12,420 homes have completely collapsed and 11,472 others partially collapsed due to the rains, according to the ministry, which said most of the damage is in Sudan’s Northern and River Nile states.
Intense rain on Saturday flooded the Arbaat area north of the Red Sea city of Port Sudan, causing the Arbaat Dam to collapse and wash away entire villages.
“The torrent swept away houses and animals... people went up to the mountains to protect themselves,” said Issa Adroub, a resident of the area.
The reservoir is an important source of water for Port Sudan, where officials relocated to after war broke out in Khartoum.
Local volunteers helping with relief efforts told AFP that “13 people have been found dead, including women and children, and the search is ongoing for 210 missing persons.”
They reported that the deluge of water completely washed away 20 villages and damaged 50 others. The rain is unusual for this time of year, with the region usually experiencing rainfall in November and March.
Sudanese authorities and the United Nations have reported a surge in cholera cases amid the downpours.
The World Health Organization earlier in August said Sudan had had at least 11,327 cholera cases, 316 of them deadly, since June 2023.
Sudan’s Health Minister Haitham Ibrahim said “climatic conditions and water contamination” were behind the epidemic.
War has raged in the country since April 2023 between the Sudanese army, under the country’s de facto ruler Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, which are commanded by Burhan’s former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.
Both sides have been accused of war crimes, including the targeting of civilians and looting or obstructing humanitarian aid.
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At least 132 killed in Sudan flooding: health ministry
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At least 132 killed in Sudan flooding: health ministry
- Some 12,420 homes have completely collapsed and 11,472 others partially collapsed due to the rains
Syrian leader to meet Putin, Russia seeks deal on military bases
MOSCOW: Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa will meet Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Wednesday, as the Kremlin seeks to secure the future of its military bases in the country.
Putin and Sharaa struck a conciliatory tone at their previous meeting in October, their first since Sharaa’s rebel forces toppled Moscow-ally Bashar Assad in 2024.
But Russia’s continued sheltering of Assad and his wife since their ouster remains a thorny issue. Sharaa has repeatedly pushed Russia for their extradition.
Sharaa, meanwhile, has embraced US President Donald Trump, who on Tuesday praised the Syrian leader as “highly respected” and said things were “working out very well.”
Putin, whose influence in the Middle East has waned since Assad’s ouster, is seeking to maintain Russia’s military footprint in the region.
Russia withdrew its forces from the Qamishli airport in Kurdish-held northeast Syria earlier this week, leaving it with only the Hmeimim air base and Tartus naval base on Syria’s Mediterranean coast — its only military outposts outside the former Soviet Union.
“A discussion is planned on the status of bilateral relations and prospects for developing them in various fields, as well as the current situation in the Middle East,” the Kremlin said of the upcoming meeting in a statement on Tuesday.
Russia was a key ally of Assad during the bloody 14-year Syrian civil war, launching air strikes on rebel-held areas of Syria controlled by Sharaa’s Islamist forces.
The toppling of Assad dealt a major blow to Russia’s influence in the region and laid bare the limits of Moscow’s military reach amid the Ukraine war.
The United States, which cheered Assad’s demise, has fostered ever-warmer ties with Sharaa — even as Damascus launched a recent offensive against Kurdish forces long backed by the West.
Despite Trump’s public praise, both the United States and Europe have expressed concern that the offensive in Syria’s northeast could precipitate the return of Islamic State forces held in Kurdish-held jails.
Putin and Sharaa struck a conciliatory tone at their previous meeting in October, their first since Sharaa’s rebel forces toppled Moscow-ally Bashar Assad in 2024.
But Russia’s continued sheltering of Assad and his wife since their ouster remains a thorny issue. Sharaa has repeatedly pushed Russia for their extradition.
Sharaa, meanwhile, has embraced US President Donald Trump, who on Tuesday praised the Syrian leader as “highly respected” and said things were “working out very well.”
Putin, whose influence in the Middle East has waned since Assad’s ouster, is seeking to maintain Russia’s military footprint in the region.
Russia withdrew its forces from the Qamishli airport in Kurdish-held northeast Syria earlier this week, leaving it with only the Hmeimim air base and Tartus naval base on Syria’s Mediterranean coast — its only military outposts outside the former Soviet Union.
“A discussion is planned on the status of bilateral relations and prospects for developing them in various fields, as well as the current situation in the Middle East,” the Kremlin said of the upcoming meeting in a statement on Tuesday.
Russia was a key ally of Assad during the bloody 14-year Syrian civil war, launching air strikes on rebel-held areas of Syria controlled by Sharaa’s Islamist forces.
The toppling of Assad dealt a major blow to Russia’s influence in the region and laid bare the limits of Moscow’s military reach amid the Ukraine war.
The United States, which cheered Assad’s demise, has fostered ever-warmer ties with Sharaa — even as Damascus launched a recent offensive against Kurdish forces long backed by the West.
Despite Trump’s public praise, both the United States and Europe have expressed concern that the offensive in Syria’s northeast could precipitate the return of Islamic State forces held in Kurdish-held jails.
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