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Burhan, Hilu Sign Declaration of Principles

Sudan's Sovereign Council Chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, South Sudan's President Salva Kiir, and Sudan's Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok after signing a peace agreement in Juba, South Sudan (File Photo: Reuters)
Sudan's Sovereign Council Chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, South Sudan's President Salva Kiir, and Sudan's Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok after signing a peace agreement in Juba, South Sudan (File Photo: Reuters)
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Burhan, Hilu Sign Declaration of Principles

Sudan's Sovereign Council Chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, South Sudan's President Salva Kiir, and Sudan's Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok after signing a peace agreement in Juba, South Sudan (File Photo: Reuters)
Sudan's Sovereign Council Chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, South Sudan's President Salva Kiir, and Sudan's Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok after signing a peace agreement in Juba, South Sudan (File Photo: Reuters)

Sudan's Sovereign Council chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan arrived in Juba Saturday for a meeting with South Sudan President Salva Kiir to discuss bilateral relations and the resumption of peace negotiations with Abdelaziz al-Hilu’s Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM-N al-Hilu).

Burhan and Hilu discussed in a closed session the declaration of principles which will help launch their formal peace negotiations.

Burhan was accompanied by the Justice Minister, Nasreldin Abdelbari, who participated in the closed session with Hilu and his accompanying delegation.

Kiir's security advisor Tut Gatluak said that the closed session was positive, and the dialogue advanced within the framework of the common understandings on the declaration of principles.

Gatluak announced that the government and the movement will sign the declaration of principles on Sunday, witnessed by Kiir who also sponsors the Sudanese peace talks.

He said that after signing the declaration, the mediation committee will set a schedule for the negotiations.

Official sources revealed that the talks between Burhan and Hilu failed to overcome the differences over the secular issues and security arrangements, which prevented SPLM-N from engaging in previous peace talks.

In March, Burhan and Hilu met in Juba and agreed on the need to resume negotiation to reach solutions accepted by all parties.

SPLM-N rejects the Sudanese government's proposal to separate religion from the state and adheres to its demand of a secular state and the right to self-determination for the Nuba Mountains and Blue Nile regions.

The sources indicate that the SPLM-N refuses to integrate its forces into the Sudanese army unless the issue of secularism is resolved.

Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdok and Hilu signed a joint agreement in September last year that included the separation of religion from the state in the constitution of Sudan.

The workshop between the government and the SPLM-N in October 2020 failed to yield positive results on controversial issues.

The SPLM accused the head of the government delegation, Shams El-Din Kabbashi of failing the workshop for rejecting the recommendations.

The Juba agreement was signed last October between the Sudanese government and representatives of armed movements within the Revolutionary Front, while the SPLM-N and the Sudan Liberation Movement led by Abdul Wahid Nouri (SLA-AW) in Darfur did not participate.

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Arab World

Tehran Strikes Iranian Kurdish Base in Iraq with Drones

A Kurdish peshmerga fighter affiliated with the Iranian Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP-Iran) stands guard on a building following an Iranian cross-border attack in the town of Koye (Koysinjaq), 100 km east of Erbil, the capital of the autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq on October 1, 2022. (AFP)
A Kurdish peshmerga fighter affiliated with the Iranian Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP-Iran) stands guard on a building following an Iranian cross-border attack in the town of Koye (Koysinjaq), 100 km east of Erbil, the capital of the autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq on October 1, 2022. (AFP)
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Tehran Strikes Iranian Kurdish Base in Iraq with Drones

A Kurdish peshmerga fighter affiliated with the Iranian Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP-Iran) stands guard on a building following an Iranian cross-border attack in the town of Koye (Koysinjaq), 100 km east of Erbil, the capital of the autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq on October 1, 2022. (AFP)
A Kurdish peshmerga fighter affiliated with the Iranian Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP-Iran) stands guard on a building following an Iranian cross-border attack in the town of Koye (Koysinjaq), 100 km east of Erbil, the capital of the autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq on October 1, 2022. (AFP)

Iran's armed forces attacked bases belonging to an Iranian Kurdish opposition group in Iraq's Kurdistan region using drones, a media outlet in Tehran reported on Sunday.

"As part of a drone operation carried out by the Revolutionary Guards' ground forces, the headquarters of the terrorist and separatist group Komala, located in the Balisan region, was targeted last night," the Mehr news agency said.

The semi-autonomous region hosts camps and bases belonging to several groups of Iranian Kurdish militants, which Iran has targeted repeatedly since the start of the Middle East war in February.

The Revolutionary Guards have not immediately claimed responsibility for the strikes on these fighters, whom Iran accuses of being supported by Israel, its sworn enemy.

In the most deadly recent attack, nine Komala members were killed on July 17 near the city of Sulaymaniyah.

Arab World

Iraq to Rehabilitate Border Crossing with Saudi Arabia

The al-Jamima border crossing with Saudi Arabia. (INA)
The al-Jamima border crossing with Saudi Arabia. (INA)
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Iraq to Rehabilitate Border Crossing with Saudi Arabia

The al-Jamima border crossing with Saudi Arabia. (INA)
The al-Jamima border crossing with Saudi Arabia. (INA)

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi has approved funding for the construction of facilities and buildings at the al-Jamima border crossing with Saudi Arabia. The move aims to complete the requirements for its expected opening in 2027 and boost trade ties between the two neighbors.

In a statement on Saturday, Governor of Al-Muthanna Tawfiq Al-Hassani said that rehabilitating the highway linking the city of Samawah to the border crossing with Saudi Arabia, alongside the construction of its facilities, will help stimulate trade activity and boost the local economy.

The project will also enable the governorate to benefit from border crossing revenues in accordance with established legal frameworks, he added.

The local government, in cooperation with the provincial council, is working to complete the requirements necessary to operate the crossing, he said, noting its economic and developmental significance for al-Muthanna.

Former MP Haider al-Mulla said the move reflects the Iraqi government's efforts to build economic relations with neighboring Arab and non-Arab countries through trade, energy, and transportation.

Al-Mulla added that developing relations with Saudi Arabia, Türkiye, and Syria through economic cooperation and energy transit serves Iraq's interests.

Iraq and Saudi Arabia are linked through the Arar border crossing, located within the boundaries of al-Anbar Governorate, which was reopened in 2020 after a closure lasting about 29 years. Al-Jamima crossing, located in the desert of al-Muthanna Governorate, is historically considered one of the main pilgrimage routes.

In a related context, a local official in the Najaf Governorate announced that the security situation in the border areas with Saudi Arabia is stable, saying that no breaches have been recorded along the border fence.

In an interview with state television on Friday, PM al-Zaidi said that Baghdad is keen to "establish good relations with Saudi Arabia and Gulf countries."

Arab World

Houthi Attacks on Taiz Leave Bloody Toll on Civilians

Residents walk amid debris from their homes after a missile strike in Seina, Taiz, Yemen, Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026. (AP)
Residents walk amid debris from their homes after a missile strike in Seina, Taiz, Yemen, Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026. (AP)
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Houthi Attacks on Taiz Leave Bloody Toll on Civilians

Residents walk amid debris from their homes after a missile strike in Seina, Taiz, Yemen, Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026. (AP)
Residents walk amid debris from their homes after a missile strike in Seina, Taiz, Yemen, Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026. (AP)

Yemen's Taiz governorate is facing a relentless Houthi military escalation that continues to deepen the suffering of its residents. Ongoing shelling targets residential neighborhoods and villages, while tightening restrictions choke civilian movement and block essential supplies.

Human rights reports documented hundreds of civilian casualties and abductions, and widespread damage to homes and vehicles.

The Yemeni Network for Rights and Freedoms documented 1,891 crimes and violations committed by the Iran-backed Houthi group against civilians and civilian objects in the governorate from September 1 to October 22.

This toll coincided with the network monitoring 21 additional crimes and violations within a 24-hour period, along with the firing of around 213 projectiles into residential areas.

People chant slogans after they performed the Friday weekly prayer at the Freedom Square in the southwestern city of Taiz, Yemen October 23, 2026. (Reuters)

In its report, "Taiz... Bloody Invasion and Systematic Killing," the monitor said the violations resulted in the killing of 212 civilians, including 38 children - seven of whom were infants - and 27 women, as well as the wounding of 319 civilians, including 29 children and 46 women.

The report documented 23 cases of field executions, five massacres, and 314 instances of abduction and enforced disappearance, including 14 children held hostage to pressure their families. Additionally, 516 homes were raided in search of individuals suspected of being linked to government forces.

Residents walk on debris of their homes at Seina district in Taiz, Yemen, after a missile strike, Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026. (AP)

Houthi attacks damaged 356 homes, including 98 that were completely destroyed, while three others were blown up.

According to the report, Houthi shelling and sniper fire extended to the villages of Kahlan and al-Shaqb, the old airport neighborhood.

The repercussions are not limited to casualties and destruction; the network said the Houthis fired around 9,876 projectiles during the period covered by its report, tightened the siege on the governorate since September 3, and established 26 illegal checkpoints and barriers.

Yemeni people inspect a damaged ambulance in front of Al-Thawra General Hospital in Taiz on October 22, 2026. (AFP)

The report accused the group of obstructing the entry of food, medicine, fuel, oxygen cylinders, and drinking water, as well as blocking relief convoys and commercial supplies, including chronic disease medications and child vaccines.

It warned that blocking the fuel required to operate generators for hospitals, cancer treatment centers, and kidney dialysis units threatens patients' lives, noting that the escalation has caused the displacement of around 280,000 people from the governorate.

The network said the Houthis also turned five schools into operations rooms and detention centers.

It demanded that Taiz be declared a disaster city, calling for an end to the attacks, the lifting of the siege, the opening of roads, and guaranteed access to aid.