• Blue Nile: The General Command of the Armed Forces announced, in a press circular, that its air defences shot down this morning, Thursday, a hostile strategic drone near the Bakori area in Blue Nile State, after tracking it from the moment it crossed the border coming from the direction of Ethiopia (Source: Official Spokesman of the Armed Forces via the Sudan News Agency - SUNA) • On the same axis, the Governor of Kurmuk, Abdel Ati Mohamed Al-Faki, announced that the army had recaptured the Ukulli area in Kurmuk locality and Bakori in Geissan locality, while Nabd Al-Sudan quoted a military source to Al Jazeera as saying that a surprise attack ended with the recapture of Bakori and the headquarters of the 13th Brigade of the 4th Infantry Division and the infliction of losses on the Rapid Support Forces in personnel and equipment; it was not possible to independently verify the details of the control map (Source: Nabd Al-Sudan and Sudan Now) • Harare: Prime Minister Kamil Idris met the Secretary-General of COMESA, Chileshe Mpundu Kapwepwe, on the sidelines of the 25th Summit of Heads of State and Government of COMESA, and the meeting focused on the arrangements relating to the return of the permanent headquarters of the COMESA Court of Justice to Khartoum (Source: Sudan News Agency - SUNA) • In another meeting on the sidelines of the summit, Prime Minister Kamil Idris told the Egyptian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs for African Affairs, Ambassador Mohamed Abu Bakr, that Khartoum counts greatly on Egypt's leading role in supporting building and reconstruction efforts, while Abu Bakr renewed his country's commitment to harnessing its capabilities and expertise to support Sudan's stability, and Egypt's firm position in support of Sudan's stability, unity and territorial integrity (Source: Sudan News Agency - SUNA) • In the work of the same summit, Kenyan President William Ruto handed over the presidency of COMESA to Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa for the 2026-2027 term, and Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema became Vice-President and Ruto Rapporteur, and the summit launched the Medium-Term Strategic Plan 2026-2030 and renewed the commitment to raise intra-COMESA trade to 15% by 2030 (Source: The Eastleigh Voice and Dawn Africa) • Red Sea: Customs forces seized 177,000 Captagon pills and explosive materials in Red Sea State (Source: Sudan News Agency - SUNA) • Geneva: The summary of the co-chairs of the sixth consultative meeting to coordinate peace initiatives in Sudan concluded that there is no military solution to the war, affirming Sudan's sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity and rejecting parallel governments, and calling on the two parties to the fighting to commit to a ceasefire, and on external parties to stop fuelling the war with mercenaries and military equipment - especially drones - and financing, and welcoming the Quad's efforts towards a humanitarian truce, and supporting an inclusive Sudanese-led political process; it was decided to hold a seventh meeting whose date and place have not yet been determined, with the work of the technical working team continuing, and without announcing any ceasefire, in the absence of representatives of the army and the Rapid Support Forces (Source: United Nations Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs) • Abyei: The Minister of Information acting for the Abyei Government, Yohana Akol Ngor, settled the debate over the toll of the drone attack on Amit market, confirming that the total number killed was 153 people - the number of bodies that were buried - thereby correcting the figure of 220 killed circulated by previous reports, and pointing out that about 30 wounded are still receiving treatment in hospitals, some of them in a critical condition, and that people are still missing (Source: Radio Tamazuj) • South Sudan: Health authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan, with support from the World Health Organization, are strengthening cross-border surveillance for the Ebola virus at the Aba health zone near the border, which hosts more than 26,000 refugees from South Sudan; Haut-Uele province recorded 408 confirmed cases and 176 deaths as of 17 October in seven of its thirteen health zones, while the Aba zone has recorded no case so far (Source: World Health Organization - Regional Office for Africa)

— Editorial Team