Tag: drones

Africa
Sudan

Ethiopia accused of backing Sudan’s RSF

Sudan has accused Ethiopia of allowing drones to be launched from its territory to carry out attacks against Sudanese government forces. This marks the first time Sudan has directly accused its neighbor of involvement in the three-year civil war against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). In a statement, Sudan’s Foreign Ministry warned of unspecified consequences. The drone accusation follows reports of the construction of an RSF training base in northwest Ethiopia, paid for by the United Arab Emirates. (Map: PCL)

Greater Middle East
Minab

UN demands civilian protection amid Middle East escalation

The United Nations urgently called for civilian protection amid growing violence and instability in the Middle East—and particularly in regard to the ongoing US and Israeli military operations against Iran. The UN urged a thorough investigation into a deadly strike on a girls’ school in Iran, and requested the disclosure of all relevant information. The attack in the southern coastal city of Minab reportedly killed 168 people. According to Iran’s Ministry of Education, the overwhelming majority of the slain were schoolgirls aged seven to 12. The strike came on the first day of coordinated US and Israeli airstrikes officially targeting Iranian infrastructure and military facilities. (Photo: Mehr via Wikimedia Commons)

Africa
RDF

US sanctions Rwanda military

The US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on the Rwanda Defense Force (RDF) and four of its top military officials over their support, training, and fighting alongside M23 rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The RDF have reportedly provided direct operational support to the M23 and its affiliates by introducing advanced military equipment to eastern DRC, including GPS jamming systems, air defense equipment, and drones. According to US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, the US seeks the immediate withdrawal of RDF troops, weapons and equipment. (Photo: US Air Force via Wikimedia Commons)

Afghanistan
Durand

Pakistan declares ‘open war’ on Afghanistan

Violence has once again broken out between Afghanistan and Pakistan, with Islamabad declaring “open war” on Kabul. Afghan forces fired on military bases across the border in Pakistan, reportedly using drones. Pakistan retaliated, striking what it said were military targets in Kabul and several border provinces. Afghanistan’s Islamic Emirate government said its attacks were a response to earlier Pakistani air-strikes that killed at least 13 civilians in Nangarhar province. Pakistan accuses the Taliban government of harboring fighters from the Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP)—accused of being behind recent attacks in Islamabad and Peshawar. Afghan Minister of Interior Sirajuddin Haqqani said the “doors for dialogue” remain open but insisted that if Afghanistan continues to be attacked, it will respond. (Map: Google)

Africa
Niger

War crime seen in Niger drone strike

A government drone strike in western Niger killed at least 17 civilians, including four children, and injured at least 13 others when it hit a crowded market, according to an investigation by Human Rights Watch (HRW). The afternoon strike in Kokoloko village in the Tillabéri region killed three Islamic State fighters but also devastated the market where hundreds of people had gathered, HRW reported. The organization said the attack violated laws-of-war prohibitions against indiscriminate attacks and may amount to a war crime. (Map: PCL)

The Caribbean
Bella

China condemns US seizure of Venezuela-linked tankers

Chinese officials condemned the US seizure of oil tankers headed from Venezuelan ports, calling the acts a “serious violation of international law.” The protest came days after US troops boarded and seized the Panama-flagged tanker Centuries. According to the White House, while the ship was not on the US Treasury’s sanctioned vessel list, it carried state-owned oil as part of Venezuela’s “shadow fleet.” Reports have indicated that the Centuries was headed for China. Days earlier, the US seized the M/T Skipper, which the Justice Department claimed was “being used in an oil shipping network supporting Hizballah and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force,” two US-designated “foreign terrorist organizations.” (Photo: VesselFinder)

Planet Watch
Rakhine

Deadly strikes on hospitals: the new norm?

On World Humanitarian Day in August, World Health Organization director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus released a statement calling attention to intensifying attacks on healthcare workers and facilities, which constitute war crimes under international humanitarian law. “We must stop this becoming the norm,” he wrote. The events of the past weeks suggest such attacks are now already the norm. In Sudan, the WHO reported that over 100 people, including 63 children, were killed when drone strikes attributed to the Rapid Support Forces hit a kindergarten and nearby hospital in South Kordofan. In Burma’s Rakhine state, a military airstrike destroyed the Mrauk-U general hospital, killing at least 31 people and wounding dozens more. It was the 67th attack on a healthcare facility in Burma this year, according to the WHO. Attacks on healthcare facilities killed a record 3,600 people in 2024, mainly in Gaza, Ukraine, Lebanon, Burma and Sudan. This year is on course to surpass that toll. In Gaza alone, at least 917 people were killed by Israeli attacks on healthcare facilities between Oct. 7. 2023 and June of this year. (Photo: Myanmar Now)

The Caribbean
CVN

UN protests as Trump threatens Venezuela

The United Nations urged all countries to respect international norms safeguarding civil aviation, following US President Donald Trump’s announcement of his intention to “completely shut down” Venezuelan airspace. The statement added that the Secretary-General is also “gravely concerned” about the strikes on Venezuelan civilian vessels at sea, which the US alleges were involved in drug trafficking. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker TĂĽrk asserted that the strikes violate international human rights law, and called for transparent investigations into the attacks. TĂĽrk described the strikes as “extrajudicial killings,” emphasizing that “the intentional use of lethal force is only permissible as a last resort against individuals who pose an imminent threat to life.” (Photo: US Navy via Wikimedia Commons)

Mexico
Manzo

Mexico: specter of US strikes amid cartel terror

Mayor Carlos Alberto Manzo RodrĂ­guez was assassinated during a Day of the Dead celebration in the main square of Uruapan, in the violence-torn Mexican state of Michoacán. He had been an outspoken opponent of the drug cartels and their reign of terror in the state, and his death sparked protests across Michoacán. The US State Department said in response to the killing that the United States is ready to “deepen security cooperation with Mexico to wipe out organized crime on both sides of the border.” But this comes as the specter of unilateral US intervention has been raised. NBC News reports that the White House has started planning a “potential mission” involving US troops and intelligence officers to target the cartels on Mexican soil. (Photo: Juan JosĂ© Estrada SerafĂ­n/Cuartoscuro.com via Mexico News Daily)

Africa
Kordofan

Sudan: atrocities as North Kordofan city falls to RSF

Summary executions of civilians by fighters of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) are being reported from Bara city, in Sudan’s North Kordofan state, after it was captured by the paramilitary army following a major offensive. The victims were apparently accused of supporting the Sudanese Armed Forces in its defense of the city. Reports indicate that dozens of civilians have been killed, according to the UN Human Rights Office. A local medical group describes horrific conditions in the taken city. “Dozens of bodies are piled up inside homes after the RSF prevented the victims’ families from burying them, leaving the dead trapped in their houses while the living are surrounded by fear, hunger, and thirst,” the Sudan Doctors Network said in a statement. (Map: Displacement Tracking Matrix)

The Caribbean
police

New international ‘Gang Suppression Force’ for Haiti

The UN Security Council approved a resolution transforming the Kenya-led Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission, whose mandate has ended, into a Gang Suppression Force (GSF). Sponsored by the United States and Panama, the new force is set to include up to 5,500 military and police officers—far more than the old MSS force, which mustered fewer than 1,000. It’s not clear which countries the personnel for the GSF will come from, but it will also have “a broader mandate” than the MSS, which was restricted to supporting the Haitian National Police (PNH). The initial 12-month mandate includes “intelligence-led targeted counter-gang operations,” as well as supporting the PNH and Haitian armed forces. (Photo: Amnesty Kenya via PolicingInsight)

Africa
Darfur

Sudan: ‘roadmap’ to peace —amid escalation to genocide

After months of US-led negotiations, the United States, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates (the “Quad“) issued a “roadmap to peace” in Sudan, starting with a push for a three-month “humanitarian truce.” However, despite the agreement with the main regional backers of the two sides in the war, fighting continues between the Sudanese armed forces and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Since the “roadmap” was announced, the RSF has continued to close its ring around El Fasher, the besieged capital of North Darfur state. UN officials have condemned the assault and warned of catastrophic consequences for civilians under siege, facing severe shortages of food, clean water, and medical services. When the RSF offensive was launched earlier this year, a coalition of aid organizations and human rights groups issued a statement finding: “Genocide and atrocity crimes are being committed now in North Darfur. The RSF is engaged in the mass killing of civilians and will likely continue this if/when they reach El Fasher.” (Map via Radio Tamazuj)