UAE mediates prisoner exchange between US and Russia in Abu Dhabi

NAIROBI: Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said Thursday that attacks on medical facilities were rising in South Sudan as “major conflict” caused mass displacement, leaving under-resourced health centers struggling to cope.

South Sudan has long grappled with insecurity and political instability, but tensions between President Salva Kiir and his rival, Vice President Riek Machar, have spilt over into clashes between their forces around the country in recent months.

International attention has focused on fighting in Upper Nile State, but MSF warned that clashes were also occurring in the states of Jonglei, Unity, and Western Central Equatorial.

“We are talking about a major conflict that is taking place over multiple fronts and multiple locations,” said MSF’s operations manager Bakri Abubakr.

Abubakr labelled the subsequent displacement a “major crisis” — with roughly 60,000 people displaced in Upper Nile State and 50,000 in Jonglei alone.

MSF teams witnessed entire villages displaced, he said, saying “hospitals, health facilities and community facilities have been abandoned as well from their staff.”

“We are witnessing a collapsing health system in the country,” he said, adding that only half of South Sudan’s medical facilities were operational even before the latest fighting.

Roughly 80 percent of the country’s health care system is funded by international bodies, MSF said, with Juba contributing just 1.3 percent from its budget.

“We see a rise of attacks on health care facilities, medical personnel, civilian population,” said MSF’s Abdalla Hussein, including attacks on White River Nile barges carrying vital supplies and looting of remote outposts.

The UN says eight medical facilities have been struck this year, and MSF believes the figure could be even higher.

MSF’s head of mission Zakariya Mwatia described rising numbers of wounded arriving at Malakal city after weeks sleeping rough and traveling through the bush, their health hanging by a thread — with staff unable to save them.

“We are yet to see the worst,” he added.

ANKARA: Turkiye’s military will continue acting against PKK militants in regions where they are present until it is “certain” the threat is removed following the Kurdish group’s decision to disband, the defense ministry said Thursday, in a nod to its presence notably in Iraq.

The military will “continue to act in the regions used by the separatist PKK terrorist organization with determination until it is certain the region is cleared and will no longer pose a threat to Turkiye,” a ministry spokesman said in a briefing.

He referred specifically to “land search and scan activities, the detection and destruction of caves, shelters, mines and hand-made explosives.”

His remarks came three days after the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) announced its dissolution and the end of its four-decade insurgency that cost more than 40,000 lives.

According to a ministry source, “nothing has changed” for Turkish troops following the PKK’s announcement.

“Although the terror organization has decided to disband, we need to be careful (about provocations)... by those within the (PKK) who are unhappy with the decision,” the source added.

“If the disbanding is implemented concretely, we will return to our cleaning activities without conducting an operation to prevent these areas from being used by terrorist organizations again,” he said, without elaborating further.

Blacklisted as a terrorist organization by Turkiye and its Western allies, the PKK operates rear bases in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region, where Turkiye also maintains military bases and often carries out air and ground operations against the Kurdish militants.

The PKK is also present in Syria, where Turkiye has military bases in the north and has since 2016 carried out several ground operations to force the militants away from its border.

The source said Turkiye’s MIT intelligence service would establish a mechanism for “monitoring the disarmament” that would be done in coordination with the security forces in Iraq and Syria.

“It is not possible for the Turkish armed forces to perform this task since it is in other countries,” he said.

“We will provide support if needed, we have bases there. Our presence (in Iraq and Syria) will continue until we are sure of security.”

The source also said there would be no involvement of third parties in the disarmament process.

“There will definitely be no UN or third parties. The problems in our region should be solved by the regional countries,” he said.

The weapons handover will be overseen by Turkish intelligence officials at locations in Turkiye, Syria and Iraq, who are expected to register the arms and the identity of the fighters in coordination with the Syrian and Iraqi authorities, Turkish media reports said.

“Our intelligence service will follow the process meticulously to ensure the promises are kept,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday.