World
Sudan’s army chief says many countries ‘turn a blind eye’ to RSF crimes
General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan tells Al Jazeera many countries remain silent over alleged RSF crimes in Sudan’s civil war.
Sudan army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan has said “many countries remain silent and turn a blind eye” to crimes allegedly committed by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the country’s more-than-year-long civil war.
Sudan has been gripped by war since April 2023, when fighting erupted between forces loyal to al-Burhan and the RSF led by his former deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.
Since the war broke out, tens of thousands of people have been killed and millions more have been displaced as a humanitarian crisis has deepened.
Both sides have been accused of possibly committing war crimes by UN officials and rights groups.
In an exclusive interview with Al Jazeera in Port Sudan, al-Burhan said, “Many countries remain silent and turn a blind eye to the crimes being committed every day.”
“Every day, the enemies are killing the Sudanese people, plundering their land and raping their wives and daughters … Everyone who remains silent and those who support what the other side is doing daily is definitely an enemy,” al-Burhan said, without naming any country.
“Perhaps some countries have used their influence to stop aid provided to the Sudanese state. Some countries may have used their international and regional mechanisms to stop supporting the armed forces,” he added.
In March UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, said his team had documented dozens of cases of sexual violence.
“Sexual violence as a weapon of war, including rape, has been a defining – and despicable – characteristic of this crisis since the beginning,” he said.
His team has documented 60 incidents of conflict-related sexual violence, involving at least 120 victims across the country, the vast majority women and girls, he said but added that “these figures are sadly a vast underrepresentation of the reality.”
“Men in RSF uniform and armed men affiliated with the RSF, were reported to be responsible for 81 percent of the documented incidents,” Turk said.
Paramilitary gains
The RSF has, in recent months, made several breakthroughs and is closing in on Port Sudan on the Red Sea, where the army, government and United Nations agencies are currently based.
When questioned about the RSF’s military gains, al-Burhan stated that “losses in battle or retreating in a certain situation does not mean losing the battle itself, and doesn’t mean defeat”, adding that “the Sudanese people and the Sudanese armed forces will never be defeated”.
In late June, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) said that the war has left some 755,000 Sudanese facing “catastrophe”, the most severe level of extreme hunger, while 8.5 million people grapple with food shortages that could result in acute malnutrition and death.
The United Nations hunger monitoring system recently warned of a realistic chance of famine in several areas of Sudan including parts of Darfur, Khartoum, Kordofan and Gezira states.
When asked about the humanitarian situation, al-Burhan told Al Jazeera, “When we’re talking about famine, we must talk about its causes and about those responsible for it.”
“Sudan has vast areas of arable land, and Sudan has huge numbers of farmers who know how to work these lands; most of the arable land has been cultivated except for the lands where the Janjaweed terrorist groups threatened citizens and prevented them from cultivating,” he said.
The RSF was born out of the Popular Defence Forces militias, commonly known as Janjaweed, mobilised by Sudan’s former President Omar al-Bashir against non-Arab tribes in Darfur.
“In Sudan, we have shortages in some areas that are under the control of these rebels, but in the rest of the country, there are no shortages, except for areas where people have been displaced,” he said.
Israeli strikes killed one journalist and wounded another in southern Lebanon on Wednesday, rattling a tenuous cease-fire between Israel and Lebanon.
The Lebanese Ministry of Public Health said the Israeli military had targeted the journalists in the town of Tayri, where they took shelter in a nearby house after an airstrike struck a vehicle in front of the car they were traveling in. About an hour and a half later, a second strike hit the house they were hiding in, according to a statement by a Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar, which employed the journalist who was killed.
The Lebanese Red Cross said its teams came under fire while trying to evacuate the journalists from the house, forcing them to withdraw. The rescue crews were targeted by a warning strike and machine-gun fire, the Lebanese health ministry said.
Zeinab Faraj, a photojournalist, was rescued from the house. The other journalist, Amal Khalil, who was a reporter for Al-Akhbar, remained trapped under rubble for hours before emergency medics recovered her body, according to the Lebanese Civil Defense.
In addition to Ms. Khalil, the two people in the car in front of her were killed in the strikes, Al-Akhbar reported.
Amid the 10-day truce between Israel and Lebanon, Israel has continued strikes against what it says are Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon, citing its right to self-defense. Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed militia group, said that it had fired rockets and drones into Israel on Tuesday in response to what it said were violations of the cease-fire. Earlier on Wednesday, the Lebanese News Agency reported that an Israeli drone strike killed one person and wounded two others in another part of the country.
The Lebanese health ministry called the strikes in Tayri a “blatant double breach, involving both the obstruction of rescue efforts for a civilian known for her media and humanitarian work, and the direct targeting of an ambulance clearly marked with the Red Cross.”
The Israeli military denied in a statement that it had prevented rescuers from reaching the injured journalists, and said the incident was under investigation.
A spokeswoman for the Israeli military said Israeli forces had spotted two vehicles emerging from a military building used by Hezbollah. The military observed the vehicles cross what the spokeswoman called the forward defense line, determining the move to be a violation of the truce agreement.
The spokeswoman confirmed that the Israeli military had struck one of the vehicles and the building some of the occupants of the second vehicle had taken shelter in.
Ms. Khalil had covered southern Lebanon, where Hezbollah exercises strong control, since at least 2006. In a tribute to Ms. Khalil, a colleague from Al-Akhbar said she embodied the resilience of the southern Lebanese through her relentless reporting, refusing to leave the front lines of war where thousands of Lebanese had been displaced.
“As with every act of aggression, wearing a press vest did not protect those who wore it from the treachery of the Israeli enemy,” Al-Akhbar said in a statement. “Instead, it has become a danger to journalists’ lives, as part of a systematic Israeli policy aimed at silencing anyone who seeks to expose the crimes and practices of the occupation.”
In a forceful statement on social media, Nawaf Salam, the Lebanese prime minister, accused the Israeli military of war crimes for targeting journalists and obstructing access to medical aid. He said that Lebanon would pursue action to ensure Israel is held accountable with international bodies.
The Committee to Protect Journalists said that it was outraged by the attack, and that it raised serious concerns of deliberate targeting.
“The repeated strikes on the same location, the targeting of an area where journalists were sheltering, and the obstruction of medical and humanitarian access constitute a grave breach of international humanitarian law,” said Sara Qudah, CPJ’s regional director for the Middle East and North Africa.
World
Former Mexican beauty queen found shot dead as investigators examine possible family involvement: reports
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A former Mexican beauty queen was found shot to death in her Mexico City apartment, with investigators examining the possible involvement of her mother-in-law, according to local reports.
Carolina Flores Gómez, 27, was found dead inside an apartment in the Polanco neighborhood, one of the city’s most affluent areas, Reporte Índigo, a Mexico-based news outlet, reported.
Authorities said the death is being investigated as a homicide, after initial findings indicated she suffered a gunshot wound to the head. Emergency responders were called to the scene, where paramedics confirmed she showed no signs of life.
Prosecutors are investigating whether Flores Gómez’s mother-in-law, Erika María, as well as a man described in reports as her partner or husband, may have been involved in her death.
CALIFORNIA HIKER’S BODY FOUND NAKED IN BIG SUR BACKCOUNTRY
Carolina Flores Gómez was found shot dead in her luxury apartment April 15 in Mexico City. Her mother-in-law has been named the main suspect in the suspected homicide. (Jam Press)
The man, identified as Alejandro, accused his mother of killing Flores Gómez, Mexican news outlet Azteca Guerrero reported.
The outlet also reported that the woman’s mother-in-law was present at the scene when the gun was fired and that authorities are looking into the timeline of when the incident was reported.
WIDOW, SON OF LATE CHICAGO COMMISSIONER FOUND SHOT DEAD INSIDE HOME IN SUSPECTED HOMICIDE
Mexican prosecutors have opened a homicide with intent case in the death of former beauty queen Carolina Flores Gómez. (Jam Press)
Preliminary reports cited by Mexican news outlet Diario Puntual indicate that a security guard at the building did not hear gunshots, adding uncertainty about how the crime occurred.
Authorities in Baja California, Mexico, also responded to the case, Diario Puntual reported.
CIA PERSONNEL KILLED IN MEXICO CRASH TIED TO CARTEL OPERATION; QUESTIONS MOUNT OVER US ROLE
Former beauty queen Carolina Flores Gómez, 27, was found dead in her Mexico City apartment. (Jam Press)
Baja California Gov. Marina del Pilar Ávila Olmeda expressed solidarity with the victim’s family and called for the case to be clarified.
State prosecutor María Elena Andrade Ramírez also said there is coordination with Mexico City authorities to support the investigation.
Flores Gómez previously competed in beauty pageants and was crowned Miss Teen Universe Baja California in 2017.
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The case has drawn attention in Mexico amid ongoing concerns about violence against women, with advocacy groups calling for a thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding her death.
The investigation into the matter is open and ongoing.
Israeli attacks on Lebanon killed at least five people on Wednesday, including Lebanese journalist Amal Khalil, in what was described as a ‘heinous crime’ by the government.
Published On 23 Apr 2026
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