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Explainer: After nine straight nights of strikes, where is the US-Iran conflict headed?

The US carried out a ninth consecutive night of military strikes against Iran early on Monday, targeting command centres, missile facilities, air defence systems, maritime assets and communications infrastructure. The latest developments indicate the conflict is expanding beyond direct military exchanges, with growing implications for regional security, global energy supplies and international shipping. Here is what to know. Why are the US strikes continuing? President Donald Trump said US forces had struck Iran “very hard,” describing the operations as retaliation for the deaths of US service members in the Middle East. The latest casualty on the US side came in northern Iraq, where a service member was killed during the controlled detonation of unexploded ordnance recovered from a downed Iranian drone. According to American media, at least 17 US soldiers have been killed since Feb 28, when the US and Israel attacked Iran. Strait of Hormuz at the heart of the co...

Drone strike on Sudan hospital kills 64, wounds dozens, WHO says

A strike on a hospital in Sudan’s East Darfur state killed 64 people and wounded 89 others, including 13 children, the World Health Organization said Saturday. The attack on El-Daein Teaching Hospital in the state capital occurred on Friday, damaging the pediatric, maternity, and emergency departments and leaving the facility non-functional. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called for an end to the nearly three-year conflict. “Enough blood has been spilled,” he said. “Health care should never be a target. Peace is the best medicine”. Human toll and emergency response Among the dead were two female nurses, one male doctor, and multiple patients. Eight health staff were reported among the wounded. The WHO is supporting local health partners to treat the injured and fill urgent gaps in medical services with essential supplies. Read: Drone strikes in Sudan kill 33 Sudanese rights group Emergency Lawyers reported that the hospital was struck by a drone. The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) control the Darfur region, while Sudan’s army holds the east, center, and north. Ongoing attacks on health care RSF-controlled El-Daein has been targeted repeatedly by the Sudanese army, including a market strike earlier this month. The Sudan Armed Forces said in a statement carried by SUNA that it adheres to international norms, accusing the RSF of regularly attacking service and health facilities. The WHO’s Surveillance System for Attacks on Health Care (SSA) tracks such incidents but does not assign blame. According to SSA data, Friday’s strike brings the total deaths in health-care attacks in Sudan to 2,036 across 213 incidents. Read more: Landmine explosion in Sudan kills nine “Beyond the devastating human toll, attacks on health care have immediate and long-term consequences for communities already in desperate need of medical services,” Tedros said. Escalating drone warfare Drone strikes have become a hallmark of the Sudan conflict, killing dozens at a time, mainly in southern Kordofan. UN rights chief Volker Turk said more than 200 civilians were killed by drone attacks over eight days this month. The war, which began in April 2023, has killed tens of thousands and displaced over 11 million people. More than 33 million need humanitarian aid, according to the UN. “Enough suffering has been inflicted,” Tedros said. “The time has come to de-escalate the conflict in Sudan and ensure the protection of civilians, health workers, and humanitarians”.

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