UN experts say Sudan paramilitaries recruiting in Central Africa

UN experts say Sudan paramilitaries recruiting in Central Africa
Sudanese paramilitary forces are using the Central African Republic as a "supply chain," including for recruitment of fighters, according to a report published Friday by UN experts, who are concerned about a "spillover effect". (AFP/File)
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Updated 15 June 2024
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UN experts say Sudan paramilitaries recruiting in Central Africa

UN experts say Sudan paramilitaries recruiting in Central Africa
  • “The spillover effect of the conflict in the Sudan has significantly affected the situation in the Central African Republic,” said the expert committee
  • This “continues to constitute a security threat to civilians and an impediment to humanitarian activities in the area“

UNITED NATIONS: Sudanese paramilitary forces are using the Central African Republic as a “supply chain,” including for recruitment of fighters, according to a report published Friday by UN experts, who are concerned about a “spillover effect.”
Sudan descended into war in April 2023 when the generals in charge of the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) took up arms against each other in a fight for control, rejecting a plan to integrate.
“The spillover effect of the conflict in the Sudan has significantly affected the situation in the Central African Republic,” said the expert committee, formed by the UN Security Council to monitor sanctions on Central Africa.
They highlighted in particular the humanitarian situation, as the country sees an influx of millions of Sudanese refugees, as well as incursions by the two warring Sudanese parties — plus air raids by the Sudanese army in and around the Umm Dafog border post, where the RSF is present.
This “continues to constitute a security threat to civilians and an impediment to humanitarian activities in the area,” the experts said.
They insist the paramilitaries are also using the Am Dafok area in the Central African Republic on the border “as a key logistical hub.”
Because the RSF can “move between the two countries easily through a long-standing network” they have been able to recruit “from among armed groups in the Central African Republic.”
“Opposition armed groups from the Central African Republic have been reported to have actively recruited for, and sent members of their own groups to fight in, the Sudan under RSF,” the experts said.
They noted in particular fighters in Sudan since as early as August 2023 from the Central African rebel group Popular Front for the Rebirth of Central Africa (FPRC).
The experts said they are aware that this armed group and others “are still able to cross between the Sudan and the Central African Republic at will and use Sudanese territory to launch attacks.”
The experts thus called on Central African authorities to “counteract the surge in arms trafficking from neighboring countries, particularly given the current conflict situation in the Sudan.”
They also asked the leaders to combat “the infiltration of foreign fighters into the Central African Republic, which poses a significant long-term threat to the region.”


Migrants’ dreams buried under rubble after deadly strike on Yemen center

Migrants’ dreams buried under rubble after deadly strike on Yemen center
Updated 13 sec ago
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Migrants’ dreams buried under rubble after deadly strike on Yemen center

Migrants’ dreams buried under rubble after deadly strike on Yemen center
  • In a nearby hospital in Saada, emaciated African men were recovering from their wounds after surviving the attack that tore their friends to pieces
  • The tragedy brought back memories of a March 2021 blaze at a Sanaa migrant center that killed 45 people

SAADA: Africans in search of a better future became the latest casualties of Yemen’s decade-long conflict after a deadly strike blamed on the United States hit a migrant detention center, killing dozens of people.
The pre-dawn attack on Monday killed more than 60 people in their sleep, the country’s Houthi militants said, attributing the raid to the US military.
Rubble, blood and body parts dotted the grounds of the compound in Houthi-held Saada, with several buildings left in ruins, twisted metal glittering in the sun.
In a nearby hospital, emaciated African men were recovering from their wounds after surviving the attack that tore their friends to pieces.

Dead bodies ripped apart, I can’t describe what I saw... A hand here, a leg there. I don’t want to remember

Abed Ibrahim Saleh, 34, from Ethiopia

“The planes struck close by twice. The third time they hit us,” said Abed Ibrahim Saleh, 34, a soft-spoken Ethiopian whose head and leg were wrapped in white gauze.
“Dead bodies ripped apart, I can’t describe what I saw... A hand here, a leg there. I don’t want to remember,” he said with a blank stare.
Since mid-March, Washington has conducted near-daily air strikes on the Iran-backed Houthis in a bid to stop their campaign of attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, launched in solidarity with Palestinians after the outbreak of the Gaza war.
US strikes on the militants began under former president Joe Biden, but have resumed and intensified under his successor Donald Trump.
Fleeing conflict
Footage broadcast by the Houthis’ Al-Masirah TV at the time of the attack showed bodies lying under the rubble as rescue teams searched for survivors.
The tragedy brought back memories of a March 2021 blaze at a Sanaa migrant center that killed 45 people and was sparked by teargas canisters fired by Houthi forces responding to a protest.
Each year, tens of thousands of migrants cross the Red Sea from the Horn of Africa, fleeing conflict, natural disasters and poor economic prospects.

This brutal aggression that killed the sons of Palestine and the Yemeni people is now targeting poor migrants

Ibrahim Al-Moallem from Yemen’s Somali community

Many hope for employment as laborers or domestic workers in Saudi Arabia and other wealthy Gulf countries, though they first face a perilous journey through war-torn Yemen.
Inspecting the wreckage, Ibrahim Abdul Qadir Mohammed Al-Moallem, a member of Yemen’s Somali community, denounced the “heinous crime” against innocent people.
“This brutal aggression that killed the sons of Palestine and the Yemeni people is now targeting poor migrants,” he said, blaming the United States for the attack.
The Houthis, who have also repeatedly launched missiles and drones at Israel, paused their attacks during a recent two-month ceasefire in Gaza, but had threatened to resume them after Israel cut off aid to the territory over an impasse in negotiations.
Before they could, however, the intensified US campaign resumed, hitting more than 1,000 targets in insurgent-held Yemen since March 15. The Houthi’s attacks since then have only targeted US warships.
“There is no justification for this,” Moallem said, calling on African leaders to take a stance and urging the international community to “break your silence.”
'Conducting assessment'
Asked about the strike, a US defense official told AFP the army was aware of reports of civilian casualties “and we take those claims very seriously.”
“We are currently conducting our battle-damage assessment and inquiry into those claims,” they said on condition of anonymity.
The United Nations expressed deep concern at Monday’s strike, while Niku Jafarnia of Human Rights Watch said US attacks “are appearing to kill and injure civilians in Yemen at an alarming rate over the past month.”
“Failing to take all feasible precautions to mitigate civilian harm constitutes a violation of international humanitarian law,” HRW said.


Qatar supplies Syria’s White Helmets with vehicles, logistical equipment

Qatar supplies Syria’s White Helmets with vehicles, logistical equipment
Updated 53 min 18 sec ago
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Qatar supplies Syria’s White Helmets with vehicles, logistical equipment

Qatar supplies Syria’s White Helmets with vehicles, logistical equipment
  • Consignment of fire engines, mobile water tanks will be used in search and rescue operations
  • White Helmets’ director praises Qatari support

LONDON: Qatar has provided a consignment of vehicles, water pumps and other logistical equipment to the Syrian Civil Defense, also known as the White Helmets, to support its humanitarian and rescue efforts.

Since the collapse of Bashar Assad’s regime late last year, the White Helmets have been at the forefront of rescue and first aid operations in Syria, providing essential relief services and contributing to rebuilding efforts.

The consignment was received at the Internal Security Force headquarters in Al-Duhail on Wednesday in the presence of Syrian Minister of Emergency and Disaster Management Raed Al Saleh and Qatari Brig. Gen. Nawaf Majed Al-Ali, assistant commander for security operations at the internal force.

The equipment included fire engines, mobile water tanks, high-altitude rescue vehicles, water pumps and personnel transport vehicles that will be used in search and rescue operations and emergency response, the Qatar News Agency reported.

Mounir Moustafa, director of the White Helmets, praised Qatar’s support and said the equipment and training programs would significantly enhance their daily operations.


Sudan’s army leader Burhan appoints an acting prime minister, statement says

Sudan’s army leader Burhan appoints an acting prime minister, statement says
Updated 58 min 12 sec ago
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Sudan’s army leader Burhan appoints an acting prime minister, statement says

Sudan’s army leader Burhan appoints an acting prime minister, statement says
  • Dafallah Al-Hajj Ali appointed on Wednesday as acting prime minister

Sudan’s army leader Abdel Fattah Burhan appointed diplomat Dafallah Al-Hajj Ali as acting prime minister on Wednesday, weeks after the army’s recapture of Khartoum.
Burhan, chairman of Sudan’s transitional sovereign council, also approved the appointment of Omar Seddik, a current ambassador, as foreign minister, a council statement said.
In March, the Sudanese army drove Rapid Support Forces militia from most of Khartoum after two years of devastating conflict that split the country into rival zones of control. The RSF is still deeply embedded in western Sudan.
The war erupted in April 2023 over disputes about the integration of the two forces after they worked together to oust civilians with whom they had shared power after the uprising that toppled autocrat Omar Al-Bashir.
In February, Burhan said there would be changes to the country’s interim constitution, which military sources said would remove all references to partnership with civilians or the RSF, placing authority solely with the army which would appoint a technocratic prime minister who would then appoint a cabinet.


Moroccan-based cardinal says Church does not need Francis ‘impersonator’

Moroccan-based cardinal says Church does not need Francis ‘impersonator’
Updated 30 April 2025
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Moroccan-based cardinal says Church does not need Francis ‘impersonator’

Moroccan-based cardinal says Church does not need Francis ‘impersonator’
  • “It doesn’t necessarily have to be a Francis mark II, a Francis impersonator,” said Lopez
  • Born in Spain, Lopez has been the archbishop of the Moroccan capital Rabat since 2017

ROME: Cardinal Cristobal Lopez Romero, the Spanish-born archbishop of Rabat, admits he is a little anxious ahead of his first conclave, although also curious.
The 72-year-old is among 133 cardinals from around the world who will vote for a successor to Pope Francis starting May 7.
“I haven’t decided anything,” he told AFP when asked whom he would vote for as the leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics.
“We believe in the Holy Spirit and we will see what it shows us and where we have to go.”
“It doesn’t necessarily have to be a Francis mark II, a Francis impersonator,” said Lopez, who the Argentine pontiff appointed as a cardinal in 2019.
“I am happy for him to be a good impersonator of Christ, that he is a good Christian, a good person and pays attention to what happens in the world.”
Born in Spain, Lopez has been the archbishop of the Moroccan capital Rabat since 2017.
There, he claims to have experienced a “conversion” — not to Islam, the overwhelming majority religion in the North African country, but in his approach to his work.
“I hear confession barely once every six months,” Lopez said. Christians make up less than one percent of Morocco’s population of 38 million people.
“That helped me to realize that I wasn’t there to serve the Church but rather, as the Church, to serve the world — in this case the Muslim world.”
Lopez has been taking part in the daily cardinal meetings, known as “general congregations,” in which those present discuss the priorities for the new pope and future direction of the 2,000-year-old Church.
“We are listening to people who we have never listened to before... and that guides you,” said Lopez, who is a Paraguayan citizen, having lived there for almost two decades.
The cardinals taking part in the conclave — those aged under 80 and able to attend — are staying in the relatively modest Casa Santa Marta on the Vatican’s grounds where Francis lived during his papacy.
They are, however, sworn to lifelong secrecy about what happens inside the Sistine Chapel during the conclave.
Smartphones are banned, the room will be swept for listening devices and cardinals are barred from reading newspapers, listening to the radio or watching television.
“I’m not worried, but I am curious,” said Lopez. “A little apprehensive because I know the responsibility that this entails, but calm because I believe in the Holy Spirit.”
In fact, Lopez even feels “a certain happiness” about the whole process — but hopes it will not last more than “two or three days.”
There are up to four votes a day until at least two-thirds of the cardinals agree on a single candidate.
Two days were needed to elect Francis and his predecessor Benedict XVI, but the longest ever conclave lasted three years.
“It’s already many days that I have been out of Morocco and I’m eager and need” to return, said Lopez.
Like Francis, Lopez wants a missionary Church pushing out especially into areas where Catholicism has few adherents, such as Morocco.
“Thanks to Pope Francis this has become much clearer, that the Church is universal, Catholic, that there are no geographic borders that limit us,” he said.
And Lopez has not ruled out the next pope hailing from outside the traditional Catholic heartlands.
“After 50 years of a Polish pope, a German pope and an Argentine pope, why not think about a pope from Myanmar, East Timor or Australia, or North America, or Africa. It’s all open,” he said.
However, he is ruling himself out of the running.
“It’s as if I said (Lionel) Messi is going to retire and I’m going to replace” the Argentine football legend, he joked.


Algeria drafts wartime mobilization bill amid regional tensions

Algeria drafts wartime mobilization bill amid regional tensions
Updated 30 April 2025
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Algeria drafts wartime mobilization bill amid regional tensions

Algeria drafts wartime mobilization bill amid regional tensions
  • The text was approved by government ministers earlier this month
  • The draft law is raising concerns among ordinary Algerians

ALGIERS: Algeria’s government proposed a law to streamline military mobilization amid tensions with neighboring countries Morocco and Mali, as well as former colonial ruler France.
The text, set to be unveiled on Wednesday by the North African country’s minister of justice, was approved by government ministers earlier this month.
Relations between France and Algeria sharply deteriorated last summer when France shifted its position to support Morocco’s autonomy plan for Western Sahara.
The debate on the general mobilization law comes as Algeria’s strongman leader, army chief of staff Said Changriha, makes a series of trips to military regions in the border areas to oversee military manouvers.
It also comes after Algeria, which has one of Africa’s largest militaries, said earlier this month it had shot down a military drone near the country’s border with Mali. 
The text of the draft law, a copy of which was seen by The Associated Press, aims “to define the provisions for organizing, preparing and carrying out the general mobilization provided for in Article 99 of the Constitution,” which authorizes the mobilization of all the nation’s forces in the event of a major crisis.
The draft law is raising concerns among ordinary Algerians.
“I did not understand what’s behind this project,’ Aziza Sahoui, a retired teacher, said on social media. “I’m really worried, especially as it comes after the incursion of a Malian drone into our territory.”