A paramilitary assault on an open market in Omdurman, Sudan, left 54 people dead and at least 158 wounded, health officials reported Saturday.  The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) attacked Sabrein Market in the latest violent escalation of Sudan’s ongoing civil war. The conflict, which began in April 2023, has devastated the northeastern African nation, AP reports.  There was no immediate response from the RSF regarding the attack.  Government spokesperson Khalid al-Aleisir, who also serves as Sudan’s culture minister, condemned the assault, stating that many women and children were among the victims. He described the attack as a violation of international humanitarian law.  “This criminal act only adds to the militia’s history of brutality,” he said in a statement.  US military conducts airstrikes against Islamic State operatives in Somalia According to Sudan’s Doctors Syndicate, a mortar shell exploded just meters from al-Naw Hospital, which received most of the casualties. The syndicate reported a severe shortage of medical personnel, particularly surgeons and nurses.  Chris Lockyear, secretary general of Doctors Without Borders, was at the hospital when the injured began arriving.  “There are scores of people with devastating wounds, and the morgue is overflowing,” he said. “It’s a horrific scene, another example of this relentless war on civilians.”  A video posted by Al Arabiya TV correspondent Nezar Bogdawi showed body bags lined up outside the hospital and wounded individuals receiving treatment on the floor.  Sudan’s military later announced it had driven RSF fighters out of several areas in Gezira state.  Last week, an RSF assault on a hospital in El Fasher, Darfur, killed around 70 people.  The war has claimed over 28,000 lives, displaced millions, and led to famine. The International Criminal Court is investigating war crimes, while the US has accused the RSF of genocide.

A small plane crash in a remote region of South Sudan on Wednesday resulted in the deaths of at least 18 people, an official confirmed. According to Gatwech Bipal, the minister of information in Unity state, the flight was chartered by the Chinese oil company Greater Pioneer Operating Company and had 21 people on board, including two pilots. The crash occurred as the plane was taking off near an oil field, preparing to head toward Juba’s international airport. Some 70 people killed in attack on hospital in Sudan's Darfur region, WHO chief says The cause of the crash remains unknown, and authorities have yet to disclose the identities of the victims. Local media reports suggest that oil workers were among those on board.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor announced plans to pursue arrest warrants against those accused of committing atrocities in Sudan’s West Darfur region, where paramilitary forces have reportedly engaged in ethnic cleansing amid a 19-month conflict with government forces. Addressing the U.N. Security Council on Monday, ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan emphasized that crimes are currently being used as weapons of war in Darfur. This conclusion, he stated, is based on a rigorous analysis of evidence gathered by his office. Sudan’s conflict erupted in April 2023 due to escalating tensions between military and paramilitary leaders, starting in Khartoum and spreading to Darfur. The region has a grim history of genocide and war crimes, particularly by the Janjaweed militias, which killed up to 300,000 people and displaced 2.7 million during the early 2000s. Trump’s Palestinian refugee idea falls flat with Arab allies and confounds a Republican senator Khan highlighted the ongoing involvement of government forces and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) – a paramilitary group evolved from the Janjaweed – in alleged war crimes, crimes against humanity, or genocide. He noted “very clear echoes” of the 2003 atrocities in the current conflict, with the same groups and communities suffering anew. The Biden administration recently declared the RSF and its affiliates responsible for genocide during Sudan’s ongoing civil war. Human Rights Watch has also reported intensified attacks by the RSF and allied militias on non-Arab ethnic groups, including the Masalit, in El Geneina, West Darfur’s capital, during 2023. Thousands were killed and hundreds of thousands displaced during these assaults. Khan confirmed that the ICC is preparing applications for arrest warrants related to alleged crimes in West Darfur, with particular attention to gender-based violence against women and girls. While no specific names or charges were disclosed, he stressed the urgent need for compliance with international humanitarian law to prevent further suffering. Some 70 people killed in attack on hospital in Sudan's Darfur region, WHO chief says Efforts to engage with the RSF included recent meetings between ICC representatives and paramilitary leaders. Khan expressed hope for meaningful action and vowed to monitor the situation closely. He concluded with an appeal for humanity, urging all parties to adhere to international humanitarian law “not as a charity, but as a necessity dictated by humanity.”

A brutal attack on the only operational hospital in El Fasher, a besieged city in Sudan's Darfur region, has claimed around 70 lives, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus confirmed the death toll in a post on X, describing the assault on the Saudi Teaching Maternal Hospital as "appalling." The attack, which left 19 others injured, occurred as the hospital was crowded with patients, said Ghebreyesus. He also reported another assault on a health facility in Al Malha. Local officials attributed the attack to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group engaged in a civil war with Sudan's military. Israel, Hamas to swap hostages, prisoners amid ceasefire test The RSF has been blamed for numerous atrocities during the conflict, including a siege on El Fasher since May 2024. Civilians in the city, now home to over one million displaced people, have endured months of violence and deprivation. The conflict, which began in April 2023, has resulted in over 28,000 deaths and forced millions to flee their homes. Both sides have been accused of committing war crimes, with reports of ethnic African groups being targeted. Bittersweet feeling for Palestinians freed from Israeli prisons Despite international mediation and sanctions, the fighting continues. WHO and other global organizations have called for an end to violence against healthcare facilities and civilians, emphasizing that Sudan urgently needs peace.

The deputy executive director of the U.N. World Food Program (WFP) has been visiting hotspots across the Middle East and Sudan to evaluate worsening humanitarian crises and increasing demands for food among millions affected by conflict, reports AP. Carl Skau, in a recent interview with the Associated Press, revealed that funding shortages have compelled the agency to reduce the number of people it can assist. Despite efforts to diversify funding sources, including private sector contributions, Skau warned of a challenging future with growing needs and insufficient resources. Israel's Syrian buffer zone advance reveals both risks and opportunities ‘A triple crisis’ in Syria Syria is grappling with the aftermath of a 13-year civil war, an influx of people from the recent Israel-Hezbollah conflict in Lebanon, and the unexpected ousting of long-time leader Bashar Assad. Prior to these developments, 3 million Syrians were already acutely food insecure, though the WFP could only assist 2 million due to funding constraints. Now, the compounded crises are escalating humanitarian needs. While Aleppo remains relatively calm, the capital, Damascus, is marked by disruptions in markets, currency devaluation, rising food prices, and transport issues. This has necessitated immediate humanitarian efforts. Moving forward, the U.N. plans to focus on recovery and eventual reconstruction in Syria. Gaza’s descent toward famine Skau highlighted dire conditions in northern Gaza but expressed even greater concern for southern Gaza, particularly for approximately 1 million displaced individuals near Khan Younis as winter looms. In northern Gaza, where about 65,000 Palestinians remain without aid for over two months, Israeli military actions, lawlessness, and theft of food aid have hindered humanitarian access. Limited convoys have managed to reach Gaza City, accommodating around 300,000 people. In southern Gaza, where 1.2 million people received WFP aid through September, only 400,000 Palestinians were assisted in October and November. Restricted entry points, difficulties in transporting supplies, and a breakdown in civil order have severely limited aid delivery. International famine experts warned weeks ago that without change, famine was imminent in Gaza—a trajectory Skau believes is now unfolding. Over 50 killed in Israeli strikes in Gaza Sudan’s overwhelming humanitarian crisis Sudan faces the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, with 25 million people acutely food insecure and famine officially declared in the Zam Zam displacement camp in western Darfur. Skau noted recent progress in securing clearances for aid delivery across conflict zones and from Chad. With the end of the rainy season, roads have become accessible, enabling greater food deliveries. A WFP convoy recently reached Zam Zam camp, but two others have been delayed due to recent fighting in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur and the last major city in Darfur under Sudanese military control. Sudan’s conflict began in April 2023, following tensions between military and paramilitary factions, leading to widespread violence in Khartoum and other regions, including Darfur. Paramilitary rampage kills over 120 in east-central Sudan: UN This month, WFP reached 2.6 million people in Sudan, but Skau stressed that the international community has not adequately addressed the crisis and must increase its efforts.

Some 110 million people have had to flee their homes because of conflict, persecution, or human rights violations, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees says. The war in Sudan, which has displaced nearly 2 million people since April, is but the latest in a long list of crises that has led to the record-breaking figure. "It's quite an indictment on the state of our world," Filippo Grandi, who leads the U.N. refugee agency, told reporters in Geneva ahead of the publication Wednesday of UNHCR's Global Trends Report for 2022. Also Read: Record 108.4 mln people forcibly displaced by end of  2022: UNHCR Last year alone, an additional 19 million people were forcibly displaced including more than 11 million who fled Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in what became the fastest and largest displacement of people since World War II. "We are constantly confronted with emergencies," Grandi said. Last year the agency recorded 35 emergencies, three to four times more than in previous years. "Very few make your headlines," Grandi added, arguing that the war in Sudan fell off most front pages after Western citizens were evacuated. Also Read: UN agencies warn of starvation risk in Sudan, Haiti, Burkina Faso and Mali, call for urgent aid Conflicts in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia and Myanmar were also responsible for displacing more than 1 million people within each country in 2022. The majority of the displaced globally have sought refuge within their nation's borders. One-third of them - 35 million - have fled to other countries, making them refugees, according to the UNHCR report. Most refugees are hosted by low to middle-income countries in Asia and Africa, not rich countries in Europe or North America, Grandi said. Also Read: Sudan military ruler seeks removal of UN envoy in letter to UN chief, who is 'shocked' by the demand Turkey currently hosts the most refugees with 3.8 million people, mostly Syrians who fled the civil war, followed by Iran with 3.4 million refugees, mostly Afghans. But there are also 5.7 million Ukrainian refugees scattered across countries in Europe and beyond. The number of stateless people has also risen in 2022 to 4.4 million, according to UNHCR data, but this is believed to be an underestimate. Also Read:  Thousands of exhausted South Sudanese head home, fleeing brutal conflict Regarding asylum claims, the U.S. was the country to receive the most new applications in 2022 with 730,400 claims. It's also the nation with the largest backlog in its asylum system, Grandi said. "One of the things that needs to be done is reforming that asylum system so that it becomes more rapid, more efficient," he said. The United States, Spain and Canada recently announced plans to create asylum processing centers in Latin America with the goal of reducing the number of people who trek their way north to the Mexico-U.S. border. Also Read: UN: Sudan conflict displaces over 1.3 million, including some 320K to neighboring countries As the number of asylum-seekers grows, so have the challenges facing them. "We see pushbacks. We see tougher and tougher immigration or refugee admission rules. We see in many countries the criminalization of immigrants and refugees, blaming them for everything that has happened," Grandi said. Also Read: War in Ukraine, disasters left 71mn people internally displaced in 2022: Report Last week European leaders renewed financial promises to North African nations in the hopes of stemming migration across the Mediterranean while the British government insists on a so-far failed plan to ship asylum-seekers to Rwanda, something UNHCR is opposed to. But there were also some wins, Grandi said, pointing to what he described as a positive sign in the European Union's negotiations for a new migration and asylum pact, despite criticism from human rights groups. Also Read: Sudan's government declares UN envoy ‘persona non grata’ Grandi also celebrated the fact that the number of refugees resettled in 2022 doubled to 114,000 from the previous year. But he admitted this was "still a drop in the ocean."  

The United States and Saudi Arabia called on warring sides in Sudan to extend a cease-fire due to expire Monday. The Sudanese army and a rival paramilitary force, battling for control of Sudan since mid-April, had agreed last week to the weeklong truce, brokered by the U.S. and the Saudis. However, the cease-fire, like others before it, did not stop the fighting in the capital of Khartoum and elsewhere in the country. In a joint statement early Sunday, the U.S. and Saudi Arabia called for an extension of the current truce which expires at 9:45 p.m. local time Monday. "While imperfect, an extension nonetheless will facilitate the delivery of urgently needed humanitarian assistance to the Sudanese people," the statement said. The statement also urged Sudan's military government and the rival Rapid Support Forces to continue negotiations. The fighting broke out in mid-April between the military and the powerful RSF. Both military chief Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan and RSF leader Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo led the 2021 coup that removed the Western-backed government of Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok. The fighting turned Khartoum and the adjacent city of Omdurman into a battleground. The clashes also spread elsewhere in the country, including the war-wracked Darfur region. The conflict has killed hundreds of people, wounded thousands and pushed the country to near collapse. It forced more than 1.3 million out of their homes to safer areas inside Sudan, or to neighboring nations. Residents reported renewed sporadic clashes Sunday in parts of Omdurman, where the army's aircraft were seen flying over the city. Fighting was also reported in al-Fasher, the provincial capital of North Darfur. The U.S.-Saudi statement came two days after Burhan demanded in a letter to the U.N. secretary-general that the U.N. envoy to his country be removed, The U.N. chief was "shocked" by the letter, a spokesman said. The envoy, Volker Perthes, has been a key mediator in Sudan, first during the country's fitful attempts to transition to democracy and then during efforts to end the current fighting. Burhan's letter came after Perthes accused the warring parties of disregarding the laws of war by attacking homes, shops, places of worship and water and electricity installations. In his briefing to the U.N. Security Council last week, Perthes blamed the leaders of the military and the RSF for the war, saying that they have chosen to "settle their unresolved conflict on the battlefield rather than at the table."

A total of 51 Bangladeshi nationals evacuated from Sudan returned home from Jeddah Airport on a Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight today (May 11, 2023). They arrived in Dhaka from Jeddah at 10:20 am via Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight BG336, according to a press release by Biman. The Bangladeshi nationals from conflict-ridden Sudan took temporary shelter in Jeddah with the help of the Bangladesh Embassy and Saudi authorities.   Earlier on May 8, Biman Bangladesh Airlines brought back 136 Bangladeshi nationals -- escaping Sudan -- from Jeddah. Read more: Another 176 Bangladeshis from war-torn Sudan arrive in Jeddah Meanwhile, another 130 Bangladeshis will return home by Qatar Airlines and 238 by Biman Bangladesh Airlines from Madinah today, according to a press release from the Bangladesh Embassy in Saudi Arabia. Bangladesh is operating four chartered flights from Sudan, at its own cost, to evacuate the remaining Bangladeshi citizens to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Sudan plunged into a civil war last month that has so far claimed the lives of more than 600 people, including civilians, and displaced hundreds of thousands. Countries around the world are scrambling vessels and airplanes to evacuate their citizens from Sudan. Read More: Sudan: 25 dead in tribal fighting, as truce talks stall

Bangladesh is operating four chartered flights from Sudan, at its own cost, to evacuate the remaining Bangladeshi citizens to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Three of the chartered flights will be operated today (May 10, 2023), while the fourth will be operated tomorrow, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam told reporters at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday. He said the government has sent required financial support for providing food to Bangladeshis who are waiting in Sudan. Also read: Govt to provide all possible financial assistance to returnees from Sudan: Minister Once they reach Jeddah, they will fly back to Dhaka as soon as possible. On Tuesday, 136 Bangladeshi nationals arrived at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka. They were supported by IOM with air tickets through its internal emergency assistance funding mechanisms to travel from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia to Dhaka, Bangladesh with the coordinated support from Biman Bangladesh Airlines. Upon arrival the returnees were provided with meals and onward transportation allowance from the Wage Earners' Welfare Board (Tk 3,000) and IOM (Tk 2,000). Read More: Sudan conflict: 136 Bangladeshi evacuees arrive in Dhaka

At least 100 people were killed in clashes that erupted last month between armed fighters in a city in Sudan’s restive region of Darfur, according to the Sudan’s Doctors Syndicate. Hospitals were still out of service in the Darfur city of Genena and an accurate count of the wounded was still hard to make, the doctors’ union added in a statement posted on their official Facebook page late Sunday. The fighting in Genena, which broke out a few days after Sudan’s two rival generals took arms against each other in Khartoum, pointed to the possibility that conflict in the capital could spiral to other parts of the East African country. Also Read: Sudan conflict: 136 Bangladeshi evacuees arrive in Dhaka   At least 481 civilians were killed in Khartoum clashes that erupted in mid-April between the military, led by Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, led by Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, according to the same doctors’ statement. The number of the wounded among civilians has jumped to more than 2560.