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KHARTOUM — The Sudanese army said it recaptured Khartoum airport from the Rapid Support Forces and surrounded the paramilitaries south of the capital on Wednesday, marking its latest battlefield gains.

The army, battling the RSF since April 2023, had "fully secured" the airport from the paramilitary fighters who had been stationed inside, its spokesman Nabil Abdallah told AFP.

The takeover comes a day after the army was accused of one of the war's deadliest air strikes, killing at least 270 people in a market in the western Darfur region, according to eyewitnesses.

Following their recapture of the presidential palace in a key victory on Friday, the army has surged through central Khartoum, seizing state institutions captured early in the war by the RSF.

"In the south of the capital, our forces have surrounded the strategic Jebel Awliya area from three directions: north, south and east," a military source told AFP, adding that "all axes are advancing steadily".

"The remnants of the RSF militia are fleeing" across the White Nile at the Jebel Awliya bridge, he said, requesting anonymity because he is not authorised to brief the media.

The bridge is the paramilitaries only crossing out of the area, linking it to its positions west of the city and then to its strongholds in Darfur.

Across Khartoum, eyewitnesses and activists reported this week RSF fighters retreating southwards, ostensibly towards Jebel Awliya.

The RSF did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Civilians celebrate

Since April 2023, the war has killed tens of thousands of people, uprooted more than 12 million and created the world's largest hunger and displacement crises.

It has also divided the country in two, with the army holding the east and north and the RSF controlling nearly all of Darfur and parts of the south.

Following a year and a half of defeats, the army turned the tide late last year, pushing through central Sudan to Khartoum.

The RSF had so far maintained its position in Jebel Awliya, as well as the western and southern outskirts of Omdurman,central Khartoum's twin city just across the Nile.

After replenishing its ranks and rebuilding its arsenal, the army appears close to securing the capital, from which its government was forced to flee to the Red Sea town of Port Sudan early in the war.

According to the United Nations, more than 3.5 million people were forced to flee the war-ravaged capital.

Millions more, unable or unwilling to leave were left to face hunger, rights abuses and indiscriminate shelling of their homes by both sides.

Footage shared on social media appeared to show residents of central Khartoum celebrating the RSF's retreat.

"You have endured so much," one young fighter can be heard saying while embracing civilians, in a video which AFP was unable to immediately verify.

"The area has been completely empty of the RSF since last night," Osama Abdel Qader, a resident of central Khartoum's Sahafa neighbourhood, told AFP on Wednesday.

SANAA — Huthi media in Yemen reported Wednesday at least 17 strikes in Saada and Amran, blaming the United States for the attacks.

The rebels' Ansarollah website said US warplanes carried out "aggressive air raids... causing material damage to citizens' property", but gave no details of casualties.

Washington on March 15 announced a military offensive against the Iranian-backed Huthis, promising to use overwhelming force until the group stopped firing on vessels in the key shipping routes of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.

That day saw a wave of US air strikes that officials said killed senior Huthi leaders, and which the rebels' health ministry said killed 53 people.

Since then, Huthi-held parts of Yemen have witnessed near-daily attacks that the group has blamed on the United States, with the rebels announcing the targeting of US military ships and Israel.

The Huthis began targeting shipping vessels after the start of the Gaza war, claiming solidarity with Palestinians, but paused their campaign when a ceasefire took effect in Gaza in January.

Earlier this month, they threatened to renew attacks in the vital maritime trade route over Israel's aid blockade on the Palestinian territory, triggering the first US strikes on Yemen since President Donald Trump took office in January.

Last week, Trump threatened to annihilate the Huthis and warned Tehran against continuing to aid the group.

DAMASCUS — Syria slammed Israeli attacks as a "flagrant violation" of its sovereignty after deadly bombardment Tuesday in the country's south, where Israel's military said it responded to incoming fire.

The violence near the UN-patrolled buffer zone on the Golan Heights followed Israeli air strikes in central Syria, the latest in a string of attacks on military sites since Islamist-led forces overthrew longtime president Bashar Al Assad.

The Syrian foreign ministry in a statement condemned "the continued Israeli aggression on Syrian territory, which saw a dangerous escalation in the village of Kuwayya" in the southern Daraa province.

It said "heavy artillery and air bombardment targeted residential and farming areas, leading to the death of six civilians", raising an earlier toll provided by local authorities. 

"This escalation comes in the context of a series of violations that started with Israeli forces' penetrating into Quneitra and Daraa provinces, in an ongoing aggression on Syrian territory, in flagrant violation of national sovereignty and international law," the ministry said.

Earlier Tuesday, the Israeli military said that its troops "identified several terrorists who opened fire toward them in southern Syria", without providing a specific location.

"The troops returned fire in response and the IAF (air force) struck the terrorists," it added in a statement.

Daraa governor Anwar al-Zoabi said in a statement that "Israeli occupation army violations and repeated attacks on Syrian territory pushed a group of residents to clash with a military force that tried to penetrate" Kuwayya, northwest of Daraa city.

The situation "led to an escalation" by Israeli forces "with artillery shelling and drone bombardment", said the statement posted on Telegram. 

‘Dangerous escalation' 

The foreign ministry in neighbouring Jordan condemned Tuesday's incursion and bombardment as "a dangerous escalation" that risked fuelling "further conflict and tension in the region".

Israel has launched hundreds of strikes on military sites since Assad's fall in December, saying it wants to prevent weapons from falling into the hands of the new authorities it considers jihadists.

On Tuesday the Israeli military said it had "struck military capabilities that remained at the Syrian military bases of Tadmur and T4", referring to bases in Palmyra and another 50 kilometres west of the city.

On Friday, the military carried out strikes on the same bases.

Israel has also deployed troops to the Golan Heights buffer zone, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has demanded the demilitarisation of southern Syria, which borders the Israeli-annexed Golan.

United Nations special envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen told the Security Council on Tuesday that he was "concerned by Israeli statements on the intention to stay in Syria" and demands for the full demilitarisation of the south.

At an Arab summit in Cairo in early March, Syria's interim President Ahmed Al Sharaa called on the international community to pressure Israel to "immediately" withdraw its troops from southern Syria, calling it a "direct threat" to peace in the region.

BEIRUT, Lebanon — One person was killed in an Israeli strike in southern Lebanon late Monday, after a wave of intensive air attacks in the region over the weekend, state media reported. 

"A raid by an enemy Israeli drone on a vehicle in the area of Qaqaiyat Al Jisr left one dead," the National News Agency (ANI) said, attributing the toll to the Lebanese health ministry. 

Israel launched air strikes on southern Lebanon on Saturday, killing eight people, in response to rocket fire that hit its territory for the first time since a ceasefire took effect on November 27. 

No party has claimed responsibility for the rocket fire, which a military source said was launched from an area north of the Litani River, between the villages of Kfar Tebnit and Arnoun, near the zone covered by the ceasefire agreement.

The agreement stipulates that only the Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers may be deployed south of the Litani River, with Hezbollah required to dismantle its infrastructure and withdraw north of the river.

But the war has severely weakened Hizbollah, which remains a target of Israeli air strikes despite the ceasefire.

Over the weekend Lebanese officials held discussions with Washington and Paris to prevent Israel from bombing Beirut, a source told AFP on Monday on condition of anonymity. 

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Saturday that following rocket fire on Metula, a town in northern Israel, "Metula's fate is the same as Beirut's".

GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories — An Israeli air strike killed a journalist working with Al Jazeera on Monday and the military issued fresh calls to evacuate parts of Gaza's north, as Israel pressed its renewed bombardment and ground operations in the Palestinian territory.

Israel resumed intense air strikes across Gaza last Tuesday, followed by ground operations, after talks on extending a ceasefire with the Palestinian militant group Hamas reached an impasse.

On Monday evening, Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee issued "an early warning before a strike" in the northern area of Jabalia.

"Terrorist organizations are once again returning to and firing rockets from populated areas... For your safety, head south toward the known shelters immediately," Adraee said on X, after issuing similar warnings for the northern towns of Beit Lahia and Beit Hanoun.

Earlier, Gaza's civil defence agency said an Israeli drone strike on Monday afternoon killed Hussam Shabat, who was working with Al Jazeera, near a petrol station in Beit Lahia.

Mahmud Bassal, spokesman for the agency, said air strikes had targeted more than 10 cars, including Shabat's, in various parts of Gaza.

"Hussam Shabat, a journalist collaborating with Al Jazeera Mubasher, was martyred in an Israeli strike targeting his car in the northern Gaza Strip," an alert from the Qatari broadcaster said, referring to its live Arabic channel.

AFPTV footage from the scene in Beit Lahia showed Palestinians gathering around the car, which had an Al Jazeera sticker on its windscreen. A body could be seen on the ground nearby.

According to the US-based Committee to Protect Journalists, Israel's military in October accused Shabat and five other Palestinian journalists of being militants, which he denied.

Hundreds of people attended Shabat's funeral held at Beit Lahia's Indonesian Hospital, praying over his body, which still wore a press flak jacket.

The civil defence agency said a media worker from Islamic Jihad-affiliated Palestine Today TV, Muhammad Mansour, was killed in a separate air strike in Gaza's south.

In a statement, the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate called the deaths of Shabat and Mansour "a crime added to the record of Israeli terrorism". 

It said that more than 206 journalists and media workers had been killed since the start of the war, which was triggered by Hamas's attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

'Imagine this is your son' 

The October 7 attack resulted in 1,218 deaths, mostly civilians, according to Israeli figures, while Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed at least 50,082 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry.

The health ministry said Monday that 730 people had been killed since Israel resumed bombardments on March 18, including 57 in the past 24 hours.

Militants also seized 251 hostages on October 7, 58 of whom are still in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.

Hamas's armed wing released a video on Monday showing two Israeli hostages -- identified by AFP as Elkana Bohbot and Yosef Haim Ohana -- describing the danger they have faced since the resumption of intense Israeli strikes. 

Bohbot's family reacted to the video with a statement appealing to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump to secure the remaining hostages' release.

"Imagine this is your son, the father of your grandchild, waiting to see daylight, hearing [Israeli army] bombs, and living in constant fear for his life," the statement said.

'Civilians 'trapped' 

Israel's military said it intercepted a total of three "projectiles" launched from the Gaza Strip on Monday evening. The armed wing of Hamas ally Islamic Jihad said it had launched rockets towards Israel.

The military also said it intercepted a missile launched from Yemen, the sixth since the resumption of Gaza hostilities.

The Huthis later claimed responsiblity for two missiles, saying they would "target the heartland of the occupying entity until the aggression stops and the siege on the Gaza Strip is lifted". 

The Huthi news agency Saba late Monday reported 12 US airstrikes "in the last few hours" in northwest Yemen.

The Israel military said Tuesday it had again struck two military bases in central Syria, a day after the European Union's foreign policy chief warned strikes there and in Lebanon risked escalation.

"A short while ago, the IDF struck military capabilities that remained at the Syrian military bases of Tadmur and T4," the Israeli military said, referring to bases in Palmyra and another 50 kilometres west of the city.

On Monday during a visit to Jersalem, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas warned that Israeli strikes on Syria and Lebanon were threatening to worsen the situation.

"Military actions must be proportionate, and Israeli strikes into Syria and Lebanon risk further escalation," Kallas said.

Meanwhile, the municipality of the southern Gaza city of Rafah said in a statement Monday that "thousands of civilians" were "trapped under intense Israeli shelling" in the Tal Al Sultan neighbourhood.

It added that all communications were cut with the neighbourhood, and that the local health care system had "entirely collapsed".

On Sunday the military said it had encircled Tal Al Sultan to "dismantle terrorist infrastructure and eliminate" militants there.

The defence ministry also announced the creation of an administration dedicated to the "voluntary departure of Gaza residents to a third country", drawing outrage from Egypt.

DAMASCUS — Authorities in southern Syria reported that Israeli bombardment on Tuesday killed at least five people in Daraa province, while Israel's military said it carried out a strike in response to incoming fire.

The violence in the south, near the UN-patrolled buffer zone on the Golan Heights, followed Israeli air strikes in central Syria, the latest in a string of attacks on military sites since Islamist-led forces overthrew longtime president Bashar Al Assad.

Daraa provincial authorities, in a statement posted on Telegram, said in a provisional toll that "five people killed in the Israeli bombardment of the town of Kuwayya".

It added that residents of the town, west of Daraa city, had fled Israeli tank shelling.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said that an "Israeli military unit" entered the town and fired heavy artillery at residents attempting to resist their incursion.

The Israeli military said in a statement that its troops "identified several terrorists who opened fire toward them in southern Syria", without providing a specific location.

"The troops returned fire in response and the IAF (air force) struck the terrorists," it added.

Israel has launched hundreds of strikes on military sites since Assad's fall in December, saying it wants to prevent weapons from falling into the hands of the new authorities it considers jihadists.

It has also deployed to the Golan Heights buffer zone, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has demanded the demilitarisation of southern Syria, which borders the Israeli-annexed Golan.

The Britain-based Observatory, which relies on a network of sources inside Syria, has reported near-daily Israeli military incursions into southern Syria beyond the demarcation line.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Israeli military said it had "struck military capabilities that remained at the Syrian military bases of Tadmur and T4", referring to bases in Palmyra and another 50 kilometres west of the city.

On Friday, the army also carried out strikes on the same bases.

Syria's foreign ministry has accused Israel of waging a campaign against "the stability of the country".

At an Arab summit in Cairo in early March, Syria's interim President Ahmed Al Sharaa called on the international community to pressure Israel to "immediately" withdraw its troops from southern Syria, calling it a "direct threat" to peace in the region.

United Nations, United States — The United Nations said Monday a strike on its buildings in Gaza last week that killed one employee and injured several others was caused "by an Israeli tank," a claim disputed by the country's government.

"Based on the information currently available, the strikes hitting a UN compound in Deir Al Balah on 19 March were caused by an Israeli tank," said the secretary-general's spokesman Stephane Dujarric. 

The strike -- which killed a Bulgarian employee of the UN Office for Project Services and severely injured six others, according to Dujarric -- came as Israel renewed its intense bombardment of the Palestinian territory, carrying out the deadliest wave of attacks since a January truce in its war against militant group Hamas.

"The location of this UN compound was well known to the parties to the conflict," Dujarric said.

Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Oren Marmorstein said in a statement on X that Israel launched an investigation into the UN worker's death, but "the initial examination found no connection... whatsoever" to Israeli military activity.

Given the renewed violence, Dujarric said the UN "has taken the difficult decision" to temporarily reduce its international staff within the Palestinian territory.

But "the UN is not leaving Gaza," Dujarric stressed, adding that Secretary-General Antonio Guterres "renews his urgent call for the restoration of the ceasefire to bring an end to the anguish."

Israel's military said it intercepted two "projectiles" launched on Monday from the Gaza Strip, nearly a week after Israel resumed intensified bombing of the territory.

It is the third time Gaza fighters have fired rockets into Israel since it restarted its heavy air strikes on March 18, shattering a period of relative calm since a January truce.

"Following the sirens that sounded at 19:02 in the communities near the Gaza Strip, two projectiles that crossed into Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip were intercepted" by the Israeli Air Force, the military statement said.

The armed wing of Hamas ally Islamic Jihad, the Al Quds Brigade, claimed responsibility for the rocket fire, saying in a statement that it had fired towards Sderot, Netiv Ha'asara and Zikim, near the northern edge of the Gaza Strip.

The health ministry in Gaza said Monday that 730 people had been killed since Israel resumed intense bombardments, including 57 in the past 24 hours.