Friday, October 30, 2026

📍 From the Field OCHA said in its press briefing dated 27 October that drone attacks on vital civilian infrastructure are escalating and disrupting essential services for millions of people, after a main transformer station serving Khartoum State was hit following multiple attacks the previous day. The United Humanitarian Network Observatory reported, citing workers at the Sudanese Electricity Company, that Al-Markhiyat transformer station, northwest of Omdurman, alone was subjected to eight consecutive drone strikes during the wave from 26 to 30 October, putting it out of service and cutting electricity to wide areas.

In Blue Nile, the region's Humanitarian Aid Commissioner, Qisma Abdel Karim Daldoum, said the region hosts 27 camps and shelter centres amid acute humanitarian needs, military escalation and drone attacks on the region's localities and its capital, Damazin, according to what the International Organization for Migration reported in its latest update. In North Darfur, the popular resistance in the state warned in its statement today of the worsening situation in Umbro locality after the Rapid Support Forces seized control of vital water sources, including Hafirat Wadi Ambar, Donki Sukkar, and the wells of Umm Haraz, Umm Marahik, Majour and Donki Hosh, at a time when the area is suffering from scarce rainfall and a decline in the water sources on which residents and herders depend.

1️⃣ Al-Burhan from Moscow: A purely Sudanese peace, a civilian transition and an expanded partnership with Russia The President of the Transitional Sovereignty Council, Lieutenant General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, said in his speech on Thursday before the third Russia-Africa Summit in Moscow on 28 and 29 October that peace in Sudan must be purely Sudanese, without dictates or external interventions, and that the government is working to prepare for a democratic civilian transition through a Sudanese-Sudanese dialogue followed by a transitional period and then free and fair elections under regional and international monitoring. Al-Burhan accused the Rapid Support Forces of receiving political and logistical support from regional and international forces, while today, Friday, during his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, he expressed Sudan's readiness to grant Russia sites for investment in extracting gold, copper and other minerals, and proposed establishing a free economic zone on the Red Sea. (Sources: SUNA, Transitional Sovereignty Council Media) 💡 Quick reading: The Moscow speech links the peace track to the condition of sovereignty in decision-making, and in return places the investment file and the Red Sea on the table of a wider partnership with Russia.

2️⃣ A wave of drones strikes power stations and expands blackouts in several states Ten main electricity stations were subjected to successive drone attacks between 26 and 29 October, including Kadugli, Tandalti, Al-Faw, Al-Manaqil, Al-Hawata, Mashkour, Sinja, Umm Dabakir, Al-Junayd and Al-Markhiyat, leading to facilities going out of service and wide blackouts in parts of Gezira, Sennar, Gedaref, White Nile, South Kordofan and Khartoum, according to tracking by the United Humanitarian Network Observatory. The Emergency Lawyers Group said the number of electricity stations targeted during October reached 13 stations, warning of the impact of this on water, health and food, while Prime Minister Kamil Idris inspected Al-Markhiyat transformer station, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the escalating targeting of civilian infrastructure with drones. (Sources: Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, OCHA, Emergency Lawyers Group, United Humanitarian Network Observatory) 💡 Quick reading: Targeting transformer and generation stations together moves the impact of the war from the front lines to electricity, water and daily services in cities far from the fronts.

3️⃣ International Organization for Migration: Displacement of about 120,000 people in Blue Nile since January The International Organization for Migration announced on Thursday, 29 October, that 119,782 people, representing 23,598 families, were displaced from scattered areas in Blue Nile State between 11 January and 15 October 2026, an increase of 21% over the 23 August update, which recorded 99,277 people. The displaced were distributed across seven sites inside the state, including Damazin and Al-Roseires, and females make up about 56% of them and children under 18 about 45%, amid military escalation and attacks attributed to the Rapid Support Forces and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement – North, allied with it, on several areas in the state. (Sources: International Organization for Migration) 💡 Quick reading: The jump in displacement in Blue Nile in less than two months places Damazin and Al-Roseires under shelter and services pressure that exceeds the current response capacity.

— Editorial Team