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Arab World

Emergency Arab Meeting to Discuss Ethiopia's Agreement with Somaliland

A protest in Mogadishu denouncing the agreement signed between Ethiopia and Somaliland (AP)
A protest in Mogadishu denouncing the agreement signed between Ethiopia and Somaliland (AP)
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Emergency Arab Meeting to Discuss Ethiopia's Agreement with Somaliland

A protest in Mogadishu denouncing the agreement signed between Ethiopia and Somaliland (AP)
A protest in Mogadishu denouncing the agreement signed between Ethiopia and Somaliland (AP)

Arab foreign ministers will hold an emergency meeting on Wednesday via video conference to discuss the repercussions of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) Ethiopia concluded with the separatist region of Somaliland.
Arab League Assistant Secretary-General Ambassador Hossam Zaki announced on Sunday the emergency virtual meeting at the level of foreign ministers next Wednesday to address the consequences of an unlawfully signed agreement between Ethiopia and the Somaliland region.
Under the meeting, landlocked Addis Ababa obtained operational privileges in northwest Somalia's Red Sea area.
Ethiopia seeks to secure a seaport that it has been deprived of for 30 years after Eritrea's independence in 1993.
Somaliland is a former British colony that declared its independence from Somalia in 1991 but was not recognized by the international community.
The MoU concluded on Jan. 1, grants Ethiopia access to 20 kilometers of Somaliland's coast for 50 years through a "lease" agreement.
Addis Ababa indicated that the agreement allows it to establish a permanent naval base and commercial maritime services on the Gulf of Aden, but Somalia rejected it.

The US, the EU, the African Union, the Arab League, Egypt, and Türkiye urged parties to respect Somali sovereignty.
The Arab meeting will be held at the request of Somalia and with the support of 12 Arab countries, according to Zaki.
He indicated that there had been attempts to hold the meeting during the last period, but it was impossible, so they resorted to video conferencing as it is the most practical method.
Morocco, the current president of the regular session of the Arab League, will head the meeting.
Somalia submitted an explanatory memorandum as the one who called for the meeting, said Zaki, explaining that over 12 Arab countries supported the meeting and there was consensus on the Somali position.
He added that the Arab League Secretary-General, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, would undoubtedly meet Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mahmoud if he was present during the Somali president's visit to Cairo soon.
Somali Ambassador to Egypt and Permanent Representative at the Arab League, Ambassador Elias Sheikh Omar Abu Bakr, announced on Jan. 4 that his country had submitted a request to the Arab League to hold an emergency meeting at the level of Arab foreign ministers.
Abu Bakr stressed the need to take a unified Arab position to respond to Ethiopia's blatant violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Somalia.
He considered Ethiopia's "unilateral measures" constitute a threat to Arab national security and navigation in the Red Sea and an attempt aimed at undermining the sovereignty and independence of the Somali Republic.
The ambassador called on Arab countries to defend Somalia's sovereignty and territorial integrity under international resolutions and laws.
He stressed the importance of adhering to the rules of good neighborliness to promote peace, security, and stability in the Horn of Africa region, warning of the dangerous repercussions of Ethiopia's move.

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Arab World

Sudan Drone Strikes Kill 21, Cause Mass Outages in East

FILE PHOTO: A Sudanese refugee father from Al-Fashir rides on a motorized cart with his family travelling between Chad and Sudan amid the ongoing conflict between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese army, at the Tine border post in eastern Chad, November 22, 2025. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A Sudanese refugee father from Al-Fashir rides on a motorized cart with his family travelling between Chad and Sudan amid the ongoing conflict between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese army, at the Tine border post in eastern Chad, November 22, 2025. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh/File Photo
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Sudan Drone Strikes Kill 21, Cause Mass Outages in East

FILE PHOTO: A Sudanese refugee father from Al-Fashir rides on a motorized cart with his family travelling between Chad and Sudan amid the ongoing conflict between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese army, at the Tine border post in eastern Chad, November 22, 2025. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A Sudanese refugee father from Al-Fashir rides on a motorized cart with his family travelling between Chad and Sudan amid the ongoing conflict between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese army, at the Tine border post in eastern Chad, November 22, 2025. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh/File Photo

Sudan's warring sides have traded drone strikes that killed 21 people in the western Darfur region and left vast swathes of the country's east without electricity, medics and witnesses said Tuesday.

A drone strike on a market in Nyala, the de facto capital of Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in Darfur, killed 21 people and wounded at least 40 others, a medical source and witnesses told AFP.

One Nyala resident said a market in the city's north was struck by a drone on Monday around 8:00 pm (1800 GMT).

Another said the market was frequented by young men, particularly RSF fighters.

"Twenty-one people were killed in last night's bombing, and more than 40 others injured," a medic at Nyala Hospital said, though he was unable to identify how many were RSF fighters.

Sudan's military, at war with the RSF since April 2023, regularly strikes Nyala, where the RSF has declared an administration rivalling the army-backed internationally recognized government in Khartoum.

The RSF has in turn launched repeated strikes targeting Khartoum's airport, as well as dams and power stations across the country's east.

On Tuesday, "RSF militia drones targeted the Al-Markhiyat transformer station, disrupting the power supply across large parts of Khartoum and Al-Jazira states," a source in the national electricity company told AFP on condition of anonymity.

The strike comes a day after a coordinated RSF drone attack on six power stations left millions without power in Al-Jazira, White Nile, Sennar and Gedaref states.

- Famine risk -

The war is currently being fought primarily via drones, with both sides launching sophisticated attacks from across the country, killing dozens of civilians at a time.

In the first three weeks of October alone, drone strikes killed over 300 people and injured hundreds more, according to a UN tally.

Since it began, the war has killed more than 200,000 people, aid workers estimate, and has triggered the world's largest hunger and displacement crises.

The United Nations has repeatedly warned that attacks on power stations threaten health and services for millions of people.

Close to three million people have returned to Khartoum state since it was recaptured by the army last year, but many have struggled to rebuild their lives in a scarred city.

Power and water supplies remain unreliable, much of the capital remains unsafe from unexploded bombs and many struggle to put food on the table in a collapsed economy.

On Monday, 30 countries including the United States, France and the United Kingdom warned that urgent action was needed to prevent famine expanding across the country.

Sudan is facing "an alarming deterioration" of food security, they said, citing the war, a currency in freefall, higher fuel prices due to the Middle East war and a drought induced by the El Nino climate phenomenon.

Sudan's foreign ministry on Monday insisted the country's food security was "reassuring", in an attempt to "refute claims of famine".

It accused "some countries and organizations" of "politically exploiting the humanitarian situation".

The army has for years denied claims of documented famine and has been accused of blocking access to humanitarian aid.

 

 

Arab World

Arrest Warrant Issued against Iraq’s Maysan Provincial Chairman for Refusing to Shut Crossing with Iran

Maysan Provincial Council Chairman Mustafa Duair al-Muhammadawi. (Social media)
Maysan Provincial Council Chairman Mustafa Duair al-Muhammadawi. (Social media)
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Arrest Warrant Issued against Iraq’s Maysan Provincial Chairman for Refusing to Shut Crossing with Iran

Maysan Provincial Council Chairman Mustafa Duair al-Muhammadawi. (Social media)
Maysan Provincial Council Chairman Mustafa Duair al-Muhammadawi. (Social media)

An Iraqi court issued an arrest warrant for Maysan Provincial Council Chairman Mustafa Duair al-Muhammadawi over his refusal to close the al-Sheeb border crossing with Iran.

The Iraqi News Agency (INA) reported on Monday that the Third Al-Karkh Investigation Court issued the warrant against the council chief in accordance with the Penal Code.

A court document showed that the warrant stems from a complaint filed by the Office of the Prime Minister, Ali al-Zaidi, following statements by al-Muhammadawi threatening civil disobedience and roadblocks, alongside a three-day ultimatum for the government to reopen the border crossing.

Al-Zaidi's office had on Sunday ordered a probe into the chairman’s statements that had been deemed as “harmful”. In a statement, it stressed that the move underscores the need to respect the law.

The arrest warrant was issued in accordance with the provisions of "Article 224 - Second Section" of the "amended Iraqi Penal Code No. 111 of 1969," which carries a penalty of up to "life imprisonment; a punishment applied to anyone who resorts to violence, threats, or any other illegal means against the head of state or whoever acts in his place."

A member of the pro-Iran Asaib Ahl al-Haq faction, al-Muhammadawi had given the government until Thursday to reopen the crossing.

During a press conference at the crossing, he threatened to "declare civil disobedience and block all roads linking Maysan to other Iraqi cities if the demand to open the crossing is not met."

He also threatened to "secede the Maysan governorate from Iraq if its demands are not fulfilled and the movement of trade and passengers is not restored."

He said that the technical justifications cited by the government for the closure "inflicted severe harm on the governorate's residents, drove up the prices of goods and construction materials, crippled commercial activity, and disrupted travel for medical patients."

Dozens of truck drivers in Maysan staged a protest on Sunday against the closure of the crossing. Al-Muhammadawi also took part.

Baghdad decided last Tuesday to close the Sheeb crossing until further notice. Government spokesperson Haider Al-Aboudi said the decision stemmed from an inability to complete the technical, technological, and developmental requirements necessary to operate the facility.

However, the Prime Minister's Advisor for Tribal and Marsh Affairs, Abdul Amir Al-Taiban, said the closure was due to the smuggling of narcotics and counterfeit currency from Iran.

The Iranian Embassy in Iraq slammed his remarks as "false allegations" and demanded that relevant Iraqi authorities take a stand against statements it claimed harm bilateral relations.

Arab World

Yemen’s Ibb Becomes Houthis’ Main Source for Recruits

Houthi supporters during a rally in Sanaa. (EPA)
Houthi supporters during a rally in Sanaa. (EPA)
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Yemen’s Ibb Becomes Houthis’ Main Source for Recruits

Houthi supporters during a rally in Sanaa. (EPA)
Houthi supporters during a rally in Sanaa. (EPA)

The terrorist Houthi militia is depleting the population in Yemen's Ibb governorate by thrusting them onto the Taiz fronts, while expanding its use of local military sites and mountain ridges as ballistic missile launchpads, deepening the risks facing residents.

Local sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that the group has dispatched new military reinforcements from Ibb toward the Taiz fronts for the third time in less than a month. This reflects its ongoing reliance on recruiting the residents to offset human losses and replenish frontlines with new fighters as it faces mounting difficulties in mobilizing more residents and tribes across its territories.

Meanwhile, thousands of families are left to endure the loss of their sons and breadwinners, alongside the broader economic and social fallout of the continuous deployment of young men into combat.

Informed sources said that Ibb has become the primary source of fighters relied upon by Houthis to reinforce the Taiz fronts, followed by Dhamar, the Houthi-held capital Sanaa and its countryside, and the Amran governorate.

A young man from Ibb city, who escaped from a Taiz combat front days ago, recounted the recruitment tactics used by the militia to enlist youth and deploy them into battle under misleading slogans.

He revealed that he joined a military training course after being misled into believing it was preparation to confront Israel, only to find himself dispatched to Taiz to fight residents of a neighboring governorate who share fraternal bonds with the people of Ibb.

“They told us that the fighting in Taiz was part of the training and that we would later head to Palestine. Days passed and none of that happened,” he recalled.

Ibb has also been used as a launchpad for attacks on Taiz and other regions, said residents and local sources.

Activists warned that persisting with these policies threatens to spill the conflict's repercussions from the battlefields into the social fabric of both Ibb and Taiz, whose populations are bound by proximity, history, and shared interests.

Transforming these organic bonds into channels for mobilization and combat compounds local suffering, exposes more families to bereavement, and stokes divisions within communities, they said.

The activists called on notables and families in Ibb to resist Houthi recruitment drives and protect their sons from being lured to the frontlines, warning against the exploitation of ideological slogans to enlist youth and thrust them into clashes where families and local communities ultimately bear the human and social toll.

They also stressed the need of preventing residential areas and their vicinities from being transformed into military installations and ballistic missile launch sites, given the potential dangers such actions pose to civilians and their property.