Ethiopian Pro-government Forces Claim Capture of Strategic Tigray Town
Ethiopia’s military and allied militiamen captured the strategic town of Alamata south of Tigray’s capital, a pro-government militia said on Monday, turning the tables after an opposition offensive launched from the region last week. … Two diplomatic sources also said the town had fallen, while a third said the pro-government forces had entered but it was not yet clear whether they were fully in control. Spokespeople for the Ethiopian military and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which is leading the armed resistance to the federal government, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The capture of Alamata would be a major boon to federal forces as they press towards the regional capital Mekelle, about 120 km (75 miles) to the north. An important supply hub for troops, food and fuel near Tigray’s southern border with the neighbouring Amhara region, Alamata exchanged hands several times during a 2020-2022 civil war. Reuters
Ethiopia: As Fighting Intensifies, Humanitarian Source Estimates at Least 150,000 Displaced in Afar, Tigray TV Hit by Drone
At least 150,000 people have been displaced in Ethiopia’s Afar region amid intensifying fighting between Tigrayan forces and federal troops, a humanitarian source cited by AFP estimated, while a drone strike hit the headquarters of Tigray TV in Mekelle on Sunday. The source cautioned that precise displacement figures were not available. AFP reported that the town of Erebti, near the Tigray border, fell to Tigrayan forces on Sunday after heavy artillery fire. The humanitarian source said the forces were advancing toward Afdeera, about 100 kilometres east of Erebti. The renewed fighting, which began Wednesday, has raised fears of a return to the 2020–2022 war between the federal government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which caused widespread displacement and loss of life. In Mekelle, the headquarters of Tigray TV was damaged in a drone strike on Sunday. Addis Standard
Heavy Fighting Erupts in Somalia’s Baidoa as Rival South West Forces Clash
Heavy fighting erupted Monday in Baidoa, the capital of Somalia’s South West state, with gunfire and heavy weapons reported in several parts of the city as rival forces backed by opposing political factions clashed. Residents reported fighting in areas including Boonkaay, Barwaaqo, Munaawar, Maayafuulka, Al-Axmaar, Al-Faras and Onodka. Armed fighters were also seen in parts of the city, according to local reports. Forces supporting parliamentary speaker Sheikh Adan Mohamed Nur Madobe said they had defended their positions. Forces loyal to former South West President Abdiaziz Hassan Mohamed Laftagareen, meanwhile, claimed to have entered Baidoa and taken control of parts of the city. … The latest clashes are part of a broader political and security dispute in South West state. Laftagareen-aligned forces have reportedly entered Baidoa more than seven times since May, when the federal government backed Madobe in a power struggle over the leadership of the state. Garowe Online
US-sanctioned Oil Tanker Sibu 1 Rescued from Somali Pirates
A US-sanctioned oil tanker, Sibu 1, has been freed after being hijacked by Somali pirates in August, the maritime police force in Somalia’s semi-autonomous Puntland region said on Friday. … Sibu 1 was seized on August 20 by six armed individuals, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO). The tanker was placed under sanctions by the US Treasury in December for allegedly being part of a shadow fleet that helps Iranian petroleum products evade US sanctions. Piracy has resurged off Somalia’s coast in recent months. Sibu 1 was at least the 13th vessel attacked this year off Somalia or in the Gulf of Aden, which separates Somalia and Yemen, according to International Maritime Bureau data and UKMTO reports. A wave of Somali piracy between 2008 and 2014 triggered a security crisis in the western Indian Ocean that cost the global economy billions of dollars and led to hundreds of millions of dollars in ransom payments. Reuters
Sudanese Refugee Influx into Chad Surges amid Reports of Rape and Abductions
More than 400 people a day are now crossing the frontier through the border entry points of Adré and Tiné, driven out by escalating clashes, airstrikes, and drone attacks across the Darfur, Kordofan, and Blue Nile regions. The sudden escalation brings total refugee arrivals into Chad to over 55,000 this year, pushing the cumulative number who have crossed the border to escape the civil war since April 2023 to nearly 1 million. Humanitarian officials reported a severe deterioration in protection conditions during transit. Women and girls reaching border reception centres described surviving harrowing journeys where armed groups routinely subjected fleeing civilians to abduction, sexual assault, and rape before they could reach safety in Chad. Sudan Tribune
RSF Drone Strike Hits Strategic Fuel Depot in Central Sudan
Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces struck a strategic fuel storage facility on Sunday near Wad Madani, the capital of central Al Jazirah state, security sources and witnesses said. The drone attack targeted the Um Aleila fuel depot near the town of Abu Haraz, about 20 km (12 miles) northeast of Wad Madani, in the early hours of Sunday, according to security sources speaking to Sudan Tribune. Witnesses in adjacent villages reported hearing several loud blasts followed by thick plumes of black smoke billowing from storage tanks across the complex. … Um Aleila is one of Sudan’s primary petroleum reserves, serving as a critical hub for storing and distributing gasoline and diesel throughout the agricultural state of Al Jazirah and adjacent regions. The facility had previously been ransacked during the RSF’s takeover of Wad Madani in December 2023, when control rooms and supply pipelines were damaged, and equipment was looted. Sudan Tribune
IGAD Raises the Alarm over Hunger in the Horn
More than 40.3 million people in the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (Igad) region are facing high levels of acute food insecurity in 2026, as climate shocks, conflict and economic shocks combine to make food harder to produce, buy and access. Although the overall figure of the vulnerable people has fallen from 43.3 million in 2025, largely because of improvements in Sudan and Uganda, the decline masks a worsening situation in Kenya, Somalia, Djibouti and South Sudan. Behind the statistics are failed rains that have killed livestock and reduced harvests, fighting that has driven families from farms and markets, and rising prices that have eroded what households can afford to buy. The East African
WHO Says Congo Ebola Outbreak Spreads to Two New Health Zones
The World Health Organization said on Friday that the Ebola outbreak caused by the Bundibugyo virus in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has spread to two additional health zones, bringing the total number affected to 63 across seven provinces. The newly affected zones are Bulu in Sud Ubangi province and Dungu in Haut-Uele province, which borders South Sudan. As of September 23, Congo had reported 7,890 confirmed cases and 3,799 deaths, according to the WHO. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said conflict and population displacement were making it more difficult for health workers to reach affected communities and trace people who may have been exposed to the virus. Reuters
Guinea Opposition Figure and Former PM Toure Dies in Paris
Sidya Toure, former prime minister and a leading opposition figure in Guinea where dissenting voices and political parties have been stifled, has died at age 81, sources close to his family told AFP. Toure had been leading one of the country’s major opposition parties, the Union of Republican Forces (UFR), from exile in Ivory Coast. UFR was among 40 political parties dissolved in March in a major crackdown on civil liberties under the country’s longtime strongman Mamady Doumbouya. Toure died Friday in Paris after several decades at the forefront of Guinean public life. … Toure had lived in Abidjan since leaving Guinea following the September 2021 military coup that brought Doumbouya to power. … Guinean president Lansana Conte, in power between 1984 and 2008, had appointed Toure as prime minister in July 1996, a role he served in until March 1999. His tenure as prime minister was marked by administrative and economic reforms, as well as efforts to strengthen Guinea’s relations with international financial institutions. After leaving the government, Toure became head of the UFR in 2000. He gradually became a leading figure opposing Conte and subsequent governments. Africanews
African Presidents Call for Permanent African Seats on U.N. Security Council
[Nearly every African leader who spoke at the United Nations General Assembly in New York last week called for Africa to have permanent representation on the Security Council.] … With the fastest-growing, youngest population of any continent, Africa is expected to be home to a quarter of the people on the planet by 2050, making it central to the future of the world’s economy and to deciding questions of international peace and security. … [President Joseph Boakai of Liberia] pointed out that 80 percent of the Council’s mandates concern Africa’s peace and security and noted that “Africa remains without a single permanent seat on the organ responsible for global peace.” His demands echoed those of many African presidents at the General Assembly, who want two permanent seats for Africa on the Council, with full veto power, as well as five nonpermanent seats to be reserved for African nations, whose states make up a third of the U.N.’s membership. African leaders want the veto to be abolished, but as long as it exists, they say it should be extended to any new permanent members. The New York Times