Wednesday, October 28, 2026

📍 From the Field The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in its statement issued on Monday, 26 October 2026, that one year after the fall of the city of El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur State, following a siege lasting more than 18 months, the humanitarian situation remains catastrophic, as hundreds of thousands have been displaced and families have been torn apart and survivors are still suffering immense suffering. Humanitarian partner organisations reported, according to OCHA, that nearly 900,000 displaced people are in Tawila locality, where overcrowding and shortages of food, clean water, sanitation services, shelter and health care are placing enormous pressure on already exhausted services.

Also in North Darfur, the International Organization for Migration announced on Monday, 26 October 2026, that its field teams estimated the displacement of 895 people during 24 October from the villages of Qur Bora, Jaktora and Um Haraz in Um Baru locality, due to the deterioration of the security situation, and that the majority of families crossed the border westwards towards Chad, stressing that the situation remains very tense and volatile. OCHA said in the same statement that drone strikes on Monday, 26 October targeted electricity substations in Al-Faw and Al-Hawata localities in Gedaref State in eastern Sudan, causing a widespread power outage, and that drone attacks over the weekend targeted fuel and transport stations in Um Rawaba locality in North Kordofan State, damaging two fuel stations and a number of public buses.

1️⃣ Al-Burhan leads Sudan's delegation to the third Russia-Africa Summit in Moscow The third Russia-Africa Summit and the accompanying economic and humanitarian forum began in Moscow today, Wednesday, scheduled for 28 and 29 October, with the participation of more than 36 heads of state and government. The President of the Transitional Sovereignty Council, Lieutenant General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, leads Sudan's delegation, which includes the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Finance, the Director General of the General Intelligence Service and the Director General of the Defence Industries System, and he is scheduled to address the summit, hold a bilateral meeting with his Russian counterpart and visit the Russian State University for the Humanities. Sudan's Ambassador to Russia, Mohamed Al-Ghazali Al-Tijani Siraj, told the Sudan News Agency (SUNA) that the participation comes in light of the development of bilateral relations and the growth of cooperation and coordination in international forums, and that Al-Burhan's speech will present Sudan's vision for achieving peace and stability and preserving its sovereignty and unity. (Sources: Sudan News Agency (SUNA) via statements by Ambassador Mohamed Al-Ghazali Al-Tijani Siraj; Sovereignty Council Media) 💡 Quick reading: Sudan's presence in Moscow at the highest level, with a delegation including finance, foreign affairs, security and defence, points to Khartoum's effort to turn Russian political support in the Security Council into practical cooperation in reconstruction, energy and mining, at a time when international powers are competing for the positions of African states.

2️⃣ OCHA: 33.7 million people in Sudan in need of humanitarian assistance The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Sudan (OCHA) confirmed in a report today, Wednesday, that 33.7 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance in Sudan, describing the level of needs as unprecedented, and that the Sudanese crisis is one of the most severe humanitarian emergencies in the world. The office called for $2.9 billion to provide assistance to 20.4 million people, explaining that humanitarian organisations, despite operational challenges, were able to reach 17.1 million people by September 2026, but only 18% of those in need, around 3 million people, received multi-sector assistance. In contrast, newspaper headlines issued this morning quoted the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as saying that the food situation in Sudan is reassuring and that the government rejects the politicisation of humanitarian aid. (Sources: United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in its report issued 28 October 2026; Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs via headlines of newspapers issued on the morning of 28 October 2026) 💡 Quick reading: The gap between the number of people reached by any assistance and the number who received multi-sector support is the core of the crisis today: access alone is not enough if food, water, health and shelter remain separate, and funding that, according to OCHA, has only slightly exceeded 46% of the plan leaves millions of families without full coverage.

3️⃣ One year since the fall of El Fasher: calls for accountability and a UN warning against a repetition of atrocities in Kordofan Sudan this week marked the first anniversary of the fall of the city of El Fasher in October 2025. The Minister of Information and official spokesman of the Darfur Regional Government, Ahmed Ishaq Shanab, said in a statement to the Sudan News Agency (SUNA) that the crimes witnessed in El Fasher will remain a responsibility demanding accountability for their perpetrators, stressing the need to hold those responsible to account, while Sudan's Embassy in Berlin issued a statement on the occasion of the first anniversary. The United Nations Office for Human Rights documented in a report issued on 13 February 2026 the killing of more than 6,000 people during the first three days of the final attack on the city, including at least 4,400 inside El Fasher and more than 1,600 on escape routes. UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on Tuesday, 27 October, in a post on the "X" platform, that the war, fuelled by external parties, has turned into a war targeting civilians, calling for an immediate halt to the fighting, protection of the population and ensuring unhindered access for aid, and stressing the preservation of Sudan's unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity, while UN officials and representatives in the Security Council warned of the danger of a repetition of the El Fasher atrocities in Kordofan and Blue Nile as drone attacks on markets and infrastructure escalate. (Sources: Sudan News Agency (SUNA); United Nations Office for Human Rights; UN Secretary-General António Guterres; UN Security Council) 💡 Quick reading: The El Fasher anniversary is no longer an occasion for remembrance only, but a test of whether early warnings and UN documentation will turn into actual protection for civilians in Kordofan before the same pattern of siege, attack and mass displacement is repeated.

— Editorial Team