PORT SUDAN: Fighting intensified in southern Sudan’s North Kordofan region on Tuesday as residents in the capital El-Obeid told AFP a paramilitary drone had exploded near an army division headquarters.
The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has been battling Sudan’s army since April 2023 — capturing El-Fasher, the last military stronghold in Darfur, western Sudan, in late October.
The takeover in Darfur was accompanied by reports of mass killings, sexual violence, abductions and looting, which led to increasingly vocal international calls for a ceasefire.
But the RSF victory in Darfur has allowed its forces to turn more attention to the oil-rich south.
One resident in El-Obeid, speaking to AFP anonymously for fear of reprisal, said they saw “smoke rising from the area” after a strike targeting the base of the army’s 5th Division.
Another witness reported hearing a blast before “clouds of smoke” rose from the direction of the military base.
El-Obeid, about 400 kilometers (250 miles) southwest of Khartoum, hosts an airport and lies on a key supply route linking Darfur and the capital.
There has also been renewed fighting 400 kilometers southwest of El-Obeid in Babanusa — the army’s last remaining foothold in West Kordofan.
On Tuesday, the RSF released video footage appearing to show its fighters inside the base of the 22nd Infantry Division, the city’s army headquarters.
A day earlier the group said it had secured “the liberation” of the entire city after repelling what it called a “surprise attack” by army units.
The army denied on Tuesday losing Babanusa, saying its forces had repelled a new RSF attack the previous day.
The army also accused the paramilitary force of launching daily drone and artillery strikes despite a unilateral ceasefire announcement by RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.
Kordofan — an area nearly the size of France — has become a major battleground as the army seeks to push the RSF away from the vital highway linking the capital Khartoum to Darfur.
Meanwhile, international efforts to end the war have stalled.
Fighting intensifies in oil-rich southern Sudan
https://arab.news/9edeu
Fighting intensifies in oil-rich southern Sudan
- RSF takeover of Darfur has allowed its forces to turn more attention to the oil-rich south
- The army denied losing Babanusa and accused the RSF of violating the ceasefire announcement
Gaza’s Rafah border crossing has reopened but few people get through
- Restrictions negotiated by Israeli, Egyptian, Palestinian and international officials meant that only 50 people would be allowed to return to Gaza each day
- Amid confusion around the reopening, the Rafah crossing was closed Friday and Saturday
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip: When the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt finally reopened this week, Palestinian officials heralded it as a “window of hope” after two years of war as a fragile ceasefire deal moves forward.
But that hope has been sidetracked by disagreements over who should be allowed through, hourslong delays and Palestinian travelers’ reports of being handcuffed and interrogated by Israeli soldiers.
Far fewer people than expected have crossed in both directions. Restrictions negotiated by Israeli, Egyptian, Palestinian and international officials meant that only 50 people would be allowed to return to Gaza each day and 50 medical patients — along with two companions for each — would be allowed to leave.
But over the first four days of operations, just 36 Palestinians requiring medical care were allowed to leave for Egypt, plus 62 companions, according to United Nations data. Palestinian officials say nearly 20,000 people in Gaza are seeking to leave for medical care that they say is not available in the war-shattered territory.
Amid confusion around the reopening, the Rafah crossing was closed Friday and Saturday.
Hours of questioning
The Rafah crossing is a lifeline for Gaza, providing the only link to the outside world not controlled by Israel. Israel seized it in May 2024, though traffic through the crossing was heavily restricted even before that.
Several women who managed to return to Gaza after its reopening recounted to The Associated Press harsh treatment by Israeli authorities and an Israeli-backed Palestinian armed group, Abu Shabab. A European Union mission and Palestinian officials run the border crossing, and Israel has its screening facility some distance away.
Rana Al-Louh, anxious to return two years after fleeing to Egypt with her wounded sister, said Israeli screeners asked multiple times why she wanted to go back to Gaza during questioning that lasted more than six hours. She said she was blindfolded and handcuffed, an allegation made by others.
“I told them I returned to Palestine because my husband and kids are there,” Al-Louh said. Interrogators told her Gaza belonged to Israel and that “the war would return, that Hamas won’t give up its weapons. I told him I didn’t care, I wanted to return.”
Asked about such reports, Israel’s military replied that “no incidents of inappropriate conduct, mistreatment, apprehensions or confiscation of property by the Israeli security establishment are known.”
The Shin Bet intelligence agency and COGAT, the Israeli military body that handles Palestinian civilian affairs and coordinates the crossings, did not respond to questions about the allegations.
The long questioning Wednesday delayed the return to Gaza of Al-Louh and others until nearly 2 a.m. Thursday.
Later that day, UN human rights officials noted a “consistent pattern of ill-treatment, abuse and humiliation by Israeli military forces.”
“After two years of utter devastation, being able to return to their families and what remains of their homes in safety and dignity is the bare minimum,” Ajith Sunghay, the agency’s human rights chief for the occupied Palestinian territories, said in a statement.
Numbers below targets
Officials who negotiated the Rafah reopening were clear that the early days of operation would be a pilot. If successful, the number of people crossing could increase.
Challenges quickly emerged. On the first day, Monday, Israeli officials said 71 patients and companions were approved to leave Gaza, with 46 Palestinians approved to enter. Inside Gaza, however, organizers with the World Health Organization were able to arrange transportation for only 12 people that day, so other patients stayed behind, according to a person briefed on the operations who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
Israeli officials insisted that no Palestinians would be allowed to enter Gaza until all the departures were complete. Then they said that since only 12 people had left Gaza, only 12 could enter, leaving the rest to wait on the Egyptian side of the border overnight, according to the person briefed on the operations.
Crossings picked up on the second day, when 40 people were allowed to leave Gaza and 40 to enter. But delays mounted as many returning travelers had more luggage than set out in the agreement reached by negotiators and items that were forbidden, including cigarettes and water and other liquids like perfume. Each traveler is allowed to carry one mobile phone and a small amount of money if they submit a declaration 24 hours ahead of travel.
Each time a Palestinian was admitted to Egypt, Israeli authorities allowed one more into Gaza, drawing out the process.
The problems continued Wednesday and Thursday, with the numbers allowed to cross declining. The bus carrying Wednesday’s returnees from the crossing did not reach its drop-off location in Gaza until 1:40 a.m. Thursday.
Still, some Palestinians said they were grateful to have made the journey.
As Siham Omran’s return to Gaza stretched into early Thursday, she steadied herself with thoughts of her children and husband, whom she had not seen for 20 months. She said she was exhausted, and stunned by Gaza’s devastation.
“This is a journey of suffering. Being away from home is difficult,” she said. “Thank God we have returned to our country, our homes, and our homeland.”
Now she shares a tent with 15 family members, using her blouse for a pillow.
