Horn of Africa

An Ethiopian army drone bombarded protesters in the Amhara region, killing at least 70 people, according to a local media report. Air strikes reportedly hit the demonstrators, who’d gathered in the town of Finote Selam in protest against plans by federal forces to enter the area. The army and a …

A senior Ethiopian official accused militiamen in the Amhara region of seeking to overthrow the regional and federal governments following days of fighting that led the authorities to declare a state of emergency, Reuters agency reported. Clashes between Fano militiamen and the Ethiopian National Defence Force (ENDF) continued over the …

The United Nations has condemned what it called rising sexual violence against women and girls in Sudan in more than two months of conflict, the BBC reported. The UN human rights office in Sudan said it had received credible reports of more than 20 incidents of conflict-related sexual violence against …

A unilateral ceasefire declared by the head of Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces is due to come into effect today for the Muslim holiday of Eid-al-Adha, which starts on Wednesday, the BBC reported. The pause in the conflict with the Sudanese army was announced in an audio recording broadcast on …

The Ethiopian Media Authority (EMA) has banned a TV station affiliated to the country’s Orthodox church after accusing it of broadcasting inciteful content, state-owned Ethiopian News Agency (ENA) reported. The media regulator said it temporarily banned the Mahibere Kidusan TV after it broadcast a message on Sunday that could trigger …

The U.N. World Food Programme suspends food distribution in Ethiopia’s war-ravaged Tigray region in response to reports that significant amounts of aid were being diverted, the agency said. The announcement follows a similar one by the U.S. Agency for International Development, which said on Wednesday it had discovered that food …

UN chief Antonio Guterres has called on the warring factions in Sudan to stop the fighting immediately, before the conflict escalates into an all out war. Mr Guterres said the people in Sudan were facing a humanitarian catastrophe, with hospitals destroyed, food and aid warehouses looted and millions facing food …

Leaders of Sudan’s warring army and paramilitary forces agreed to a seven-day truce from May 4 to 11 in a phone call with South Sudanese President Salva Kiir, the ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Tuesday. “General Abdel Fattah al-Burhane (…) and General Mohamed Hamdane Daglo (…) have agreed in …

UK Ambassador to Sudan Giles Lever has moved to neighboring Ethiopia after the embassy temporarily closed due to the conflict in the country. “From Addis Ababa, he will lead the UK’s diplomatic efforts in the region to bring fighting to an end in Sudan,” the British Foreign Office said in …

Sudan’s warring factions agreed to a 72-hour ceasefire starting on Tuesday, while Western, Arab and Asian nations raced to extract their citizens from the country, Reuters reported. The Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) said the U.S. and Saudi Arabia mediated the truce. U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken announced the agreement …