KSrelief head participates in Sudan meeting on sidelines of UNGA

NICOSIA, Cyprus: Experts from the US Air Force are looking at ways to upgrade Cyprus’ premier air base for use as a humanitarian staging post in future operations in the Middle East, a Cypriot official told The Associated Press Thursday.
Cyprus, which is only 184 kilometers (114 miles) from the Lebanese capital, Beirut, has acted as a transit point for the repatriation of foreign nationals fleeing conflict in the Middle East and beyond on numerous occasions in the past. It has also served as a transit point for humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Experts from the 435th Contingency Response Group based out of Ramstein, Germany, will spend the next few days at Andreas Papandreou Air Force Base to assess the upgrade needed to accommodate a wide array of US air assets and other forces.
A key priority is to ensure air traffic safety in and around the base, which abuts the island’s second-largest civilian airport, the official said. The base’s location makes it easy to transfer evacuees onto civilian aircraft at the adjacent airport for their trip home.
The official spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he’s not authorized to speak publicly about the details of the experts’ visit.
Air traffic safety would need to be enhanced through new high-tech installations, including state-of-the-art radar, to ensure the independent operation of civilian and military aircraft at safe distances.
“The Americans are very specific on safety issues and want to make some upgrades to further improve the base’s safety,” the official said.
Other essential upgrades include expanding both the base itself and the runway to accommodate more transport and fighter aircraft. Hardened shelters to protect those air assets are also envisioned.
The Cyprus government agreed to the air base upgrade assessment following the recent deployment of a US Marine contingent at the base. The Marines, who were equipped with V-22 Osprey tiltrotor military transport and cargo aircraft, were on stand-by in the event of a swift evacuation of US citizens from nearby Lebanon during Israel’s strikes against Hezbollah targets late last year.
Deputy government spokesman Yannis Antoniou told the state broadcaster Thursday that any use of the base by the forces of the US or other nations would require prior Cyprus government approval. He insisted the air base would not act as a forward base for military strike operations against targets in the region.
“We’ve shown interest in working with (US Forces) because we consider this to serve the vital interests of the Cyprus Republic,” Antoniou said, adding that in their report, the USAF experts will offer an estimate of the upgrade costs and which percentage of those the US government would be willing to cover.
Bilateral relations between European Union member Cyprus and the US, especially in terms of military cooperation, have grown significantly over the last few years following a pledge by Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides to affirm the ethnically divided country’s “clear Western orientation.”
A manifestation of those ties was last week’s directive by former President Joe Biden that allows Cyprus to buy arms from the US government and get surplus American military equipment.
The Cypriot government noted the development as a tangible acknowledgment of Cyprus’ reliability as a US partner in the region.

GOMA, Congo: Panic spread in eastern Congo’s main city on Thursday, with M23 rebels steadily inching closer to Goma and seizing a nearby town as they battle the Congolese army. Bombs were heard going off in the city’s distant outskirts and hundreds of wounded civilians were brought in to the main hospital from the area of the fighting.
The rebel group has advanced significantly in recent weeks, closing in on Goma, which has around 2 million people and is a regional hub for security and humanitarian efforts. On Thursday, the rebels took Sake, a town only 27 kilometers (16 miles) from Goma and one of the last main routes into the provincial capital still under government control, according to the UN chief.
M23 is one of about 100 armed groups that have been vying for a foothold in mineral-rich eastern Congo, along the border with Rwanda, in a decadeslong conflict that has created one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises.
More than 7 million people have been displaced by the fighting. Earlier this month, M23 captured the towns of Minova, Katale and Masisi, west of Goma.
“The people of Goma have suffered greatly, like other Congolese,” an M23 spokesperson, Lawrence Kanyuka, said on X. “M23 is on its way to liberate them, and they must prepare to welcome this liberation.”
M23 seized Goma in 2012 and controlled it for over a week.

As news of fighting spread, schools in Goma sent students home on Thursday morning.
“We are told that the enemy wants to enter the city. That’s why we are told to go home,” Hassan Kambale, a 19-year-old high school student, said. “We are constantly waiting for the bombs.”
Congo, the United States and UN experts accuse Rwanda of backing the M23, mainly composed of ethnic Tutsis who broke away from the Congolese army over a decade ago.
Rwanda’s government denies the claim but last year admitted that it has troops and missile systems in eastern Congo to safeguard its security, pointing to a buildup of Congolese forces near the border. UN experts estimate there are up to 4,000 Rwandan forces in Congo.
On Wednesday, Congo’s minister of communication, Patrick Muyaya, told French broadcaster France 24 that war with Rwanda is an “option to consider.”
Late Thursday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres condemned “in the strongest terms, the renewed offensive launched by the 23 March Movement (M23),” including the “seizure of Sake.”
“This offensive has a devastating toll on the civilian population and heightened the risk of a broader regional war,” Guterres’ statement read. He also urged “all parties to uphold human rights and international humanitarian law.”
Earlier in the day, Congolese authorities claimed that the military pushed back an attack from the “Rwandan army” on Sake. The Associated Press was unable to verify if Rwanda’s army took part in the offensive.
“The population is in panic. The M23 now control large parts of the town,” said Léopold Mwisha, the president of civil society of the area of Sake.

Guterres said he was “deeply troubled” by the most recent reports about the “presence of Rwandan troops on Congolese soil and continued support to the M23.”
The US Embassy in Congo’s capital, Kinshasa, in a notice warned of “an increase in the severity of armed conflict near Sake” and advised US nationals in North Kivu province, which includes Goma, to be on the alert in case they need to leave their homes on short notice.
The United Kingdom also issued a travel advisory that said M23 now controls Sake and urged British nationals to leave Goma while roads remain open.
Many Sake residents have joined the more than 178,000 people who have fled the M23 advance in the last two weeks.
The CBCA Ndosho Hospital in Goma was stretched to the limit, with hundreds of newly wounded on Thursday.
Thousands escaped the fighting by boat on Wednesday, making their way north across Lake Kivu and spilling out of packed wooden boats in Goma, some with bundles of their belongings strapped around their foreheads.
Neema Matondo said she fled Sake during the night, when the first explosions started to go off. She recounted seeing people around her torn to pieces and killed.
“We escaped, but unfortunately” others did not, Matondo told the AP.
Mariam Nasibu, who fled Sake with her three children, was in tears — one of her children lost a leg, blown off in the relentless shelling.
“As I continued to flee, another bomb fell in front of me, hitting my child,” she said, crying.