30 civilians were killed and 43 others were injured, on Friday, in a drone bombing that targeted the livestock market in the city of Nyala, the capital of South Darfur state, according to the Sudan Constituent Alliance (Foundation), loyal to the Rapid Support Forces, which accused the Sudanese army of carrying out the attack.
Coalition spokesman, Ahmed Taqad San, said in a statement that the bombing occurred while the market was crowded with citizens, and resulted in casualties, including women and children, in addition to the destruction of shops and property, indicating that losses are continuing to be counted. The statement claimed that the march was launched from the East Owainat base, and held the Sudanese army and its supporters responsible for the attack, which it described as a “war crime.” He called for an independent and transparent investigation, and called for international action to protect civilians and hold those responsible accountable.
It was not possible to independently verify the death toll, the circumstances of the targeting of the market, or the location of the march’s launch. The statement also did not include verifiable evidence to support his accusation regarding the source of the attack and the party operating the plane, and the Sudanese army did not comment on these accusations.
The attack comes amid mounting civilian casualties as a result of both sides of the war using drones. The United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, Rosemary DiCarlo, said in a briefing on August 24 that the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights documented the killing of about 1,400 civilians during the first half of this year, including 1,100 who were killed by drone strikes.
In May, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, announced that at least 880 civilians had been documented killed in drone strikes between January and April. His office recorded at least 28 attacks that targeted markets, causing civilian casualties, in addition to targeting health facilities at least 12 times.
The most prominent of these incidents was the attack on El Daein Teaching Hospital in East Darfur, on March 20, which the United Nations said killed at least 60 people, including children and health workers. The UN fact-finding mission later reported a death toll of no less than 70 people, in strikes it attributed to the army.
In July, the Associated Press reported, citing the Sudan Doctors Network, that 10 civilians were killed, including 5 women from one family, in a drone attack attributed to Rapid Support, which targeted a car west of Omdurman while its passengers were heading to a wedding.
In a more recent incident, on October 10, the agency reported that 41 people, including 8 children, were killed in a drone bombing that targeted a gathering of displaced people in the Abu Shindi area of the Blue Nile, near the Ethiopian border. The group accused Rapid Support of carrying it out, while the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs denounced the reported attack.
The UN fact-finding mission warned in September that external support and technical development for the drones had expanded the ability of both sides of the war to target areas far from the battle lines. It documented attacks that targeted hospitals, schools, markets, and displacement sites, considering that some violations may amount to war crimes.
Today (Friday), the Royal Palace in Rabat witnessed a prominent political event that reshapes the features of the executive scene in the Kingdom of Morocco. King Mohammed VI chaired the ceremony of appointing members of the new government.
This government formation, which includes 4 political parties, which coincides with the beginning of a new legislative term, reflects the official directions aimed at accelerating the pace of field work at the territorial level, and confronting pressing economic and social files in a spirit based on efficiency and public effectiveness.
This political station was marked by the assignment of the leadership of the government team to Fatima Zahraa Al-Mansouri, in a step that establishes a new phase of political management within the Moroccan public service.
Royal reception and swearing-in at the Royal Palace
The new ministers took the oath in the hands of the Moroccan king, thus announcing the official and actual launch of the exercise of their executive duties, and giving the starting signal for a renewed phase of institutional transition, which is the development path that the Moroccan street is anticipating with great interest, looking forward to seeking its positive repercussions on its daily living, and seeing the direct field impact of this new governmental dynamic in developing public services, and supporting the comprehensive development process that the Kingdom is witnessing.
Women's leadership and the strategic presence of women in the new formation
The new government structure represents a strong signal towards strengthening the position of women’s competencies in strategic decision-making centers in the Kingdom. The formation recorded a remarkable presence of women, with 6 female ministers assuming vital and crucial sectors. At the forefront of this presence is Fatima Al-Zahraa Al-Mansouri, Prime Minister and Supervisor of Public Policy Coordination, followed by Sharafat Afilal, who was assigned the portfolio of the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Sustainable Development concerned with energy sovereignty files, and Najwa Kokos, Minister of Family, Social Development and Equality.
Women’s representation extends to include important mandated positions, represented by Qalub Fittah, who is in charge of relations with Parliament and civil society, Madiha Khair in the vocational training sector, and Fatima Al-Saadi, who is in charge of housing and city policy, along with Aisha Klaa, who took on the task of reforming the administration and modernizing the public facility.
Balancing sovereign portfolios and integrating modern technology
The new ministerial formation maintained the stability of the sovereign and security axes of the Kingdom of Morocco to ensure the continuity of the state’s strategic directions, as the Moroccan king renewed his confidence in Abdelwafi Laftit as Minister of the Interior, and Nasser Bourita as Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccans Residing Abroad, and alongside them, Ahmed Toufiq continued his position as Minister of Endowments and Islamic Affairs.
This stability was also embodied in the renewal of confidence in a number of ministers who maintained their presence in vital portfolios. Abdel Latif Wehbe remained Minister of Justice, and Mohamed Mahdi Ben Said Minister of Youth, Culture and Sports, in addition to Fawzi Lakjaaa being appointed Minister of Economy, Finance and Public Efficiency.
This appointment reflects a clear desire to preserve the Kingdom’s major macroeconomic balances, continue structural reforms in the areas of financing, budget management, and raise the efficiency of public spending.
Placing Lekjaa at the top of the financial pyramid comes as a step aimed at ensuring financial and investment stability, especially in light of Morocco’s upcoming major international commitments and sustainable development projects being implemented at the territorial level. In response to the requirements of the times and modernizing the economic and administrative structure, the government has created sectors that keep pace with international developments, embodied in the appointment of Ahmed Rahou as Minister of Artificial Intelligence, Digital Transformation and Administration Reform, which demonstrates Rabat’s desire to integrate advanced technology as a basic pillar for developing the emerging economy and improving the quality of services provided to citizens.
New diplomatic tension was revealed by Asmara after a letter it sent to the African Union Commission, regarding a request to restore its representation at the Union headquarters in Addis Ababa after the expulsion of its representative by Ethiopia, with the escalation that began in early October with the severing of relations between the two countries.
In an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat, an Ethiopian parliamentarian defended “his country’s right to do so with Eritrea’s interference in his country’s affairs,” in exchange for the estimates of an expert in African affairs, which say that “Addis Ababa deliberately took this step in violation of African regulations only to preserve its narrative and ignore Asmara’s point of view.”
The Eritrean Ministry of Foreign Affairs published on its website, on Thursday, a letter that it said it had sent to the African Union Commission to demand “the restoration of Eritrea’s representation at its headquarters in Addis Ababa,” stressing that it had been “deprived of its membership rights, including representation and participation in the union.”
She explained that on October 1, the Ethiopian government announced that 10 Eritrean diplomats residing at the Eritrean embassy in Addis Ababa and its permanent mission to the African Union were considered persona non grata.
She added: “By expelling the Permanent Representative and the entire diplomatic staff assigned to participate in the African Union and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, the Ethiopian government has effectively deprived the State of Eritrea of its basic rights as a member state to be represented in the African Union and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and to participate in their activities.”
She stressed that “the African Union is an intergovernmental organization founded on the principle of sovereign equality among all member states in accordance with the Constitutive Act of the African Union.” Accordingly, “Eritrea’s legal membership rights in the African Union cannot be curtailed or compromised at the whims of another member state.”
This action by the Ethiopian government was preceded by its closure of its embassy in Asmara in August 2026, a closure that was not announced until then, according to the letter.
According to Ethiopian parliamentarian Mohamed Nour Ahmed, “Representing Eritrea is a natural and normal demand, but interventions in neighboring countries and crossing the Ethiopian borders at distances ranging between 50 and 60 kilometers are considered unacceptable according to international norms, African Union regulations, and international law.”
He stressed that “the crisis has its roots in its primary source, who started the war and violated the sovereignty of neighboring countries and international law, and the proven violation of Eritrea’s borders with Ethiopia in full view of the entire world.”
Regarding Addis Ababa’s position on Asmara’s request, Ahmed added, “Ethiopia always and forever adopts the option of peaceful methods, dialogue, and sitting at the table to resolve differences through diplomacy, while giving priority to the African Union as the primary concerned party in resolving the problems of the African continent within the African House without external interference such as the United Nations.” He also stressed that “if Asmara is serious about peace efforts, it must review its positions and admit its mistake.”
Asmara has denied interfering in the internal conflict between the Ethiopian federal government and the Tigray Liberation Front since its outbreak on September 23, and its decline in recent days with the entry of government forces into the Tigray region, and the announcement, on Friday, of a government administration to manage it.
On the other hand, the expert in African affairs, Ramadan Qarni, says that “there is a clear Ethiopian intention to punish Eritrea or prevent it from its right to diplomatic representation to support its Ethiopian narrative and discourse,” and confirms that “there is a very clear violation of a group of international agreements and agreements related to the Organization of the African Union and the agreement on the headquarters of the organization related to the African Union.”
He adds: “The Eritrean demand to be able to be represented in the corridors of the African Union Commission in Addis Ababa can be read within the framework of a broader and more comprehensive context, which is the Ethiopian-Eritrean dispute,” and points out that “perhaps the issue here has not become a political dispute, nor a diplomatic skirmish, or an exchange of expulsions of diplomats, but rather it has become closer to a conflict.”
Qarni points out that this comes “in view of a set of facts on the ground related to Ethiopia’s official accusation of Eritrea of involvement in the Tigray war, and Ethiopia’s attempt to move militarily towards a border area separating it from Eritrea on the side of the Tigray region, which some reports specify at approximately 30 km at the latest.”
He also adds, “This dispute or these skirmishes, or rather this ongoing conflict of course, it is clear that there is no political or diplomatic horizon at the present moment to end it, and there are no diplomatic initiatives at this moment, whether by the African Union or the United Nations... Even major international powers such as the United States and the European Union were content to send messages to the Eritrean and Ethiopian parties to commit to restraint and non-escalation.”
Eritrea gained its independence from Ethiopia in 1993, and the two countries fought a border war between 1998 and 2000. Relations between the two countries witnessed an improvement for a short period after Abiy Ahmed came to power in 2018, but they deteriorated again, leading to the complete severing of relations this month due to the conflict in Tigray.
