Sudan’s army chief visits HQ after recapture from paramilitaries

Sudan’s army chief visited on Sunday his headquarters in the capital Khartoum, two days after forces recaptured the building which had been encircled by paramilitary fighters since the war erupted in April 2023.”Our forces are in their best condition,” Abdel Fattah al-Burhan told army commanders at the reclaimed headquarters, which are close to the city centre and airport.The army’s recapture of the General Command building is its biggest victory in the capital since reclaiming Omdurman, Khartoum’s twin city on the Nile’s west bank, nearly a year ago.In a statement on Friday, the army said it had merged troops stationed in Khartoum North (Bahri) and Omdurman with forces at the headquarters.Since war with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) began, RSF had encircled both the Signal Corps in Khartoum North and the General Command of the Armed Forces just south across the Blue Nile river.On Friday it said it had broken the siege on Signal Corps, and later said it had also retaken its headquarters.Since the early days of the war, when the RSF quickly spread through the streets of Khartoum, the military had to supply its forces inside the headquarters via airdrops.Burhan was himself trapped inside for four months, before emerging in August 2023 and fleeing to the coastal city of Port Sudan.The recapture of the headquarters follows other gains for the army.Two weeks ago, troops regained control of Wad Madani, just south of Khartoum, securing a key crossroads between the capital and surrounding states.The war in Sudan has unleased a humanitarian disaster of epic proportions.Tens of thousands of people have been killed and, according to the United Nations, more than 12 million uprooted.Famine has been declared in parts of Sudan but the risk is spreading for millions more people, a UN-backed assessment said last month.Late last year, then United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken said people are forced to eat grass and peanut shells to survive in parts of the country.

Gutsy West Indies set Pakistan 254 to win second Test

The West Indies batted with guts and aggression against Pakistan on Sunday to set the hosts a target of 254 to win the second Test in Multan.Skipper and opener Kraigg Brathwaite led the fight for the visitors on day two with a gritty 52.The last four wickets added an invaluable 99 runs before the tourists were dismissed for 244 in their second innings at tea.The West Indies are chasing a series-levelling win on a weary Multan Stadium pitch, having lost the first Test by 127 runs at the same venue.Left-arm spinner Noman Ali finished with 4-80 — 10 wickets in the match — while partner Sajid Khan took 4-76, six in the match.The West Indies were 129-5 at lunch when Noman dismissed Alick Athanaze for six, before the tourists put up a fight.Tevin Imlach scored 35 and Kevin Sinclair 28 to boost their team’s lead during a stubborn stand of 51 for the seventh wicket, before Sajid accounted for Sinclair and Gudakesh Motie for 18.Pacer Kashif Ali had Imlach but the last pair of Jomel Warrican and Kemar Roach took the total past 240, before Sajid had Warrican caught for 18.Earlier, Brathwaite led the way with two sixes and four boundaries in his 31st Test half-century.Noman broke a solid 50-run opening stand by dismissing Mikyle Louis for seven after the tourists started their second innings in the morning.Brathwaite overturned two leg-before decisions against him before he was stumped by Mohammad Rizwan off Noman.Debutant Amir Jangoo also batted well for his 30 with three boundaries, before Sajid had him caught in the slips by Salman Agha.Kavem Hodge was stumped by Rizwan off Noman for 15 as the West Indies slumped from 92-1 to 129-5.

Trump refugee embargo cancels hope for Afghan migrants

After working for years alongside the United States to combat the Taliban in Afghanistan, Zahra says she was just days from being evacuated to America when President Donald Trump suspended refugee admissions.She sold her belongings as she awaited a flight out of Pakistan, where she has been embroiled in a three-year process applying for a refugee scheme Trump froze in one of his first acts back in office.”We stood with them for the past 20 years, all I want is for them to stand up for the promise they made,” the 27-year-old former Afghanistan defence ministry worker told AFP from Islamabad.”The only wish we have is to be safe and live where we can have peace and an ordinary human life,” she said, sobbing down the phone and speaking under a pseudonym to protect her identity.The 2021 withdrawal of US-led troops from Kabul ended two decades of war but began a new exodus, as Afghans clamoured to escape Taliban government curbs and fears of reprisal for working with Washington.Trump’s executive order to pause admissions for at least 90 days starting from January 27 has blocked around 10,000 Afghans approved for entry from starting new lives in the United States, according to non-profit #AfghanEvac.Tens of thousands more applications in process have also been frozen, the US-based organisation said.”All sorts of people that stood up for the idea of America, now they’re in danger,” #AfghanEvac chief Shawn VanDiver told AFP. “We owe it to them to get them out.”- ‘Hopes are shattered’ – Trump’s order said “the United States lacks the ability to absorb large numbers of migrants, and in particular, refugees”, and stopped the relocation scheme until it “aligns with the interests of the United States”.But campaigners argue the country owes a debt to Afghans left in the lurch by their withdrawal — which Trump committed to in his first term but was overseen by his successor president Joe Biden.A special visa programme for Afghans who were employed by or on behalf of the United States remains active.But the more wide-reaching refugee scheme was relied on by applicants including ex-Afghan soldiers and employees of the US-backed government, as well as their family members.With America’s Kabul embassy shut, many travelled to neighbouring Pakistan to enter paperwork, conduct interviews and undergo vetting.Female applicants are fleeing the country where the Taliban government has banned them from secondary school and university, squeezed them from public life and ordered them to wear all-covering clothes.”I had a lot of hopes for my sisters, that they should graduate from school and pursue education,” said one of five daughters of an ex-government employee’s family seeking resettlement from Pakistan.”All my hopes are shattered,” said the 23-year-old. “I have nightmares and when I wake up in the morning, I feel like I can’t fall asleep again. I’m very anxious.”The European Court of Justice ruled last year that Afghan women have the right to be recognised as refugees in the EU because Taliban government curbs on women “constitute acts of persecution”.This week, the International Criminal Court chief prosecutor said he was seeking arrest warrants for Taliban government leaders because there are grounds to suspect they “bear criminal responsibility for the crime against humanity of persecution on gender grounds”.Moniza Kakar, a lawyer who works with Afghan refugees in Pakistan, said some women told her they “prefer suicide than going back to Afghanistan”.The Taliban government has announced an amnesty and encouraged those who fled to return to rebuild the country, presenting it as a haven of Islamic values. But a 2023 report by UN rights experts said “the amnesty for former government and military officials is being violated” and there were “consistent credible reports of summary executions and acts tantamount to enforced disappearances”.- ‘No life left for me’ – Last summer, Pakistan’s foreign ministry complained as many as 25,000 Afghans were in the country awaiting relocation to the United States.Islamabad announced a sweeping campaign in 2023 to evict undocumented Afghans , ordering them to leave or face arrest as relations soured with the Taliban government.At least 800,000 Afghans have left since October 2023, according to the Norwegian Refugee Council. But Afghans awaiting refugee relocation have also reported widespread harassment to leave by authorities in Pakistan.A foreign ministry spokesman told reporters this week Trump’s administration had not yet communicated any new refugee policy to Pakistan.Islamabad is following “the same old plan” where Washington has committed to taking in refugees this year, Shafqat Ali Khan said.Afghans awaiting new lives abroad feel caught between a cancelled future and the haunting prospect of returning to their homeland.”I don’t have the option of returning to Afghanistan, and my situation here is dire,” said 52-year-old former Afghan journalist Zahir Bahand.”There is no life left for me, no peace, no future, no visa, no home, no work: nothing is left for me.”

Trump refugee embargo cancels hope for Afghan migrants

After working for years alongside the United States to combat the Taliban in Afghanistan, Zahra says she was just days from being evacuated to America when President Donald Trump suspended refugee admissions.She sold her belongings as she awaited a flight out of Pakistan, where she has been embroiled in a three-year process applying for a refugee scheme Trump froze in one of his first acts back in office.”We stood with them for the past 20 years, all I want is for them to stand up for the promise they made,” the 27-year-old former Afghanistan defence ministry worker told AFP from Islamabad.”The only wish we have is to be safe and live where we can have peace and an ordinary human life,” she said, sobbing down the phone and speaking under a pseudonym to protect her identity.The 2021 withdrawal of US-led troops from Kabul ended two decades of war but began a new exodus, as Afghans clamoured to escape Taliban government curbs and fears of reprisal for working with Washington.Trump’s executive order to pause admissions for at least 90 days starting from January 27 has blocked around 10,000 Afghans approved for entry from starting new lives in the United States, according to non-profit #AfghanEvac.Tens of thousands more applications in process have also been frozen, the US-based organisation said.”All sorts of people that stood up for the idea of America, now they’re in danger,” #AfghanEvac chief Shawn VanDiver told AFP. “We owe it to them to get them out.”- ‘Hopes are shattered’ – Trump’s order said “the United States lacks the ability to absorb large numbers of migrants, and in particular, refugees”, and stopped the relocation scheme until it “aligns with the interests of the United States”.But campaigners argue the country owes a debt to Afghans left in the lurch by their withdrawal — which Trump committed to in his first term but was overseen by his successor president Joe Biden.A special visa programme for Afghans who were employed by or on behalf of the United States remains active.But the more wide-reaching refugee scheme was relied on by applicants including ex-Afghan soldiers and employees of the US-backed government, as well as their family members.With America’s Kabul embassy shut, many travelled to neighbouring Pakistan to enter paperwork, conduct interviews and undergo vetting.Female applicants are fleeing the country where the Taliban government has banned them from secondary school and university, squeezed them from public life and ordered them to wear all-covering clothes.”I had a lot of hopes for my sisters, that they should graduate from school and pursue education,” said one of five daughters of an ex-government employee’s family seeking resettlement from Pakistan.”All my hopes are shattered,” said the 23-year-old. “I have nightmares and when I wake up in the morning, I feel like I can’t fall asleep again. I’m very anxious.”The European Court of Justice ruled last year that Afghan women have the right to be recognised as refugees in the EU because Taliban government curbs on women “constitute acts of persecution”.This week, the International Criminal Court chief prosecutor said he was seeking arrest warrants for Taliban government leaders because there are grounds to suspect they “bear criminal responsibility for the crime against humanity of persecution on gender grounds”.Moniza Kakar, a lawyer who works with Afghan refugees in Pakistan, said some women told her they “prefer suicide than going back to Afghanistan”.The Taliban government has announced an amnesty and encouraged those who fled to return to rebuild the country, presenting it as a haven of Islamic values. But a 2023 report by UN rights experts said “the amnesty for former government and military officials is being violated” and there were “consistent credible reports of summary executions and acts tantamount to enforced disappearances”.- ‘No life left for me’ – Last summer, Pakistan’s foreign ministry complained as many as 25,000 Afghans were in the country awaiting relocation to the United States.Islamabad announced a sweeping campaign in 2023 to evict undocumented Afghans , ordering them to leave or face arrest as relations soured with the Taliban government.At least 800,000 Afghans have left since October 2023, according to the Norwegian Refugee Council. But Afghans awaiting refugee relocation have also reported widespread harassment to leave by authorities in Pakistan.A foreign ministry spokesman told reporters this week Trump’s administration had not yet communicated any new refugee policy to Pakistan.Islamabad is following “the same old plan” where Washington has committed to taking in refugees this year, Shafqat Ali Khan said.Afghans awaiting new lives abroad feel caught between a cancelled future and the haunting prospect of returning to their homeland.”I don’t have the option of returning to Afghanistan, and my situation here is dire,” said 52-year-old former Afghan journalist Zahir Bahand.”There is no life left for me, no peace, no future, no visa, no home, no work: nothing is left for me.”

Afghan Taliban supporters rally against ICC arrest warrant requests

Some 200 Taliban supporters rallied in central Afghanistan on Sunday against the International Criminal Court chief prosecutor’s request for arrest warrants for two Taliban leaders. The rally followed the announcement by the ICC on Thursday that chief prosecutor Karim Khan was seeking arrest warrants for Taliban Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada and Chief Justice Abdul Hakim Haqqani over the persecution of women.The Taliban government has imposed a raft of restrictions on women and girls, which the United Nations has described as “gender apartheid”, since sweeping back to power in 2021. Demonstrators in Ghazni city condemned Khan’s move, chanting slogans that included “Death to America” and “long live the Islamic Emirate” — the Taliban authorities’ name for their government. “We have gathered here to show the West that their decision is cruel and rejected by Afghans,” said Ghazni resident Noorulhaq Omar.”It will never be accepted because the Afghan nation will sacrifice their life for their emir,” he said, referring to Akhundzada.Hamidullah Nisar, Ghazni province’s head of the information and culture department, joined residents at the rally.”We totally reject what the ICC has said against the leadership of the Islamic Emirate, and we want them to take back their words,” he said.Most demonstrations have been suppressed in Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover, with the exception of those by the authorities’ supporters.Afghanistan’s Taliban government dismissed Khan’s arrest warrant requests on Friday as “politically motivated”.Rights groups and activists have praised the ICC move.Â