In a statement released [yesterday], the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Somaliland said it “vehemently rejects any potential deployment of Turkish naval forces within Somaliland’s recognized maritime zones.” This comes in the backdrop of the recent announcement that Turkey was poised to send its navy support to Somali waters following an earlier agreement between Ankara and Mogadishu that will allow Turkey to send an exploration vessel off the coast of Somalia to prospect for oil and gas…In February this year, Turkey and Somalia signed a defense cooperation in the wake of Somalia’s rejection of the Memorandum of Understanding signed between Ethiopia and Somaliland earlier in January. (Addis Standard)

Eritrean authorities have suspended all flights by Ethiopian Airlines to the East African nation effective Sept. 30, the airline said on Wednesday. Flights from Ethiopia to Eritrea had resumed in 2018 after two decades, following a peace deal between the two neighbours that earned Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed a Nobel peace prize a year later…State-owned Ethiopian Airlines is ranked the largest in Africa by revenue and profit by the global industry body International Air Transport Association. (Reuters)

The UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that the death toll from the landslide that struck the Gofa zone in South Ethiopia region has reached 257 as of Thursday, 24 July 2024…According to the office, search and rescue operations are still ongoing under the leadership of local authorities with the support from the Ethiopian Red Cross Society and community members – mainly digging through mounds of mud with their bare hands and spades for lack of other options, and local officials expect the death toll to rise to up to 500 people. In its second flash update report since the incident on Monday this week, the UNOCHA said more than 15,000 people, including at least 1,320 children under 5 years of age and 5,293 pregnant and lactating women, are at high risk of further landslides and need to be evacuated to safe zones immediately. (Addis Standard)

Amnesty International, in a report entitled, New Weapons Fueling Sudan Conflict, shows how recently manufactured foreign weapons have been transferred into and around Sudan, in breach of the arms embargo on Darfur…According to Amnesty International, recently manufactured or recently transferred weapons and ammunition from countries including China, Russia, Serbia, Türkiye, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Yemen are being imported in large quantities into war-torn Sudan, and then in some cases diverted into Darfur…The group revealed that advanced drone jammers, mortars and anti-materiel rifles manufactured in China have been used by both sides of the conflict. However, a variety of recently manufactured armoured personnel carriers from UAE have reportedly been used by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). (Sudan Tribune)