GENEVA: The United Nations on Friday said Morocco could ask for aid “today or tomorrow” to help it recover and rebuild following a devastating earthquake that has killed nearly 3,000 people and destroyed tens of thousands of homes.
“We are expecting and hoping, but expecting from our discussions with the Moroccan authorities that the request for assistance will go out within today or tomorrow,” UN aid chief Martin Griffiths told reporters in Geneva.
Morocco has allowed rescue teams to come to its aid from Spain, Britain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates since the magnitude 6.8 quake struck last Friday, but has declined offers from several other nations, including the United States, France and some Middle Eastern countries.
“We are ready to work and we’re ready to provide support on coordination,” Griffiths said, adding that “the next phase is to provide aid to those survivors — shelter, food, medical supplies.”
“It is only in the recent day or so that in Morocco, the shift has been from finding survivors to helping survivors to survive. And that’s when aid is of the highest importance,” he added.
On Thursday, Morocco announced the launch of an aid program to support and rehouse the residents of around 50,000 damaged buildings, and ordered urgent aid of 30,000 dirhams (nearly $3,000) to affected households.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) expects that it will take “weeks, months, years to be able to rebuild,” spokesman Benoit Carpentier told journalists from Marrakech.
“We were talking about rebuilding several of these villages... It’s hundreds and hundreds of villages that are scattered in the mountains,” he said.
UN says quake-hit Morocco could demand assistance ‘today or tomorrow’
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UN says quake-hit Morocco could demand assistance ‘today or tomorrow’
- Morocco has allowed rescue teams to come to its aid from Spain, Britain, Qatar and the UAE
- “We are ready to work and we’re ready to provide support on coordination,” said UN aid chief Martin Griffiths
UN says ‘alarmed’ by escalating violence in Libya’s Tripoli
The IOM said it was “alarmed by the recent escalation of violence in Tripoli“
GENEVA: The United Nations voiced alarm Thursday at escalating violence in Tripoli, warning of a “severe risk of mass displacement and danger to civilians.”
The UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM) called “for an immediate cessation of hostilities to ensure the safety and wellbeing of civilians in accordance with International Humanitarian Law.”
Their statement came amid fresh unrest in Libya, which has struggled to recover from the NATO-backed 2011 uprising that toppled and killed longtime leader Muammar Qaddafi.
The country remains split between a UN-recognized government in Tripoli, led by Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah, and a rival administration in the east, controlled by the Haftar family.
Fresh gunbattles erupted Wednesday in the Libyan capital between two powerful armed groups, a security official said, a day after the authorities had declared the fighting over.
The IOM said it was “alarmed by the recent escalation of violence in Tripoli.”
It added: “We are also concerned by the mobilization of armed groups in surrounding regions. There is a severe risk of mass displacement and danger to civilians.”
On Tuesday, the Tripoli-based government said the fighting had been controlled and announced a ceasefire, even as shots were still fired in western parts of Tripoli.
“We welcome reports of a ceasefire and urge that it be fully and unconditionally respected to safeguard the rights and dignity of all those in the affected areas,” the IOM said.
“IOM continues working with partners to support humanitarian access to all vulnerable groups, including migrants,” it added.
“We are monitoring possible displacement trends and stand ready to support should needs arise.”
South Sudan medical system collapsing as clashes rage: MSF
- “We are talking about a major conflict that is taking place over multiple fronts,” said MSF’s operations manager Bakri Abubakr
- Abubakr labelled the subsequent displacement a “major crisis“
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.
Israel has detained 17,000 Palestinians since October 2023 in West Bank
- Reported that 66 Palestinian prisoners have died in Israeli custody since beginning of aggression
RAMALLAH: The Palestinian Prisoners Society has reported that since Oct. 7, 2023, there have been 17,000 arrests carried out in the West Bank, alongside thousands more in Gaza, according to the Jordan News Agency.
Its statement, published on the 77th anniversary of the Nakba, said that arbitrary arrests had peaked during this period.
The organization reported that 66 Palestinian prisoners had died in Israeli custody since the beginning of the aggression, and noted that detainees are subjected to systematic torture, starvation, and deprivation.
There are currently more than 10,100 Palestinians in Israeli prisons, the society reported. This number includes 37 women, over 400 children and 3,577 administrative detainees held without formal charges or having undergone a trial.
Turkiye says to continue anti-PKK operations until ‘region cleared’
- 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 ,” a spokesman said
- “Nothing has changed” for Turkish troops following the PKK’s announcement
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.
Fresh gunbattles rock Libya capital after brief lull
- No official casualty figures were released, but the Libyan Red Crescent said it had recovered a dead body
- The official described the fighting as “urban warfare“
TRIPOLI: Fresh gunbattles erupted on Wednesday in the Libyan capital between two powerful armed groups, a security official said, a day after authorities declared the fighting over.
Clashes flared between the Radaa force and the 444 Brigade in key areas of the city, including the port, the source said.
Fighting eased toward the end of the day, according to television reports and residents who spoke to AFP, with some bakeries opening but schools remaining shut.
No official casualty figures were released, but the Libyan Red Crescent said it had recovered a dead body from a major street in Tripoli.
On Monday night, heavy arms fire and explosions rocked several Tripoli districts, killing at least six people, according to authorities.
The official described the fighting as “urban warfare,” with clashes in residential areas involving light and medium weapons. In other areas, heavy weapons were used.
Libya has struggled to recover from the NATO-backed 2011 uprising that toppled and killed longtime leader Muammar Qaddafi.
The country remains split between a UN-recognized government in Tripoli, led by Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah, and a rival administration in the east, controlled by the Haftar family.
The 444 Brigade controls parts of southern Tripoli and is aligned with Dbeibah. Radaa controls parts in the capital’s east and holds several key state facilities.
Fighting extended in southern and western Tripoli as Radaa brought in reinforcements to fight the 444 Brigade, an interior ministry source said.
More than 500 people on Wednesday rallied in the Souq el-Joumaa neighborhood, a Radaa stronghold, chanting slogans against the Dbeibah government and denouncing the proposed dissolution of the 444 Brigade.
Reports said Abdelghani Al-Kikli, leader of the Support and Stability Apparatus which controls the southern district of Abu Salim, was killed this week at a facility controlled by the 444 Brigade.
A source told AFP that groups were moving into the capital from neighboring Zawiya in support of Radaa, which detains smugglers of drugs and alcohol as well as affiliates of the Daesh group.
Meanwhile, “more Misrata brigades may continue to join Dbeibah’s side,” said Libya expert Jalel Harchaoui.
He described the latest conflict as some of the most dangerous for the capital in recent years, saying it meant a “territorial reshuffle” with more factions “seeking to insinuate themselves into downtown Tripoli.”
Turkiye, a supporter of the Tripoli-based government, called on “all parties to implement a full and lasting ceasefire without delay and to engage in dialogue to settle disputes,” its foreign ministry said.
On Tuesday, the Tripoli-based government said the fighting had been controlled. Dbeibah thanked government forces “for restoring security and asserting the state’s authority in the capital.”
Dbeibah also announced a string of executive orders including dissolving some bodies previously run by Tripoli armed groups other than the 444 Brigade.
But a second night of fighting could mean “a more prolonged, destructive, and existential battle with a nationwide dimension” after what he said was Dbeibah’s “failure to secure a quick victory.”
Authorities also announced a ceasefire, but gunshots were still heard in western parts of Tripoli.
The embassies in Germany, France the United States, Britain and Italy on Wednesday evening expressed “their deep concern about the recent violence in Tripoli,” urging the “authorities to take all measures to protect civilians” in a statement.
The United Nations mission in Libya said it was “deeply alarmed by escalating violence in densely populated neighborhoods of Tripoli for the second night in a row.”
In a statement, it called for “an immediate, unconditional ceasefire in all areas, allowing safe corridors for the evacuation of civilians trapped in intense conflict zones.”
