'Barely anyone left': Sudan's El-Fasher devastated by fighting

RFI

22 September 2024 at 9:36 am·1-min read

Civilians combed through the wreckage of their homes Sunday in the Sudanese city of El-Fasher, besieged for months by paramilitaries who have now launched a "full-scale assault", according to the United Nations.

As the world body's high-level General Assembly meeting prepares Sunday to debate Sudan's 17-month war – which has claimed tens of thousands of lives and caused the world's largest displacement crisis – world leaders have warned against cataclysmic violence in the city of two million.

US President Joe Biden has called on Sudan's rival generals to "pull back their forces, facilitate unhindered humanitarian access, and re-engage in negotiations to end this war".

But on the ground, shells have once again torn through civilian homes, in the latest flare-up of the war between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the regular army which has raged since April 2023.

"Most of our homes in the city's south have been completely destroyed," local resident Al-Tijani Othman told AFP by phone from his bombed-out neighbourhood.

"There's barely anyone left here," he said, after months of bombardment and starvation.

On Saturday alone, health authorities managed to confirm 14 civilian deaths and 40 injuries, a medical source told AFP.

"But that's nowhere near the real number of victims," the source warned, requesting anonymity for his protection.

"People often have to bury their loved ones right then and there rather than brave the fighting on the road to the hospital," he continued.

Fleeing en masse

The Telegraph
IDF assassinates right-hand man of Hamas leader Sinwar
Israel has said it has assassinated the “right-hand man” of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.
The Independent
It’s clear we are already in a Middle East war – one that will be difficult to stop
ANALYSIS: World leaders, UN officials and experts all agree that only the most determined diplomatic efforts, only a multilateral ceasefire, can be the parachute to slow this nightmare down, writes Bel Trew
The Telegraph
‘America will be furious and Beijing delighted’: How Starmer handed Chagos to China
Nigel Farage has claimed that “our American allies will be furious and Beijing delighted” after Sir Keir Starmer gave up the Chagos Islands.
NextShark
China gets no formal message from US on its National Day
In a departure from tradition, the U.S. State Department has not released a formal congratulatory message for China’s National Day, which marked the 75th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China on Oct. 1. Xi’s rhetoric also comes amid growing U.S. military support for Taiwan, with President Joe Biden recently approving a $567 million aid for the island’s defense.
The Guardian
Gulf leaders support Palestine – but many would not mind seeing Israel challenge Iran
The escalating Middle East conflict could create a dangerous vacuum – or an opportunity – for several states
The Hill
Opinion - Stop building China’s military with US tax dollars
The Department of Defense funded more than 2,000 scientific research papers with Chinese collaborators who were directly affiliated with the CCP’s defense research and industrial base.
The Telegraph
Pictured: Israeli air base hit in Iranian missile strike
Iranian missiles hit a hangar and caused craters at Israel’s Nevatim air base, according to satellite imagery.
The Independent
Can Kamala Harris beat Donald Trump? Latest poll updates
Here’s what the latest polls say about the 2024 presidential election, from The Independent’s data correspondent
The Telegraph
Yazidi woman kidnapped by IS as a child 10 years ago freed from Gaza captivity
A Yazidi woman who was kidnapped by Islamic State as a child before being sent to Hamas in Gaza has been rescued after more than a decade in captivity.
The Independent
Man who smashed Taylor Swift guitar with hammer at Texas auction explains why he did it
Instrument has reportedly been listed on eBay after the stunt
CNN
World awaits Israel’s response to attacks from Iran
“We really need to expect the worst,” Fawaz Gerges, Professor of International Relations at the London School of Economics, tells Eleni Giokos about Israel’s possible retaliation to Iran’s missile barrage.
Associated Press
Cambodian maid is arrested and deported by Malaysia for criticizing Cambodia leaders on social media
A Cambodian woman who worked as a maid in Malaysia has been deported to her homeland for comments she posted on social media criticizing Cambodian government leaders, in the latest example of a Southeast Asian government helping another arrest a dissident. A Cambodia prison official and an opposition activist group said Thursday that Nuon Toeun, 36, who had worked in Malaysia for several years, was arrested last week by Malaysian authorities following a request from the Cambodian government.
Euronews
'It cannot be tolerated': European leaders condemn Iranian strike on Israel
Political leaders across the continent have denounced Tehran's overnight ballistic missile strikes, for which Israel has promised retaliation.
The Daily Beast
Judge Scolds ‘Privileged’ MAGA Election Official During Searing Sentencing
A Colorado judge threw the book at a MAGA folk hero on Thursday after bizarre scenes in court that included “magnetic mattresses” and courtroom outbursts. Tina Peters, the infamous election-denying Colorado clerk who tried to help Donald Trump overturn 2020 election results, was sentenced to nine years in prison—a far cry from probation, as her attorneys had asked for. Peters, 68, was found guilty last month of allowing a man associated with MyPillow’s Mike Lindell to enter the Mesa County elect
The Daily Beast
Trump’s Heartless Reaction to Pence Being in Danger Revealed in Bombshell Filing
A bombshell filing out of Donald Trump’s election subversion case was unsealed Wednesday, revealing a trove of damning allegations about how the former president acted on and around Jan. 6, 2021. Among the nastiest accusations in the 165-page document was how Trump allegedly reacted to learning from an aide that his vice president, Mike Pence, had been taken to a secure location in the U.S. Capitol for his safety. Trump’s alleged response to that news: “So what?”Read more at The Daily Beast.Get
AFP News
Taliban's battle with IS opens door to foreign cooperation
Afghanistan's Islamic State group is staging a growing number of bloody international attacks, presenting a rare but complicated opportunity for foreign cooperation with the Taliban government to counter the jihadists.Since winning their own insurgency in defiance of the international community three years ago, the Taliban government has been plagued by attacks by the Islamic State Khorasan (IS-K).
The Guardian
Israel may launch symbolic attack on Iran nuclear-related facilities, says Ehud Barak
Israeli former prime minister says in interview it is too late to significantly set back Tehran’s nuclear ambitions, and that a ‘massive’ attack on Iran’s oil facilities is likely
HuffPost
Jimmy Kimmel Says New Document Trove Finally Answers 1 Key Question About Trump
The late-night host said one mystery about the former president has now been solved.
The Independent
Poll shows America’s millionaires back Harris over Trump — even the over-60s
A third of America’s most wealthy also say they are considering leaving the country, regardless of who wins in November
France 24
Israel targets Hezbollah HQ in Beirut as border clashes continue
Israel's military said Thursday it had hit Hezbollah's intelligence headquarters in the Lebanese capital of Beirut, as its troops battled militants near the border and warplanes bombarded their strongholds around the country. The strike came after the Lebanese health minister said that at least 1,974 people had been killed in the recent Israeli offensive in Lebanon. Read our liveblog to see how all the day's events unfolded. Israel vowed to retaliate to an attack by Iran during which Tehran fire

Fleeing en masse

Latest stories