PORT SUDAN: Over 55,000 internally displaced Sudanese have returned to areas across the southeastern state of Sennar, more than a month after the army recaptured the state capital from paramilitaries, the UN migration agency said Saturday.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said its field teams “monitored the return of an estimated 55,466 displaced persons to locations across Sennar state” between December 18 and January 10.
Across the entire country, however, the United Nations says 21 months of war have created the world’s worst internal displacement crisis, uprooting more than 12 million people.
Famine has been declared in parts of the country, but the risk is spreading for millions more people, including to areas north of Sennar, a UN-backed assessment said last month.
In November, the Sudanese army, battling the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) since April 2023, said it had regained control of Sinja, the Sennar state capital and a key link between army-controlled areas of central and eastern Sudan.
The RSF had controlled Sinja since late June when its attack on Sennar state forced nearly 726,000 people — many displaced from other states — to flee, according to the United Nations.
The war in Sudan has killed tens of thousands.
On Thursday, the United States Treasury Department sanctioned army chief Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, accusing the army of attacking schools, markets and hospitals, as well as using food deprivation as a weapon of war.
The move came just over a week after Washington also sanctioned RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, accusing his group of committing genocide.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Dagalo had been designated for “gross violations of human rights” in Sudan’s western Darfur region, “namely the mass rape of civilians by RSF soldiers under his control.”
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Over 55,000 displaced Sudanese return to southeastern state: IOM
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Over 55,000 displaced Sudanese return to southeastern state: IOM
- IOM said its field teams “monitored the return of an estimated 55,466 displaced persons
- Famine has been declared in parts of the country
Italy wants military to stay in Lebanon after peacekeepers leave
- Defense Minister Guido Crosetto says Italy will continue to 'do its part' even after UNIFIL mission ends next year
ROME: Italy said Monday it intends to keep a military presence in Lebanon even after the UN peacekeeping force it belongs to leaves as planned from December 31, 2026.
“Even after (the peacekeeping force) UNIFIL, Italy will continue to do its part, supporting with conviction the international presence and supporting the capacity development of the Lebanese armed forces,” Defense Minister Guido Crosetto said during a visit to Lebanon, according to a statement.
Asked by AFP if this meant Italy wanted to maintain a military presence in the country, a ministry spokesman confirmed that this was the case.
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has acted as a buffer between Israel and Lebanon since 1978, remaining after Israel ended an occupation of southern Lebanon in 2000.
Lebanon had wanted UNIFIL to stay.
But the UN Security Council voted in August to allow only one final extension for UNIFIL after pressure from Israel and its US ally to end the mandate.
UNIFIL is currently led by Italian Major General Diodato Abagnara and numbers 9,923 troops from 49 countries, according to the force’s website.
Italy is the second biggest contributing country with 1,099 soldiers deployed after Indonesia which has 1,232 soldiers.
Israel has hailed the termination of UNIFIL and urged the Beirut government to exert its authority after an Israeli military campaign which devastated Iranian-backed militia Hezbollah.
Under a truce between Israel and Hezbollah, the long-fledgling Lebanese national army has been deploying in southern Lebanon and dismantling Hezbollah’s infrastructure.
“Support is needed to strengthen the Lebanese armed forces, so that they are in the best possible position to defend the country, ensuring security and respect for its borders,” Crosetto said in Monday’s statement.
“We will guarantee our presence in multilateral and bilateral contexts,” he said.
“Even after (the peacekeeping force) UNIFIL, Italy will continue to do its part, supporting with conviction the international presence and supporting the capacity development of the Lebanese armed forces,” Defense Minister Guido Crosetto said during a visit to Lebanon, according to a statement.
Asked by AFP if this meant Italy wanted to maintain a military presence in the country, a ministry spokesman confirmed that this was the case.
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has acted as a buffer between Israel and Lebanon since 1978, remaining after Israel ended an occupation of southern Lebanon in 2000.
Lebanon had wanted UNIFIL to stay.
But the UN Security Council voted in August to allow only one final extension for UNIFIL after pressure from Israel and its US ally to end the mandate.
UNIFIL is currently led by Italian Major General Diodato Abagnara and numbers 9,923 troops from 49 countries, according to the force’s website.
Italy is the second biggest contributing country with 1,099 soldiers deployed after Indonesia which has 1,232 soldiers.
Israel has hailed the termination of UNIFIL and urged the Beirut government to exert its authority after an Israeli military campaign which devastated Iranian-backed militia Hezbollah.
Under a truce between Israel and Hezbollah, the long-fledgling Lebanese national army has been deploying in southern Lebanon and dismantling Hezbollah’s infrastructure.
“Support is needed to strengthen the Lebanese armed forces, so that they are in the best possible position to defend the country, ensuring security and respect for its borders,” Crosetto said in Monday’s statement.
“We will guarantee our presence in multilateral and bilateral contexts,” he said.
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