The short ceasefire follows a string of violated truces between Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), whose power struggle erupted into violence eight weeks ago, sparking a humanitarian crisis.

The US and Saudi Arabia said they shared “frustration” over the violations in a statement announcing the latest truce, and they threatened to adjourn the talks, which have continued indirectly, if fighting continues.

The fighting which began on April 15, has turned the metropolitan area including Khartoum and its sister cities Bahri and Omdurman into a war zone, and led to conflict in Sudan’s Darfur and Kordofan regions to the west.

Before the start of the truce at 6 am (0400 GMT), residents reported anti-aircraft missiles firing in southern Khartoum and the Sharg el-Nil district across the Nile, which also saw air strikes.

The fighting has displaced more than 1.9 million people, 200,000 or more of whom have crossed the border into Egypt.

Those who have taken the long journey have complained of poor conditions and long wait times.

On Saturday two people attempting to cross the Ashkeit border crossing said a new rule had come into effect requiring all Sudanese to obtain a visa before entering Egypt.

“We spent two nights in the neutral territory and now they are turning us back,” said Sundus Abbas, a doctor speaking to Reuters by phone from between the countries’ checkpoints. “Some people are refusing to leave,” she said.

Confirming the new rule, Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid said authorities had detected “the spread of unlawful activities by some individuals and groups on the Sudanese side” including issuing fraudulent visas.

Egypt did not aim to prohibit entry but to organize it, he said, adding the necessary equipment had been provided for the visas to be issued promptly.

Satellite monitoring

In the week since the last ceasefire lapsed on June 3 there has been intense fighting, including around crucial army bases, with the RSF claiming to have taken control of an arms manufacturing complex in southern Khartoum.

The US State Department said late on Friday it was supporting a platform called the Sudan Conflict Observatory which would release results of satellite monitoring of the fighting and ceasefires.

An initial report by the observatory documented “widespread and targeted” destruction of water, power, and telecom facilities.

It also documented eight “systematic” arson attacks that razed villages in Darfur and several attacks on schools, mosques and other public buildings in El Geneina, country’s westernmost city, which has seen fierce militia attacks amid a telecom blackout.

A doctors’ union in the city called it a “ghost town” and alleged several human rights abuses, including blockading the city, depriving civilians of water, and killing the elderly.

Citizens have said that some of the men who have attacked the city wore RSF uniforms.

Previous ceasefires had allowed some humanitarian access, but aid agencies reported still being impeded by the fighting, bureaucratic control and looting.

Medical aid agency MSF said on Saturday its staff had been stopped by RSF soldiers and “obliged” to make a statement that was later circulated by the forces.

Sudan’s army and the RSF, a parallel force that has operated legally since 2017, fell out over plans to integrate their troops and reorganize their chain of command as part of the transition.

Sudan’s army and the RSF, a parallel force that has operated legally since 2017, fell out over plans to integrate their troops and reorganize their chain of command as part of a transition toward civilian rule four years after a popular uprising ousted strongman President Omar al-Bashir.– Rappler.com

The armed forces said in a statement it halted talks in the Saudi city of Jeddah, accusing the other side of a lack of commitment in implementing any terms of the agreement and a continuous violation of the ceasefire.

The negotiations with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which began in early May, had produced a declaration of commitments to protect civilians and two short-term truce agreements, although those deals were repeatedly violated.

Eyewitnesses reported on Wednesday that the RSF had expanded its footprint within central Khartoum’s Mogran district. They also reported heavy clashes across the Nile in northern Omdurman and northern Bahri through Wednesday evening.

At least 17 people were killed and 106 injured after projectiles fell on a market in a dense southern Khartoum on Wednesday, the doctors union said in a statement. It said the local Bashair hospital, one of the few still operating in the capital, was overwhelmed.

The war has killed hundreds of people, displaced more than 1.2 million inside Sudan and driven 400,000 others across borders to neighboring states, the United Nations says.

The army, which relies on air power and artillery, and the RSF, a more lightly armed force that has dominated on the ground in Khartoum, had agreed to extend a week-long ceasefire deal by five days just before its Monday expiry.

Army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, a career military officer, and RSF General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, a former militia commander known as Hemedti, have been locked in a battle for power since April 15. Neither side seems to have an edge.

“We do not want to use lethal force. We still haven’t used our maximum strength…. We don’t want to destroy the country,” Burhan said in a military video released on Tuesday, speaking to cheering forces at a military base with a gun slung on his back.

“But if the enemy does not obey and does not respond we will be forced to use the strongest force we have.”

The RSF said in a statement late on Tuesday it was committed to the ceasefire “despite repeated violations” by the army.

In a video released by the RSF on Wednesday, Hemedti’s brother and RSF number two Abdelrahim Dagalo called on army soldiers to desert and work together with the RSF.

“Anyone who wants Sudan’s best interests should leave Burhan,” he said, adding that his brother was well and on the front lines.

Sudan has a history of political upheaval, coups and internal conflicts, but violence had previously hit regions far from Khartoum, which is home to millions of people.

Challenging negotiations

Commenting on the Sudanese army’s withdrawal from the Jeddah talks, Mohamed El Hacen Lebatt, African Union spokesperson on the crisis in Sudan, said: “It is not surprising. It happens often. We hope the mediator will succeed to bring both parties for working on an expected ceasefire.”

The capital has seen widespread looting and frequent power and water supply cuts. Most hospitals have stopped functioning.

Before the ceasefire deal was renewed, an army source said the army had demanded the RSF withdraw from civilian homes and hospitals as a condition for an extension. After the five-day extension was agreed, talks continued on the truce terms.

The truce deal was brokered and is being remotely monitored by Saudi Arabia and the United States. They say it has been violated by both sides, although the truce has still allowed the delivery of aid to an estimated 2 million people.

Clashes have also erupted outside the capital, including Darfur, a region in the far west of Sudan where a conflict that erupted in 2003 has flared on and off for years.

The United Nations, some aid agencies, embassies and parts of Sudan’s central government have moved operations out of the capital to Port Sudan on the Red Sea, which has remained calm.

Burhan and Hemedti fell out over the chain of command and restructuring of the RSF under a planned transition to civilian rule. After conflict flared, Burhan sacked Hemedti as his deputy in the ruling council that had run Sudan since the two toppled autocratic Islamist President Omar al-Bashir in 2019. – Rappler.com

The proposal signed into law by President Yoweri Museveni is considered one of the harshest in the world and carries the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality.” The government says the constitution has been followed.

“I hope that the judiciary is going to look into it and I can tell you, if they look at human rights law, their own constitution, they will find it in violation of it,” Volker Turk told Reuters on Tuesday, May 30, describing the law as “devastating.”

He did not elaborate on which aspect of the constitution had been violated.

Asked about alleged breaches of international law, a spokesperson later added: “a whole range,” saying these included the rights to equality, non-discrimination and to life.

Uganda’s information minister, Chris Baryomunsi, rejected the criticism, telling Reuters: “We followed the constitution, we followed the laid out procedures and the law has been legally passed. For us we do not consider homosexuality as a constitutional right, it is just a sexual deviation which we do not promote as Ugandans and Africans.

“So we disagree with the West on that, homosexual acts are not a human right, they are not. It is abnormal behavior which is being promoted by societies in the West.”

A Ugandan organization, Human Rights Awareness and Promotion Forum, and 10 other individuals have filed a complaint against the law at the constitutional court, one of the petitioners, Busingye Kabumba, told Reuters. However, it is not yet clear if the court will take up the case.

Turk also said that “each and every aspect of the law” would also be examined by UN human rights experts.

He criticized “so-called religious groups” for stoking the government to pass the legislation. “They want to use the machinery of the state to impose their views which is utterly unacceptable,” he said. – Rappler.com

The army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) agreed to extend a week-long ceasefire deal by five days just before it was due to expire late on Monday, May 29.

The truce was brokered and is being remotely monitored by Saudi Arabia and the United States, which say it has been violated by both sides but has still allowed for the delivery of aid to an estimated two million people.

“We hope this truce succeeds even if only to stop the war a little and that we can return to our normal lives. We have hope in the truce and we don’t have other options,” said Hind Saber, a 53-year-old resident of Khartoum.

Hours before the ceasefire extension was signed, residents reported intensive fighting in all three of the adjoining cities that make up Sudan’s greater capital around the confluence of the Nile – Khartoum, Omdurman and Bahri.

Residents reported fighting on Tuesday afternoon near an army base in southern Khartoum.

The war has caused nearly 1.4 million people to flee their homes, including more than 350,000 that have crossed into neighboring countries.

Areas of the capital have been hit by widespread looting and frequent cuts to power and water supplies. Most hospitals have been put out of service.

The United Nations, some aid agencies, embassies and parts of Sudan’s central government have moved operations to Port Sudan, in Sudan’s Red Sea state, the main shipping hub which has seen little unrest.

On Tuesday, the state’s security committee said it had caught several “rebellious” sleeper cells that it said had sneaked in from outside and warned that they were planning activities.

“We thank the citizens of Red Sea state for their total cooperation and for immediately reporting the presence of these rebellious elements and their agents within their neighborhoods,” it said, without specifying their identity.

The conflict erupted on April 15 over internationally backed plans for a transition to elections under a civilian government.

Leaders of the army and the RSF had held the top positions on Sudan’s ruling council since former leader Omar al-Bashir was toppled during a popular uprising in 2019.

They staged a coup in 2021 as they were due to hand leadership of the council to civilians, before falling out over the chain of command and restructuring of the RSF under the planned transition.

Army leader General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan appeared in a video on Tuesday greeting troops. He said that the army had agreed to the ceasefire extension to ease citizens’ access to services.

“The army hasn’t used its full deadly power, but it will be forced to do so if the enemy does not obey or listen to the voice of reason,” he said in a statement.

UN children’s agency UNICEF said more than 13.6 million children in Sudan, a country of 49 million people, were in urgent need of lifesaving humanitarian support.

The UN World Food Programme, which expects up to 2.5 million people in Sudan to slip into hunger in coming months, said that 17,000 metric tonnes of food had been looted since the conflict began.

WFP said on Monday that it had begun to distribute food in parts of the capital for the first time since the outbreak of fighting. – Rappler.com

Same-sex relations were already illegal in Uganda, as in more than 30 African countries, but the new law goes further.

It stipulates capital punishment for “serial offenders” against the law and transmission of a terminal illness like HIV/AIDS through gay sex. It also decrees a 20-year sentence for “promoting” homosexuality.

“The Ugandan president has today legalized state-sponsored homophobia and transphobia,” said Clare Byarugaba, a Ugandan rights activist.

United States President Joe Biden called the move “a tragic violation” of human rights and said Washington would evaluate the implications of the law “on all aspects of US engagement with Uganda.”

“We are considering additional steps, including the application of sanctions and restriction of entry into the United States against anyone involved in serious human rights abuses or corruption,” he said.

A presidency photo of Museveni showed him signing the law with a golden pen at his desk. The 78-year-old has called homosexuality a “deviation from normal” and urged lawmakers to resist “imperialist” pressure.

A local organization, Human Rights Awareness and Promotion Forum, and 10 other individuals later filed a complaint against the law at the constitutional court, one of the petitioners, Busingye Kabumba, told Reuters.

Museveni had sent the original bill passed in March back, asking parliament to tone down some provisions. But his ultimate approval was not seen as in doubt in a conservative country where anti-LGBTQ attitudes have hardened in recent years, in part due to campaigning by Western evangelical church groups.

Uganda receives billions of dollars in foreign aid each year and could now face adverse measures from donors and investors, as happened with a similar bill nine years ago.

Reprisals?

The bill’s sponsor, Asuman Basalirwa, told reporters that parliament speaker Anita Among’s U.S. visa was cancelled after the law was signed. Among and the US embassy in Uganda did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

In a joint statement, the US’ flagship HIV/AIDS programme PEPFAR, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) said the law put Uganda’s anti-HIV fight “in grave jeopardy.”

Dominic Arnall, chief executive of Open For Business, a coalition of companies that includes Google GOOGL.O and Microsoft MSFT.O, said the group was deeply disappointed and the law ran counter to Ugandans’ economic interests.

The UN human rights body declared itself “appalled.”

Uganda’s move could encourage lawmakers in neighboring Kenya and Tanzania seeking similar measures.

“What a leader we’ve in Africa!” tweeted George Kaluma, a Kenyan member of parliament who submitted an anti-LGBTQ bill in April.

“Kenya is following you in this endeavor to save humanity.”

The inclusion of the death penalty for offenses like transmitting HIV has drawn particular outrage internationally.

Existing Ugandan law calls for a maximum 10-year sentence for intentionally transmitting HIV and does not apply when the person who contracted the infection was aware of their sexual partner’s HIV status.

By contrast, the new law makes no distinction between intentional and unintentional transmission and contains no exception based on awareness of HIV status.

The amended version of the bill, adopted earlier this month after Museveni returned it to parliament, stipulated that merely identifying as LGBTQ is not a crime and revised a measure that obliged people to report homosexual activity to only require reporting when a child is involved.

‘Like apartheid’

LGBTQ Ugandans called those changes useless, saying law enforcement regularly exceeds its legal authorities to harass them. They said passage of the bill in March unleashed a wave of arrests, evictions and mob attacks.

The issue has been a long-running one in Uganda.

A less restrictive 2014 anti-LGBTQ law was struck down by a Ugandan court on procedural grounds, after Western governments had initially suspended some aid, imposed visa restrictions and curtailed security cooperation.

In 2009, a bill dubbed “kill the gays” for initially proposing executing homosexuals was introduced after a conference in Kampala drew representatives from the United States including prominent anti-gay evangelical Scott Lively.

As well as religious campaigning, Africa’s anti-LGBTQ attitudes also have their roots in the colonial era, including an anti-sodomy section of Britain’s penal code. By the time the UK legalised same-sex acts in 1967, many former colonies were independent and did not inherit the legal change.

“To reduce any kind of human being, irrespective of their sexuality, to a death sentence based on who they identify as and how they choose to live their lives is something that we should all feel very ashamed about as a continent,” said South African filmmaker Lerato.

“We can liken this to apartheid if not worse.” – Rappler.com

The US ambassador to South Africa Reuben Brigety said on May 11 that he was confident that a Russian ship, which docked at a naval base in Simonstown in the Western Cape in December last year, took aboard weapons from South Africa. An allegation South Africa has since denied.

The allegations have caused a diplomatic row between the US, South Africa, and Russia and called into question South Africa’s non-aligned position on the Ukraine conflict.

South Africa says it is impartial and has abstained from voting on UN resolutions on the war.

“The President decided to establish the inquiry because of the seriousness of the allegations, the extent of public interest and the impact of this matter on South Africa’s international relations,” said the statement.

The three-member panel will be chaired by Phineas Mojapelo, former deputy judge president of Gauteng province. The other two members are Advocate Leah Gcabashe, who was former evidence leader for a state corruption inquiry that ended last year, and Enver Surty, former deputy minister of basic education. It will have six weeks to conduct its investigation.

The terms of reference for the panel include establishing who was aware of the cargo ship’s arrival, the contents that were loaded and off-loaded and “whether constitutional, legal or other obligations were complied with in relation to the cargo ship’s arrival.”

The president is expected to receive a final report within two weeks of the investigation concluding. – Rappler.com

Mostafa Waziri, the head of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, told reporters that the two large “embalming workshops” date back to the 30th dynasty (380-343 BC) and the Ptolemaic (305-30 BC) eras.

The discovery was made after a year-long excavation near the sanctuary of the goddess Bastet, which is home to the catacombs of mummified cats in Saqqara, some 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) south of Cairo.

It was the same spot where hundreds of mummified animals and statues were uncovered in 2019.

“We found embalming workshops, one for humans and one for animals. We found all the tools that they used (in mummification) in ancient times,” Waziri said.

Both workshops featured stone beds, clay pots, ritual vessels, natron salt, which is one of the main ingredients for mummification, and linens among other mummification instruments.

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The Saqqara excavations also led to the unearthing of two small 4,400 and 3,400-year-old tombs nearby, belonging to two priests, Ne Hesut Ba of the Old Kingdom’s fifth dynasty and Men Kheber of the late kingdom’s 18th dynasty respectively.

Inscriptions of cultivation, hunting and other daily activities were found on the walls of Ne Hesut Ba’s tomb while “scenes showing the deceased in different positions” were engraved in Men Kheber’s tomb, officials said.

Egypt has carried out extensive digging operations in Saqqara and other ancient locations in recent years, which resulted in a number of high-profile discoveries.

The country plans to inaugurate the Grand Egyptian Museum, a state-of-the-art facility near the Giza Pyramids on the outskirts of Cairo, after construction is completed later this year.

Egypt hopes it can further lure back tourists after the industry started to rebound of late, having been battered by the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and the conflict in Ukraine.

Tourism revenues climbed to $7.3 billion in the second half of 2022, a 25.7% increase compared with the same period a year earlier, according to recently released central bank data. – Rappler.com

Some other residents reported relative calm early on Tuesday, May 23, the first full day of the ceasefire that is being monitored by Saudi Arabia and the US and is meant to allow for the delivery of humanitarian relief.

After five weeks of fierce battles between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the warring factions on Saturday agreed to a seven-day truce that began at 9:45 pm (1945 GMT) on Monday, aimed to allow for the delivery of aid.

The ceasefire deal, reached in talks in Jeddah, has raised hopes of a pause in a war that has driven nearly 1.1 million people from their homes, including more than 250,000 who have fled to neighboring countries, threatening to destabilize a volatile region.

“Our only hope is that the truce succeeds, so that we can return to our normal life, feel safe, and go back to work again,” said Khartoum resident Atef Salah El-Din, 42.

Although fighting has continued through previous ceasefires, this was the first to be formally agreed following negotiations.

The ceasefire deal includes for the first time a monitoring mechanism involving the army and the RSF as well as representatives from Saudi Arabia and the United States, which brokered the agreement after talks in Jeddah.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the monitoring mechanism would be “remote,” without giving details.

“If the ceasefire is violated, we’ll know, and we will hold violators accountable through our sanctions and other tools at our disposal,” he said in a video message.

“The Jeddah talks have had a narrow focus. Ending violence and bringing assistance to the Sudanese people. A permanent resolution of this conflict will require much more,” he added.

Shortly before the ceasefire was due to take effect, the RSF released an audio message from its commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, in which he thanked Saudi Arabia and the US but urged his men on to victory.

“We will not retreat until we end this coup,” he said.

Both sides accused each other of an attempted power grab at the start of the conflict on April 15.

The United Nations envoy to Sudan warned on Monday of the growing “ethnicisation” of the military conflict and the potential impact on neighbouring states.

“The growing ethnicization of the conflict risks to expand and prolong it, with implications for the region,” Volker Perthes told a briefing at the U.N. Security Council. – Rappler.com

The fighting between Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces has led to a collapse in law and order with looting that both sides blame the other for. Stocks of food, cash, and essentials are rapidly dwindling.

Air strikes were reported by eyewitnesses in southern Omdurman and northern Bahri, the two cities that lie across the Nile from Khartoum, forming Sudan’s “triple capital.” Some of the strikes took place near the state broadcaster in Omdurman, the eyewitnesses said.

“We faced heavy artillery fire early this morning, the whole house was shaking,” Sanaa Hassan, a 33-year-old living in the al-Salha neighborhood of Omdurman, told Reuters by phone.

“It was terrifying, everyone was lying under their beds. What’s happening is a nightmare,” she said.

The RSF is embedded in residential districts, drawing almost continual air strikes by the regular armed forces.

Eyewitnesses in Khartoum said that the situation was relatively calm, although sporadic gunshots could be heard.

The conflict, which began on April 15, has displaced almost 1.1 million people internally and into neighboring countries. Some 705 people have been killed and at least 5,287 injured, according to the World Health Organization.

Saudi and US-sponsored talks in the Saudi city of Jeddah have not been fruitful, and the two warring sides have accused each other of violating multiple ceasefire agreements.

In recent days ground fighting has flared once again in the Darfur region, in the cities of Nyala and Zalenjei.

Both sides blamed each other in statements late on Friday for sparking the fighting in Nyala, one of the country’s largest cities, which had for weeks been relatively calm due to a locally-brokered truce.

A local activist told Reuters there were sporadic gun clashes near the city’s main market close to army headquarters on Saturday morning. Almost 30 people have died in the two previous days of fighting, according to activists.

Churches among looted buildings

The war broke out in Khartoum after disputes over plans for the RSF to be integrated into the army and over the future chain of command under an internationally backed deal to shift Sudan towards democracy following decades of conflict-ridden autocracy.

On Friday, Amy leader General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan removed RSF chief Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo as his deputy on the ruling council they lead. He replaced him with former rebel leader Malik Agar.

In a statement on Saturday, Agar said he had accepted the position in order to help secure peace and support for the upcoming agricultural season, whose failure would spell widespread hunger.

He said his message to the army was that “there is no alternative to peace but peace and no way to peace other than dialogue.”

“My message to the RSF is that there is no way for stability except with one united army,” he added, but it remains unclear how much influence he will have on either side.

The US Agency for International Development (USAID) announced late on Friday more than $100 million in aid to Sudan and countries receiving fleeing Sudanese, including much-needed food and medical assistance.

“It’s hard to convey the extent of the suffering occurring right now in Sudan,” said agency head Samantha Power.

Among the many looted buildings in the capital are several churches, including the Virgin Mary church in downtown Khartoum, according to a church official. Armed men gave the bishop a week to vacate the church’s premises, after which they looted it before setting it up as their base, he said.

Church leaders have said they are not sure if attacks are targeted or part of the overall “chaos” gripping Khartoum.

In a statement, Qatar said that its embassy was the latest in a string of looted embassies. – Rappler.com

Fighting has rocked Khartoum and adjoining areas as well as Geneina in the Darfur region since the warring army and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary force agreed a “declaration of principles” on Thursday.

“It was much worse this morning compared to the past two days. You could clearly hear the tanks and the RSF were patrolling the streets more than usual,” said Hani Ahmed, 28.

The conflict that broke out a month ago has killed hundreds of people, sent more than 200,000 into neighboring states, displaced another 700,000 inside the country, and risks drawing in outside powers and destabilizing the region.

The two sides have battled through previous truces and have shown no sign of being willing to compromise. Although the RSF has promised to uphold Thursday’s agreement, the army has not yet commented on it.

Neither side seems able to secure a quick victory, with the army able to call on air power but the RSF dug into residential districts throughout the capital.

“We only see the army in the sky but in terms of face-to-face contact we only see the RSF. They’re the ones on the ground,” Ahmed said.

For civilians the conflict has unleashed a nightmare of bombardment, random gunfire, home invasions and looting, amid flickering electricity supply, shortages of water and food, and little chance of medical help with injuries.

“Our neighborhood is now completely under RSF control, They loot and harass people and wander around, always armed, taking shelter wherever they want,” said Duaa Tariq, 30, an art curator in Khartoum.

Tariq said she hoped the talks in Jeddah could lead to a ceasefire, but was doubtful, adding: “We can’t really trust either side because they don’t have control of their soldiers on the ground.”

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Arab league

Fighting is unabated since the two sides agreed the declaration of principles to protect civilians and allow humanitarian access. Residents say RSF fighters continue to occupy properties, which the force has denied doing, and the army carries out air strikes that residents say hit civilian targets.

Hashim Mohamed, 35, said he had found bread in a local shop for the first time in a week. “It’s not that bread isn’t available, but it’s a longer walk which means more brushes with danger,” he said.

Out shopping on Saturday, he had to duck down as gunfire rattled nearby and RSF fighters cruised the neighborhood in civilian cars.

The resumed talks in Jeddah will start by discussing ways to implement the existing agreement, then move on to a lasting ceasefire that could pave the way for a civilian government, officials say.

Saudi Arabia has invited army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan to the Arab League summit in Jeddah, a senior Saudi diplomat said, but he is not expected to leave Sudan for security reasons, two other diplomats in the Gulf said.

Burhan was invited because he is head of Sudan’s Sovereign Council, in which his rival, RSF chief Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, is deputy.

Saudi Arabia has had close ties to both men since the army and the RSF sent troops to help the Saudi-led coalition in its war against Houthi forces in Yemen.

Some of the worst fighting has taken place in Darfur, where a war has simmered since 2003, killing 300,000 people and displacing 2.5 million.

The Darfur Bar Association, a local rights group, said at least 77 people were killed in Geneina, where fighting flared on Friday after a two-week lull.

“Armed groups on motorcycles and RSF vehicles attacked on Friday and are continuing to commit acts of killing, looting, arson and terror,” the group said.

The RSF has denied moving from its positions in Darfur and blamed the strife there on the army and on loyalists of former president Omar al-Bashir, who was ousted in 2019, saying they had armed civilians.

Residents said on Friday the army did not intervene in the Geneina strife. – Rappler.com