CAIRO: Sudan has seen a surge in extreme violence in recent weeks as the warring military and paramilitary push for a decisive victory, with no political solution in sight.
Fighting between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has intensified since late October, with reports of attacks on civilians including sexual violence against women and girls raising alarm.
The war that erupted in April 2023 has created what the UN calls the world’s worst displacement crises, with more than 11 million people forced from their homes.
It has put the country on the brink of famine, and sparked warnings of intensifying violence in a war that has already killed tens of thousands.
“Over the last two weeks, the situation in the country has been marked by some of the most extreme violence since the start of the conflict,” according to Rosemary DiCarlo, UN Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs.
“Let me stress that both warring parties bear responsibility for this violence,” she said, adding that both sides “seem convinced they can prevail on the battlefield.”
Since October 20, at least 124 civilians have been killed in central Al-Jazira state and another 135,000 have fled to other states, according to the UN.
With global attention focused on other wars, chiefly in Ukraine and the Middle East, civilians in Sudan are paying a steep price for the escalation.
“All indicators so far show that both sides are committed to military solutions, with no genuine interest in political resolutions or even easing the suffering of civilians,” according to Mohamed Osman of Human Rights Watch.
Amani Al-Taweel, director of the Africa program at the Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies in Cairo, agreed.
“There is no political solution on the horizon,” she told AFP, adding that both sides were seeking a “decisive military solution.”
The war in Sudan has pitted army chief Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan against his erstwhile ally Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, leader of the RSF.
The country is split into zones of control, with the army holding the north and east, and the government based in Port Sudan on the Red Sea coast.
The RSF controls much of the capital Khartoum, the Darfur region in the west and parts of Kordofan in the south, while the center is split.
With no mandatory military conscription, the Sudanese army includes Islamist-leaning forces as well as other factions.
The RSF is primarily made up of tribal militias from Darfur’s Arab communities.
According to local reports, the army has about 120,000 troops while the RSF has 100,000.
On the battlefield, Sudan’s air force gives the military an advantage.
Rights groups have accused both sides of committing atrocities.
The UN population agency published on Tuesday horrific accounts of women and girls fleeing the violence, including one who said she was urged to kill herself with a knife rather than be raped.
Successive rounds of talks have been held in Saudi Arabia, but the negotiations have yet to produce a ceasefire.
In August, the Sudanese military opted out of US-brokered negotiations in Switzerland and an African Union-led mediation has also stalled.
“The deadlock in peaceful channels, whether regionally or internationally, is exacerbating the violence,” said Mahmud Zakaria, a professor of political science at Cairo University’s Faculty of African Postgraduate Studies.
Since October, the RSF escalated its attacks in Al-Jazira state, south of Khartoum, following what the military said was the defection of one of its commanders to the army.
Before the war, Al-Jazira was known as Sudan’s breadbasket, hosting Africa’s largest agricultural project, yielding 65 percent of the country’s cotton, according to Zakaria.
Some areas have been scarred by conflict before.
Darfur saw a major war two decades ago, during which the then-government’s allies in the Janjaweed militia faced accusations of ethnic cleansing and genocide.
With roots in the Janjaweed, the RSF became a force in its own right in 2013.
Sudan’s conflict has increasingly drawn in regional powers, prompting the United States to urge all countries to stop arming rival generals.
Former Egyptian deputy foreign minister for African affairs Ali el-Hefny said progress will require global willpower.
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No end in sight to Sudan war as both sides seek ‘decisive’ win
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No end in sight to Sudan war as both sides seek ‘decisive’ win
- Rosemary DiCarlo, UN Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs said: “Let me stress that both warring parties bear responsibility for this violence“
- “All indicators so far show that both sides are committed to military solutions, with no genuine interest in political resolutions,” said Mohamed Osman of HRW
US says it destroyed 16 mine-laying vessels as Iran threatens to block Gulf oil exports
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates: The US said it took out more than a dozen mine-laying Iranian vessels Tuesday, and the Islamic Republic vowed to block the region’s oil exports, saying it would not allow “even a single liter” to be shipped to its enemies.
As concerns grew about the war’s effect on a strategic waterway, the American military said it destroyed 16 minelayers, though President Donald Trump said in social media posts that there were no reports of Iran planting explosives in the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20 percent of the world’s oil is shipped.
The American military released the figure, along with unclassified footage of some of the vessels, after Trump threatened to hit Iran at “a level never seen before” if the country failed to immediately remove any mines it might have deployed in the channel.
Both sides sharpened their rhetoric as the war entered its 11th day. US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth promised the most intense strikes yet while the Pentagon detailed the broader toll of injuries sustained by US troops.
The conflict’s effects rippled across the Middle East and beyond. Iranian leaders ruled out talks, threatened Trump and launched new attacks against Israel and Gulf Arab countries.
In Iran, residents of Tehran said they experienced some of the war’s heaviest strikes. A woman said she saw a residential building get hit. She and others reached by The Associated Press spoke on condition of anonymity to prevent reprisals. Tens of thousands of Iranians have sought shelter in the countryside.
Lebanon reports more deaths
Multiple Israeli strikes across southern Lebanon killed seven people, the Lebanese Health Ministry said early Wednesday.
Other deaths included a Red Cross member who died early Wednesday after an Israeli strike targeted his team Monday while they were rescuing people following an earlier attack, the health ministry said. On Tuesday, Israeli airstrikes killed four people, including a paramedic who worked for the Hezbollah-affiliated Islamic Health Authority who was treating the wounded.
Also Tuesday, an Israeli strike killed a Lebanese soldier, the Lebanese army said, bringing the number of troops killed there to five since the conflict began.
Israel said it was working to intercept missiles from Iran and Hezbollah, which began firing on Israel after the start of the war.
Saudi Arabia’s Defense Ministry said early Wednesday that it intercepted multiple missiles launched toward several sites, including Prince Sultan Air Base, a major US- and Saudi-operated air facility. The ministry said it also destroyed drones near two major cities and more headed toward the kingdom’s vast Shaybah oil field in the Empty Quarter desert.
In Iraq, drones targeted military bases inside Baghdad International Airport late Tuesday, two security officials told AP on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press. Some drones fell near Iraqi security positions, while others landed near logistical support sites used by US-led coalition forces, one official said.
The United Arab Emirates said early Wednesday that its air defenses were firing at incoming Iranian fire. The wealthy Gulf nation — home to the business and travel hub of Dubai — said Iranian attacks have killed six people and wounded 122 others.
Bahrain sounded sirens early Wednesday, warning of an incoming Iranian attack. The warnings came a day after an Iranian attack hit a residential building in the capital, Manama, and killed a 29-year-old woman and wounding eight people.
Pentagon says 140 US troops wounded since war began
Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said US forces hit more than 5,000 targets.
The Pentagon separately said Tuesday that about 140 US service members have been wounded in the war, and the “vast majority” of the injuries were minor, with 108 service members already back on duty. Eight US service members suffered severe injuries, and seven have been killed.
In Iran, at least 1,230 people have been killed, while the death toll is more than 480 in Lebanon and 12 in Israel, according to officials.
Iran’s leaders have remained defiant after days of heavy strikes targeting the country’s leadership, military, ballistic missiles and its disputed nuclear program. Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, said on X that Iran was “definitely not looking for a ceasefire.”
“We believe that the aggressor should be punched in the mouth so that he learns a lesson so that he will never think of attacking our beloved Iran again,” he said.
A top Iranian security official, Ali Larijani, posted a warning to Trump, writing on X that “Even those bigger than you couldn’t eliminate Iran. Be careful not to get eliminated yourself.” Iran has been accused of plotting attempts to kill Trump in the past.
The Trump administration, meanwhile, faced growing scrutiny at home about the war.
“I’m not sure what the end game is, or what their plans are,” Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen of Nevada said after a classified briefing that the Trump administration held Tuesday for some lawmakers.
Saudi Arabia’s oil giant says tankers being rerouted to avoid Strait of Hormuz
Iran has repeatedly targeted energy infrastructure with attacks that appear aimed at generating enough global economic pain to pressure the US and Israel to end their strikes. It has also fired on Israel and US military bases in the region.
The US stock market held steadier Tuesday as Wall Street waited for the next clue on when the war with Iran may end.
Oil prices, meanwhile, remained well below their peaks hit on Monday. Such spikes have been rocking financial markets worldwide because of worries that the war could block the global flow of oil and natural gas for a long time.
Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard said it “will not allow the export of even a single liter of oil from the region to the hostile side and its partners until further notice.”
Amin Nasser, the president and CEO of Saudi Arabia’s oil giant Aramco, said tankers were being rerouted to avoid the strait, and that the company’s east-west pipeline would reach its full capacity this week of 7 million barrels a day being brought to the Red Sea port of the Yanbu.
“The situation at the Strait of Hormuz is blocking sizable volumes of oil from the whole region,” he said. “If this takes a long time, that will have serious impact on the global economy.”
Foreign nationals get out of region
The UN refugee agency said Tuesday that more than 667,000 people in Lebanon had registered as displaced — an increase of over 100,000 since a day earlier — and more than 85,000 people from Lebanon, mostly Syrians, had entered neighboring Syria.
The British government said the number of commercial flights from the UAE to the UK is returning to normal levels, with 32 flights operated Monday from Dubai to Britain and another 36 scheduled Tuesday. British Airways, however, said it suspended flights to and from Jordan, Bahrain, Qatar, Dubai and Tel Aviv until later this month.
Many foreign nationals have been getting out of the Arabian Gulf region since the war began, including over 45,000 UK citizens, the British Foreign Office said. Some 40,000 people returned to the United States, according to the State Department.
As concerns grew about the war’s effect on a strategic waterway, the American military said it destroyed 16 minelayers, though President Donald Trump said in social media posts that there were no reports of Iran planting explosives in the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20 percent of the world’s oil is shipped.
The American military released the figure, along with unclassified footage of some of the vessels, after Trump threatened to hit Iran at “a level never seen before” if the country failed to immediately remove any mines it might have deployed in the channel.
Both sides sharpened their rhetoric as the war entered its 11th day. US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth promised the most intense strikes yet while the Pentagon detailed the broader toll of injuries sustained by US troops.
The conflict’s effects rippled across the Middle East and beyond. Iranian leaders ruled out talks, threatened Trump and launched new attacks against Israel and Gulf Arab countries.
In Iran, residents of Tehran said they experienced some of the war’s heaviest strikes. A woman said she saw a residential building get hit. She and others reached by The Associated Press spoke on condition of anonymity to prevent reprisals. Tens of thousands of Iranians have sought shelter in the countryside.
Lebanon reports more deaths
Multiple Israeli strikes across southern Lebanon killed seven people, the Lebanese Health Ministry said early Wednesday.
Other deaths included a Red Cross member who died early Wednesday after an Israeli strike targeted his team Monday while they were rescuing people following an earlier attack, the health ministry said. On Tuesday, Israeli airstrikes killed four people, including a paramedic who worked for the Hezbollah-affiliated Islamic Health Authority who was treating the wounded.
Also Tuesday, an Israeli strike killed a Lebanese soldier, the Lebanese army said, bringing the number of troops killed there to five since the conflict began.
Israel said it was working to intercept missiles from Iran and Hezbollah, which began firing on Israel after the start of the war.
Saudi Arabia’s Defense Ministry said early Wednesday that it intercepted multiple missiles launched toward several sites, including Prince Sultan Air Base, a major US- and Saudi-operated air facility. The ministry said it also destroyed drones near two major cities and more headed toward the kingdom’s vast Shaybah oil field in the Empty Quarter desert.
In Iraq, drones targeted military bases inside Baghdad International Airport late Tuesday, two security officials told AP on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press. Some drones fell near Iraqi security positions, while others landed near logistical support sites used by US-led coalition forces, one official said.
The United Arab Emirates said early Wednesday that its air defenses were firing at incoming Iranian fire. The wealthy Gulf nation — home to the business and travel hub of Dubai — said Iranian attacks have killed six people and wounded 122 others.
Bahrain sounded sirens early Wednesday, warning of an incoming Iranian attack. The warnings came a day after an Iranian attack hit a residential building in the capital, Manama, and killed a 29-year-old woman and wounding eight people.
Pentagon says 140 US troops wounded since war began
Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said US forces hit more than 5,000 targets.
The Pentagon separately said Tuesday that about 140 US service members have been wounded in the war, and the “vast majority” of the injuries were minor, with 108 service members already back on duty. Eight US service members suffered severe injuries, and seven have been killed.
In Iran, at least 1,230 people have been killed, while the death toll is more than 480 in Lebanon and 12 in Israel, according to officials.
Iran’s leaders have remained defiant after days of heavy strikes targeting the country’s leadership, military, ballistic missiles and its disputed nuclear program. Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, said on X that Iran was “definitely not looking for a ceasefire.”
“We believe that the aggressor should be punched in the mouth so that he learns a lesson so that he will never think of attacking our beloved Iran again,” he said.
A top Iranian security official, Ali Larijani, posted a warning to Trump, writing on X that “Even those bigger than you couldn’t eliminate Iran. Be careful not to get eliminated yourself.” Iran has been accused of plotting attempts to kill Trump in the past.
The Trump administration, meanwhile, faced growing scrutiny at home about the war.
“I’m not sure what the end game is, or what their plans are,” Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen of Nevada said after a classified briefing that the Trump administration held Tuesday for some lawmakers.
Saudi Arabia’s oil giant says tankers being rerouted to avoid Strait of Hormuz
Iran has repeatedly targeted energy infrastructure with attacks that appear aimed at generating enough global economic pain to pressure the US and Israel to end their strikes. It has also fired on Israel and US military bases in the region.
The US stock market held steadier Tuesday as Wall Street waited for the next clue on when the war with Iran may end.
Oil prices, meanwhile, remained well below their peaks hit on Monday. Such spikes have been rocking financial markets worldwide because of worries that the war could block the global flow of oil and natural gas for a long time.
Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard said it “will not allow the export of even a single liter of oil from the region to the hostile side and its partners until further notice.”
Amin Nasser, the president and CEO of Saudi Arabia’s oil giant Aramco, said tankers were being rerouted to avoid the strait, and that the company’s east-west pipeline would reach its full capacity this week of 7 million barrels a day being brought to the Red Sea port of the Yanbu.
“The situation at the Strait of Hormuz is blocking sizable volumes of oil from the whole region,” he said. “If this takes a long time, that will have serious impact on the global economy.”
Foreign nationals get out of region
The UN refugee agency said Tuesday that more than 667,000 people in Lebanon had registered as displaced — an increase of over 100,000 since a day earlier — and more than 85,000 people from Lebanon, mostly Syrians, had entered neighboring Syria.
The British government said the number of commercial flights from the UAE to the UK is returning to normal levels, with 32 flights operated Monday from Dubai to Britain and another 36 scheduled Tuesday. British Airways, however, said it suspended flights to and from Jordan, Bahrain, Qatar, Dubai and Tel Aviv until later this month.
Many foreign nationals have been getting out of the Arabian Gulf region since the war began, including over 45,000 UK citizens, the British Foreign Office said. Some 40,000 people returned to the United States, according to the State Department.
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