Displaying items by tag: shelling

On 13 January at least 120 people were killed by indiscriminate shelling in Omdurman, with the death toll expected to rise. Sudan's civil war, between the army and the paramilitary RSF, began 21 months ago. It has claimed tens of thousands of lives, displaced over twelve million, and left the country on the brink of famine, described by the UN as a humanitarian disaster. Both sides have been accused of indiscriminately targeting civilians, including health workers, as fighting devastates Omdurman and neighbouring areas. Volunteers face severe challenges in accessing affected regions, and medical supplies are critically low. Recent weeks have seen the army intensify efforts to reclaim territory, seizing areas and confiscating weapons, while the RSF counterattacks. The recent skirmishes have forced emergency response rooms, which support local communities, to shut several health centres, affecting provision of medical services to thousands of residents.

Fighting continues despite an agreed ceasefire; the Red Cross reports ‘hundreds killed’ in the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh. Turkey and Israel are offering drone support and technologies. Azerbaijan wants to gain control of as much of its claimed territory as possible. Armenians have mobilised to stop it. The Red Cross reports indiscriminate shelling by both sides into towns and cities far from contested areas. On 21 October Russian bombers made a powerful air strike on a convoy and assembly point with Syrian mercenaries in Nagorno-Karabakh. However researchers found old video footage re-edited and wrongly labelled as portraying recent events. While the majority of online media is news reports, official government information or campaign slogans and images, there is doctored or old footage. Disinformation in conflicts is not uncommon, where accessing accurate information can prove difficult. Pray for peace in this part of the Caucasus: it’s a crisis entangling Russia, Turkey, Israel, Iran, and Azeri and Armenian diasporas.