UAE Launches First Somalia Drone Strike in Nearly a Year
The United Arab Emirates carried out its first reported drone strike in Somalia in nearly a year, targeting Al-Shabaab militants planting roadside bombs in Puntland, security officials told AFP on Wednesday. The attack came as authorities in the semi-autonomous region prepared a new offensive against the militant group’s smaller northern presence. The strike took place on Tuesday in the Galgala mountain pass, part of the Cal Madow range south-west of Bosaso, after an explosive device struck a vehicle carrying Puntland troops on Monday, two local officials said. They said Emirati drones flew surveillance missions on Monday and Tuesday before targeting four militants who were planting roadside explosives. The aircraft took off from a UAE military base at Bosaso airport, according to the officials. Somalia Today
UN Migration Agency Warns 874,000 Somalians at Risk of Displacement from Flooding
The International Organization for Migration has warned that nearly 874,000 people in Somalia could be forced from their homes over the next three months due to flooding. As rising rivers and heavy rainfall threaten communities already struggling with drought and repeated displacement, it said many of the families have very little left to fall back on. … Rising floodwaters threaten to wipe out crops, devastate livelihoods, contaminate water supplies, and cut off access to healthcare and essential services. Families living in overcrowded displacement sites are particularly vulnerable and flooding will further deepen crisis levels in communities already battered by successive climate shocks. Africanews
Kenya Red Cross Launches Emergency Response for Families Fleeing Moyale Clashes into Marsabit
The Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS) has launched an emergency response for families arriving in Moyale, in Kenya’s Marsabit County, after fleeing insecurity linked to renewed clashes across the border in Ethiopia, as fighting in the disputed border town has forced civilians to seek safety on the Kenyan side. … The initial response is intended to reach 1,000 households, with KRCS teams working alongside the Marsabit County Government, national authorities and humanitarian partners to establish temporary shelters and distribute tents and essential household supplies, including blankets, sleeping mats, jerrycans and kitchen sets. … The response follows renewed violence in Moyale, where clashes between security forces from Ethiopia’s Oromia and Somali regional states erupted on the morning of 22 October, following several days of escalating tensions over territorial and administrative disputes in the border town. The latest escalation followed a dispute over the opening of a Somali Regional State administrative office and the raising of its flag in Kebele 02, an area officials claim is administered by Oromia, a claim disputed by officials from the Somali region. AP
Nigeria: COAS, Kagame Explore Military Cooperation to Combat Terrorism
The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lieutenant General Waidi Shaibu, has met with Rwandan President Paul Kagame in Kigali to explore stronger military cooperation between Nigeria and Rwanda in combating terrorism and other regional security threats. The meeting, held on Thursday, formed part of Shaibu’s official working visit to Rwanda to strengthen bilateral defence relations and promote African-led responses to evolving security challenges. … The visit also featured separate engagements with Rwanda’s Minister of Defence, Chief of Defence Staff and Chief of Staff of the Rwanda Defence Force, Major General Vincent Nyakarundi. The discussions focused on strengthening military relations, expanding professional military exchanges and identifying opportunities for mutually beneficial defence cooperation. PR Nigeria
International Envoys Demand Immediate De-escalation and Halt to Foreign Interference in Sudan
Representatives from more than 20 countries and international bodies meeting in Geneva on Wednesday called for an immediate de-escalation of the conflict in Sudan, warning of a deepening humanitarian catastrophe and rising famine risks. … Participants urged foreign states and non-state actors to stop fueling the war, explicitly calling for an end to the supply of mercenaries, financial backing, and military hardware. The envoys expressed particular alarm over the escalation of drone warfare, emphasizing that weaponized unmanned aerial vehicles are proving especially lethal to civilians across the country. Emphasizing that there is no military solution to the conflict, the participants called on all warring parties to engage genuinely and in good faith to de-escalate fighting, protect civilians, and commit to a humanitarian truce. … The envoys firmly rejected creating parallel governments or competing governance bodies, as well as any move that could partition the country. Sudan Tribune
Sudanese Journalists Syndicate Demands RSF Release Detained Reporters
The Sudanese Journalists Syndicate on Wednesday demanded that the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) immediately release journalists Mustafa Fadl al-Moula and Muammar Ibrahim. The syndicate also called on the paramilitary group to reveal the fate of four journalists who remain forcibly disappeared. In May, the syndicate reported that Ibrahim was suffering a severe health deterioration inside an RSF detention centre in Nyala, South Darfur, adding he was denied medical care. The syndicate said in a statement that the RSF has held Fadl al-Moula since September 2023, without any information about his whereabouts or condition. … Journalists and media workers in Sudan have faced arrest and forced disappearance since the war broke out between the army and the RSF in April 2023, amid repeated concerns about their safety and detention conditions. Sudan Tribune
South Sudan Media Outlets Warn High Regulatory Fees Threaten Their Survival
Media houses in South Sudan have warned that high regulatory fees and rising operating costs are threatening their survival and undermining their ability to report independently. The warning was raised at a media stakeholders’ dialogue in the capital, Juba, organised by the Association for Media Development in South Sudan (AMDISS) with support from Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA). The meeting on Tuesday brought together media representatives, government officials and regulators to discuss ways to improve the financial sustainability of the country’s struggling media sector. … The dialogue concluded with calls for stronger cooperation between media organisations and regulators to improve the operating environment while ensuring that media houses comply with existing laws. Radio Tamazuj
Egyptian Editor Faces Trial after Hours of Questioning
The editor-in-chief of one of Egypt’s last independent news outlets, Mada Masr, will stand trial after prosecutors questioned her for more than six hours, her lawyer said early Thursday. The Supreme State Prosecution referred Mada Masr’s Lina Attalah to trial on Thursday on a charge of establishing and managing a website without a license. … She was released Wednesday evening on bail of 100,000 Egyptian pounds ($1,800), but if convicted, she faces a fine of one to three million Egyptian pounds ($18,000 to $54,000), al-Azhari said. … Attalah is due in court on Oct. 27. Attalah founded Mada Masr in 2013, and its investigative reporting has made it a frequent target of authorities. The site has been blocked in Egypt since 2017. … The case is the sixth against Mada Masr and its journalists in six years. It comes less than a month after security forces arrested the entire six-person newsroom of Matsadaash, an independent fact-checking and investigative platform, in raids across the country on Sept. 28 and 29. AP
Human Rights Watch Demands Probe into Brutal Murder of Rwandan Dissident in Uganda
Global rights watchdog Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Thursday called on Ugandan authorities to conduct a prompt, impartial, and credible investigation into the gruesome killing of a prominent Rwandan dissident, urging investigators to examine all evidence pointing to a potential politically motivated murder. The call follows the discovery of the mutilated body of Sgt. Maj. Robert Kabera, a former Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) member turned outspoken critic and musician, on October 17, 2026. … Kabera fled Rwanda in November 2020 and sought political asylum in Uganda, citing political persecution. Prior to his death, he repeatedly alerted rights organizations and security agencies about ongoing threats to his life. … Just days before his death, Kabera published a video on YouTube titled “Kill Us if You Want,” in which he detailed alleged crimes by Rwanda’s ruling party and spoke about the intense persecution he faced in exile. Monitor
Converting Ebola Skeptics: Christian Leaders Mobilize Communities in Congo
At least 346 Ebola patients have died at the Mongbwalu clinic [in Congo]. But health workers agree that infections are starting to decline here, in part because of the effective community outreach done by health workers as well as faith leaders. “I can only give the medical message, and that may not always work, but priests are using their authority to convert that message into something spiritual, something related to the Bible,” said Dr. Marie Roseline Belizaire, a World Health Organization official in Africa. “I heard one priest give a sermon, and he referred to the commandment, ‘Thou shalt not kill.’ He said by not taking people who are sick to get treated, people were in effect killing them. That’s a very strong message.” … Congo has the largest Roman Catholic population in Africa, with around a third of the 117 million Congolese identifying as Catholic. The church is one of the few institutions with a functioning national infrastructure in the country. It provides social services such as hospitals and around half the nation’s schools, according to the Vatican. The church also holds considerable influence over politics and daily life in a nation ravaged by decades of conflict. The New York Times
An Austrian and a Swiss Woman Freed in Niger after a Year and Half in Captivity
Two women from Austria and Switzerland have been freed in Niger after spending more than a year and a half in captivity, officials and local media reported Thursday. The Austrian woman, an aid worker identified as Eva G, was received by the Austrian crisis team on Thursday, Austrian Foreign Minister Beate Meinl-Reisinger said in a statement. She was kidnapped in Niger’s Agadez city in January last year, months before the Swiss citizen was abducted in the same city in April 2025. Meinl-Reisinger said Austria worked with Switzerland to find “a safe solution” for the women. … Officials did not say who was responsible for the abductions or how both women were freed. The Austrian woman had been working as an aid worker in Agadez, hundreds of kilometers (miles) away from the capital city of Niamey, where she lived for more than 20 years, Nigerien media reported. The Swiss citizen had also lived in Niger for several years. AP