Category World News

The Sudan army is holding on to its last stronghold in West Kordofan as the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) pushes to take control of the province east of Darfur.

The army said on Sunday it had repelled an attack against its headquarters in the town of Babnusa, which has been under repeated attacks from the RSF.

The paramilitary force has been pushing eastwards in recent weeks, having solidified control in Darfur. The RSF campaign continues to incur reports of mass atrocities and a desperate humanitarian situation.

On Saturday, RSF fighters released several videos from inside Babnusa. Several were shown claiming they were advancing along multiple axes and would soon “liberate” the area.

A comparison of satellite images taken between September 9 and November 13 by Al Jazeera revealed that the RSF offensive in Babnusa had seriously damaged a number of army facilities, with thick smoke rising from within the headquarters.

The images also showed signs of drone targeting and extensive damage to several facilities surrounding the headquarters, with repeated shelling destroying much of the infrastructure and restricting the army’s movements within the area.

However, more recent footage circulating online, which has been verified by Al Jazeera’s Sanad fact-checking agency, showed soldiers with the 22nd Division of the Sudanese army in Babnusa celebrating the capture of armoured vehicles left behind by retreating RSF fighters.

Intense battles are expected to continue across the Kordofan region in central Sudan over the coming weeks, with the RSF and government forces ignoring a ceasefire proposal presented by the United States and regional stakeholders.

In North Kordofan, the RSF is pushing to take the strategic city of el-Obeid, home to a major army airbase and a buffer for the capital, Khartoum.

The government forces, which have been fighting the RSF since the civil war broke out in April 2023, announced on Saturday that their soldiers had recaptured Kazqil and Um Dam Haj Ahmed in North Kordofan.

The RSF also has its sights on Kadugli, the capital of South Kordofan.

The outcome of the current fighting in Kordofan will largely shape the course of future military operations, according to Colonel Hatem Karim al-Falahi, a military expert who spoke to Al Jazeera.

He said the army’s ability to protect strategic cities such as Babnusa will have a significant effect on Sudan’s military and regional balance in the weeks ahead, so the army has been trying to strengthen defensive lines and conduct airdrops and other forms of air assistance.

‘Unimaginable suffering’

While the fighting continues, the humanitarian situation remains catastrophic in RSF-dominated parts of the country to the west.

In the aftermath of last month’s fall of el-Fasher, the last stronghold of government forces in Darfur, after 18 months of siege, reports of hunger, displacement and atrocities committed against civilians have become increasingly urgent.

Sudan Doctors Network said in a statement on Sunday that it had confirmed 32 cases of rape among girls coming from el-Fasher just over the past week.

The victims arrived in the nearby town of Tawila and recounted being raped either in el-Fasher or on the way out by RSF fighters.

Speaking to Al Jazeera from Tawila, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Tom Fletcher described “unimaginable suffering”.

Iranian-born author and professor Trita Parsi joins Centre Stage to unpack the tumultuous history between the US and Iran, Iran’s nuclear ambitions and its role as a strategic player in an increasingly divided world. He also breaks down Tehran’s relationships with groups like Hezbollah and Hamas and how those alliances have shaped its regional position.

Dozens of people have been killed in Southeast Asia as the rainy season unleashes landslides.

At least 18 people have been killed in Indonesia over the past week, authorities said on Monday. In Vietnam, six people were killed late on Sunday when a bus was swept off a road in the centre of the country.

The deaths in Indonesia happened in two regions in Central Java province.

A landslide in the city of Cilacap buried a dozen houses in Cibeunying village, the disaster mitigation agency said.

Search and rescue efforts have been challenging, it noted, with victims buried in mud 3m to 8m (10ft to 25ft) deep.

Authorities have counted at least 16 people killed while another seven are missing, said M Abdullah, head of the local division of the search and rescue agency.

Excavators were deployed to dig through dirt, footage from news channel KompasTV showed on Monday.

Separately, two people died and 27 were missing after a landslide on Saturday in the region of Banjarnegara, the disaster mitigation agency said, with up to 30 houses damaged.

Increasingly destructive and frequent

In Vietnam, a landslide buried a passenger bus on a treacherous mountain pass. Six people are reported to have been killed with 19 injured, according to state media.

The bus carrying 32 people was en route from Da Lat to Nha Trang when the incident happened, reports said.

The landslide on Khanh Le Pass, triggered by heavy rain, crushed the front of the bus, trapping many passengers.

Rescuers struggled for hours to reach the scene as heavy rain also caused landslides on both sides of the pass, cutting off access.

Vietnam and Indonesia are among the world’s most flood-prone countries with nearly half their populations living in high-risk areas.

Scientists warn that a warming climate is making the rainy season, which runs from October to March across parts of Southeast Asia, more hazardous as the length and severity of the season are affected.

Storm patterns are being altered, leading to heavier rain, flash flooding, stronger wind gusts, and increasingly destructive and frequent landslides.

Vietnam was hit hard earlier this month by Typhoon Kalmaegi. The storm had earlier torn through the Philippines, killing at least 188 people.

In Indonesia, flash floods and landslides in a remote area of the eastern Papua region killed at least 15 people and left eight missing in early November.

Tensions are high in Bangladesh as a tribunal has convicted fugitive former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on charges of crimes against humanity.

Security was beefed up in the capital Dhaka and across the country as rival factions anticipated the ruling of the special tribunal, which was announced on Monday.

The prosecution is seeking the death penalty for Hasina, 78, who has been in exile in India since an uprising last year that killed hundreds of people and ended her 15-year rule.

The United Nations says up to 1,400 people were killed and thousands injured in a crackdown as Hasina tried to cling to power.

Bangladesh has been led by an interim government since, and has been mired in political turmoil. Violence has marred campaigning for elections, expected in February 2026, that will choose a new government.

Authorities and the military are braced for potential violence.

Security forces have surrounded the court since the date of the verdict was set on Thursday, with armoured vehicles manning checkpoints.

Dhaka Municipal Police spokesman Talebur Rahman said the force would remain on high alert, and that almost half the city’s 34,000 police would be on duty on Monday.

‘Kangaroo court’

Hasina defied court orders that she return from India to attend the trial. The former-PM’s Awami League party has labelled the tribunal a “kangaroo court” and called for a nationwide shutdown.

In a message to supporters, Hasina insisted that the allegations against her are false.

“Let them issue a verdict. I don’t care. God gave me life, God will take it, but I will keep working for the people of my country. I have lost my parents, my siblings, and they burned down my home,” the former leader said, according to India’s NDTV.

“I am telling my party workers: Don’t worry, it is a matter of time. I know you are suffering, we will not forget this, everything will be accounted for,” she added.

‘Use lethal weapons’

Prosecutors have filed five charges against Hasina, including failure to prevent murder, which amount to crimes against humanity under Bangladeshi law.

Secret phone call recordings, accessed by Al Jazeera, have revealed that Hasina “issued an open order” to “use lethal weapons” on protesters and shoot “wherever they find them”.

“Justice will be served according to the law,” Chief Prosecutor Tajul Islam told reporters when the verdict date was set last week.

The trial has heard months of testimony alleging that the former leader ordered mass killings. Hasina has called the trial a “jurisprudential joke”.

Her co-accused include former Interior Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal – also a fugitive – and former police chief Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun, who is in custody and has pleaded guilty.

Hasina was assigned a state-appointed lawyer for the trial, but she has refused to recognise the court’s authority.

Hasina’s son, Sajeeb Wazed, who was also an adviser to her government, earlier predicted to reporters that his mother would be found guilty and sentenced to death.