PORT SUDAN: Drone strikes hit Port Sudan for a sixth straight day Friday, an army source said, blaming the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, at war with the regular army since April 2023.
“Our air defenses intercepted some of the enemy drones which were targeting sites in the city,” the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Witnesses reported strikes across Port Sudan, seat of the army-backed government and the country’s main aid hub.
The port city, which had been seen as a safe haven from the devastating conflict between the army and the RSF, has been hit by daily drone strikes since Sunday.
The long-range attacks have damaged several key facilities, including the country’s sole international airport, its largest working fuel depot and the city’s main power station.
The port city is the main entry point for humanitarian aid into Sudan, and UN chief Antonio Guterres warned the attacks “threaten to increase humanitarian needs and further complicate aid operations in the country,” his spokesman said.
More than two years of fighting have killed tens of thousands of people and uprooted 13 million in what the United Nations describes as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
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Drone strikes hit Port Sudan for sixth straight day: army source
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Drone strikes hit Port Sudan for sixth straight day: army source
- The port city has been hit by daily drone strikes since Sunday
- The long-range attacks have damaged several key facilities
Syria begins circulating new post-Assad currency bills
- Presidential decree said new Syrian currency will be issued by removing two zeros from the nominal value of the old currency
- Central Bank govenor says Syrians can now exchange old Syrian pounds with new banknotes
DAMASCUS, Syria: Syria started the process of circulating new currency bills on Saturday as the nation seeks to stabilize the economy as it recovers from the fall of Bashar Assad’s government.
A decree issued earlier this week by President Ahmad Al-Sharaa said that “old Syrian currency” will be gradually withdrawn from circulation according to a timetable set by the central bank and through designated exchange centers.
Central Bank Governor Mokhles Nazer posted on X that after months of preparations, the exchange of old Syrian pounds with new banknotes officially began Saturday morning.
The presidential decree posted on the SANA state news agency stipulates that “new Syrian currency” will be issued by removing two zeros from the nominal value of the old currency. It means every 100 Syrian pounds of the old currency will now equate to one Syrian pound.
The largest denomination of the old currency was 5,000 Syrian pound, while under the new currency it is 500 pounds.
The US dollar was selling at exchange shops in Damascus on Saturday for 11,800 pounds for the old banknotes, some of which bear the images of Assad and his late father and predecessor, Hafez Assad.
At the start of Syria’s conflict in mid-March 2011, the US dollar was worth 47 Syrian pounds.
Since insurgent groups led by Al-Sharaa’s Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham marched into Damascus in December 2024 to end the Assad family’s 54-year rule, work has been ongoing by the country’s new authorities to improve the economy battered by years of war and Western sanctions.
The US and the European Union have removed most of the sanctions imposed on Syria during Assad’s rule.
A decree issued earlier this week by President Ahmad Al-Sharaa said that “old Syrian currency” will be gradually withdrawn from circulation according to a timetable set by the central bank and through designated exchange centers.
Central Bank Governor Mokhles Nazer posted on X that after months of preparations, the exchange of old Syrian pounds with new banknotes officially began Saturday morning.
The presidential decree posted on the SANA state news agency stipulates that “new Syrian currency” will be issued by removing two zeros from the nominal value of the old currency. It means every 100 Syrian pounds of the old currency will now equate to one Syrian pound.
The largest denomination of the old currency was 5,000 Syrian pound, while under the new currency it is 500 pounds.
The US dollar was selling at exchange shops in Damascus on Saturday for 11,800 pounds for the old banknotes, some of which bear the images of Assad and his late father and predecessor, Hafez Assad.
At the start of Syria’s conflict in mid-March 2011, the US dollar was worth 47 Syrian pounds.
Since insurgent groups led by Al-Sharaa’s Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham marched into Damascus in December 2024 to end the Assad family’s 54-year rule, work has been ongoing by the country’s new authorities to improve the economy battered by years of war and Western sanctions.
The US and the European Union have removed most of the sanctions imposed on Syria during Assad’s rule.
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