Eritrea Denies Involvement in Border Conflict Between Sudan, Ethiopia

Ethiopian women are seen in the Sudan-Ethiopia border area of al-Fashqa, in eastern Kassala state, Sudan, on November 13, 2020. REUTERS/El Tayeb Siddig/File Photo
Ethiopian women are seen in the Sudan-Ethiopia border area of al-Fashqa, in eastern Kassala state, Sudan, on November 13, 2020. REUTERS/El Tayeb Siddig/File Photo
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Eritrea Denies Involvement in Border Conflict Between Sudan, Ethiopia

Ethiopian women are seen in the Sudan-Ethiopia border area of al-Fashqa, in eastern Kassala state, Sudan, on November 13, 2020. REUTERS/El Tayeb Siddig/File Photo
Ethiopian women are seen in the Sudan-Ethiopia border area of al-Fashqa, in eastern Kassala state, Sudan, on November 13, 2020. REUTERS/El Tayeb Siddig/File Photo

Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki sent a message to Sudanese Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok, affirming that his country is not involved in the ongoing border conflict between Sudan and Ethiopia.

Eritrean Foreign Minister Osman Saleh and Presidential Adviser Yemane Ghebreab delivered the message during a visit to Khartoum on Wednesday.

Afewerki said that his country calls for a peaceful solution between the two sides in a way that serves peace, stability, and security in the region.

In his message, the Eritrean President also stressed the depth of relations between both countries and the need to strengthen and develop them.

He also voiced concern over the border dispute, stressing that his country supports Sudan’s right to extend its sovereignty over its lands.

Last week, Ethiopia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement saying that Ethiopia “strongly believes that the conflict being trumpeted by the Sudanese government’s military wing could only serve the interests of a third party at the expense of the Sudanese people.”

This was a hint at Eritrea, as revealed by Sudanese media.

In response, the Sudanese Foreign Ministry described the Ethiopian statement as a "betrayal to the history of Ethiopia’s relations with Sudan and a denial to the mutual relations between the people of the two countries."

In another context, Ethiopian Foreign Minister Gedu Andargachew urged the Ethiopian asylum seekers in Sudan to return to Ethiopia.

Andargachew asserted that the Human Rights Council has commenced a probe in allegations of human rights violations in Tigray, including the Mai Kadra massacre.

The Ethiopian FM said that some refugees in the Sudanese camps committed crimes, to which they will be prosecuted.



6 Peacekeepers Killed in Drone Strike on UN Facility in Sudan

FILE PHOTO: Sudanese people, who fled the conflict in Geneina in Sudan's Darfur region, receive rice portions from Red Cross volunteers in Ourang on the outskirts of Adre, Chad July 25, 2023. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Sudanese people, who fled the conflict in Geneina in Sudan's Darfur region, receive rice portions from Red Cross volunteers in Ourang on the outskirts of Adre, Chad July 25, 2023. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra/File Photo
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6 Peacekeepers Killed in Drone Strike on UN Facility in Sudan

FILE PHOTO: Sudanese people, who fled the conflict in Geneina in Sudan's Darfur region, receive rice portions from Red Cross volunteers in Ourang on the outskirts of Adre, Chad July 25, 2023. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Sudanese people, who fled the conflict in Geneina in Sudan's Darfur region, receive rice portions from Red Cross volunteers in Ourang on the outskirts of Adre, Chad July 25, 2023. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra/File Photo

A drone strike hit a United Nations facility in Sudan on Saturday, killing six peacekeepers, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said.

The strike hit the peacekeeping logistics base in the city of Kadugli, in the central region of Kordofan, Guterres said in a statement.

"Attacks as the one today in South Kordofan against peacekeepers are unjustifiable. There will need to be accountability," he said in a statement.

Eight other peacekeepers were wounded in the strike. All the victims are Bangladeshi nationals, serving in the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei, UNISFA.

“Attacks targeting United Nations peacekeepers may constitute war crimes under international law,” said Guterres.

The Sudanese military blamed the attack on the Rapid Support Forces, RSF.

The attack “clearly reveals the subversive approach of the rebel militia and those behind it,” the military said in a statement.

The military posted a video on social media showing plumes of dense black smoke over what it said was the UN facility.

In a statement, the Sovereignty Council headed by army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan called the attack a "dangerous escalation.”

The RSF in a statement on Telegram said it rejected "the claims and allegations... regarding an air attack that targeted the United Nations headquarters in Kadugli, and the accompanying false accusations against our forces of being behind it through the use of a drone.”

Bangladesh's interim leader Muhammad Yunus in a statement said he was "deeply saddened" by the attack.

He asked the UN to ensure that his country's personnel were offered "any necessary emergency support.”

"The government of Bangladesh will stand by the families in this difficult moment," Yunus added.

Dhaka's foreign ministry said it "strongly condemned" the attack.

Abyei is a disputed region between Sudan and South Sudan, and the UN mission has been deployed there since 2011 when South Sudan gained its independence from Sudan.

Guterres also called for an immediate ceasefire in Sudan to allow “a comprehensive, inclusive and Sudanese-owned political process” to settle the conflict in the country.

Sudan was plunged into chaos in April 2023 when a power struggle between the military and the RSF exploded into open fighting in the capital, Khartoum, and elsewhere in the country. The conflict has killed over 40,000 people — a figure rights groups consider a significant undercount.

The fighting has recently centered on Kodrofan, particularly since the RSF took control of el-Fasher, the military’s last stronghold in the western region of Darfur.


2 US Service Members and One American Civilian Killed in Ambush in Syria, US Central Command Says

Residents ride a motorcycle along a war-damaged street in Palmyra, Syria. (AP)
Residents ride a motorcycle along a war-damaged street in Palmyra, Syria. (AP)
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2 US Service Members and One American Civilian Killed in Ambush in Syria, US Central Command Says

Residents ride a motorcycle along a war-damaged street in Palmyra, Syria. (AP)
Residents ride a motorcycle along a war-damaged street in Palmyra, Syria. (AP)

Two US service members and one American civilian were killed and three other people wounded in an ambush on Saturday by a lone member of the ISIS group in central Syria, the US military’s Central Command said. 

The attack on US troops in Syria is the first to inflict casualties since the fall of President Bashar al-Assad a year ago. 

Central Command said in a post on X that as a matter of respect for the families and in accordance with Department of Defense policy, the identities of the service members will be withheld until 24 hours after their next of kin have been notified. 

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth posted on X: “Let it be known, if you target Americans — anywhere in the world — you will spend the rest of your brief, anxious life knowing the United States will hunt you, find you, and ruthlessly kill you.” 

The shooting took place near historic Palmyra, according to the state-run SANA news agency, which earlier said two members of Syria’s security force and several US service members had been wounded. The casualties were taken by helicopter to the al-Tanf garrison near the border with Iraq and Jordan. 

SANA said the attacker was killed, without providing further details. 

The US has hundreds of troops deployed in eastern Syria as part of a coalition fighting the ISIS group. 

Last month, Syria joined the international coalition fighting against the ISIS as Damascus improves its relations with Western countries following the ouster of Assad when opposition factions overthrew his regime in Damascus. 

The US had no diplomatic relations with Syria under Assad, but ties have warmed since the fall of the five-decade Assad family rule. The interim president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, made a historic visit to Washington last month where he held talks with President Donald Trump. 

ISIS was defeated on the battlefield in Syria in 2019, but the group’s sleeper cells still carry out deadly attacks in the country. The United Nations says the group still has between 5,000 and 7,000 fighters in Syria and Iraq. 

US troops, which have maintained a presence in different parts of Syria, including al-Tanf garrison in the central province of Homs, to train other forces as part of a broad campaign against ISIS, have been targeted in the past.  

One of the deadliest attacks occurred in 2019 in the northern town of Manbij when a blast killed two US service members and two American civilians, as well as others from Syria while conducting a patrol. 


Israel Suspends Strike on Southern Lebanon Village After Lebanese Army Request

Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli strike that targeted the southern Lebanese, al-Mahmoudiyeh, Lebanon, Nov. 27, 2025. (AFP)
Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli strike that targeted the southern Lebanese, al-Mahmoudiyeh, Lebanon, Nov. 27, 2025. (AFP)
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Israel Suspends Strike on Southern Lebanon Village After Lebanese Army Request

Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli strike that targeted the southern Lebanese, al-Mahmoudiyeh, Lebanon, Nov. 27, 2025. (AFP)
Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli strike that targeted the southern Lebanese, al-Mahmoudiyeh, Lebanon, Nov. 27, 2025. (AFP)

Israel put a planned strike on a village in southern Lebanon on hold on Saturday after the Lebanese army requested access to the site to “address a breach” of a ceasefire agreement, an Israeli military spokesperson said.

Earlier in the day, Israel had issued an evacuation warning for the village of Yanouh ahead of what it said was a planned strike against infrastructure of the Hezbollah group.

“After the warning was issued, the Lebanese Army... requested permission to access the specified site again, which had been declared in violation, in order to address the breach of the agreement,” the Israeli military’s Arabic-language spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, said on X.

The Israel army “decided to allow this, and accordingly the airstrike was temporarily frozen.”

Israel and Lebanon agreed to a US-brokered ceasefire in 2024, ending more than a year of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah that had culminated in Israeli strikes that severely weakened the Iran-backed group. Since then, the sides have traded accusations over violations.

On Tuesday, Israel hit what it described as Hezbollah infrastructure in several areas of southern Lebanon.

Israel and Lebanon have both sent civilian envoys to a military committee monitoring their ceasefire, a step toward meeting a months-old US demand that they broaden talks in line with President Donald Trump’s Middle East peace agenda.