South Sudan’s main opposition party on Thursday dismissed a presidential call for dialogue to avoid the country slipping back into a civil war due to stalled peace talks. Pal Mai Deng, a spokesperson for the opposition SPLM-IO, said President Salva Kiir “must release political and military leaders of the SPLM-IO who are in detention to show his seriousness about the dialogue.” During the reopening of parliament on Wednesday, Kiir said there was a need for unity and national reconciliation, adding that the “doors of peace remain open.” “The suffering of our people must not be prolonged by the continued rejection of dialogue,” he said. The situation in South Sudan remains tense after Vice President Riek Machar — Kiir’s former rival — was placed under house arrest following an attack on army bases in March. Several members of the SPLM-IO opposition party have gone into exile fearing arrests. South Sudan signed a peace agreement in 2018, ending a five-year civil war in which nearly 400,000 people died as forces loyal to Kiir and Machar clashed…The United Nation warned last month that a 2018 peace agreement was on the verge of collapse due to escalating violence, political repression, and foreign military involvement. AP

Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh made an official visit to Turkey’s Özdemir Bayraktar Technology Center, a leading facility specializing in the production of unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, which play a key role in the fight against the militant group Al-Shabaab. Accompanied by Somalia’s Minister of Ports and Maritime Transport, President Hassan toured the center and received detailed briefings from officials and engineers on Turkey’s advancements in defense technology, especially in drone manufacturing and modern military equipment. During the visit, Hassan praised Turkey’s progress in its defense industry and said Somalia could benefit from Turkish expertise to strengthen its defense capabilities and counterterrorism efforts. The Özdemir Bayraktar Center is regarded as one of the world’s most advanced military technology hubs, producing drones used for airstrikes and ground operations against extremist groups. The visit comes as President Hassan, whose term ends in May 2026, recently signed oil and military agreements with Turkey amid increasing battlefield losses to Al-Shabaab insurgents. Garowe Online

Sudan’s oil-rich Kordofan region has turned into a major front line in the war between the army and rival paramilitary forces, as both sides try to gain the upper-hand in a conflict that has devastated the vast African state for more than two years. Attacks that killed hundreds of civilians earlier this month have shifted attention to the battle for this part of the country. “Whoever controls Kordofan effectively controls the country’s oil supply, as well as a huge chunk of Sudan,” Amir Amin, an analyst with risk consultancy Oasis Policy Advisory, told the BBC. The region is also vital for landlocked South Sudan, as its oil flows through pipelines in Kordofan, before being exported. So, it has a vested interest in Kordofan’s stability. However, the battle for the region – which is made up of three states, with a population of close to eight million – has intensified since June, when the army focused on regaining the territory from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) after it made significant gains in the preceding three months, recapturing the capital, Khartoum, and neighbouring Gezira state, the agricultural hub of Sudan. BBC

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