Sudan

A wave of paramilitary drone strikes hit key infrastructure and military targets in and around Sudan’s army-held capital Tuesday, bringing to an abrupt end a period of relative calm in the area. The strikes hit a power station, a weapons factory, and an oil refinery near Khartoum, witnesses at the sites said on condition of anonymity, while a military source said an air base had also been targeted.

Up to 1,000 people are feared dead in the tragedy, which occurred on Sunday in Tarsin village, located in the Jebel Marra range on the border of Central and South Darfur states.

The UN Secretary-General appealed on Friday for an immediate ceasefire in and around the besieged Sudanese city of El Fasher, where hundreds of thousands of civilians have been trapped for over a year.

The spokesperson for UN Secretary-General António Guterres stated on Monday that the global body welcomes the recent breakthrough in humanitarian access in South Kordofan State. Briefing the media in New York, Stéphane Dujarric said that on Sunday, a United Nations Children’s Fund convoy successfully delivered humanitarian supplies to Dilling Town in South Kordofan State, marking the first substantial delivery to the area by any UN agency since October 2024.

Sudan is grappling with a deepening public health emergency as cholera spreads across all 18 states, compounding the burden of other fast-spreading diseases during the rainy season. The outbreak, which has surged in Darfur, comes amid dire living conditions, insecurity, and collapsing basic services.

[…] Speaking on the centenary of the Sudanese armed forces, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan renewed his commitment to the “battle for dignity, to defeat the rebellion, and to make neither compromise nor reconciliation, whatever the cost.” The remarks come just days after a confidential meeting in Switzerland between Burhan and US Africa envoy Massad Boulos.

The UN Security Council has rejected the Rapid Support Forces’ (RSF) declaration last month of a rival administration in parts of Sudan it controls, warning the move threatens the country’s unity and risks worsening the brutal conflict between the militia and forces of the military government. 

Sudan on Monday urged South Sudan to tighten its border security to stop alleged cross-border supply lines to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a senior South Sudanese official said.

The UN has expressed deep alarm over a large-scale assault by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia on El Fasher, the government-held capital of Sudan’s North Darfur State, and the nearby Abu Shouk displacement camp, which has been under siege since April 2024. …. Amid the current escalation of violence in and around El Fasher – the last Government held bastion in Darfur – there are also reports that exit routes from the city have been blocked and civilians are trapped under siege, cut off from safety and aid.  

Guardian investigation finds number killed in April attack by Rapid Support Forces far greater than current estimates.