• Sudanese army commander Abdel Fattah al-Burhan yesterday, Saturday, rejected US pressure for a ceasefire, and vowed from Khartoum Stadium to continue the war against the Rapid Support Forces, saying: "We do not want a visa for any country, we do not want their permission, and we do not want anything from them," and that "our goal is to eliminate this militia whatever the cost," pursuing it "place by place" all the way to Darfur (Source: Sudan Tribune, via Radar Africa).

• US adviser Massad Boulos confirmed that Washington deliberately withheld al-Burhan's visa: "General al-Burhan was not in New York, and that was a clear step to signal our dissatisfaction with their position" — the issuance of the visa had been conditional on al-Burhan accepting a 90-day ceasefire proposal put forward by Boulos, according to sources cited by Reuters (Source: Mesob Journal, Reuters).

• The Sudanese army announced on Friday its control of the city of Sodari in North Kordofan after fierce battles; it is one of the Rapid Support Forces' main strongholds; the Rapid Support Forces still hold Umm Badr and Hamrat al-Sheikh, with drone attacks continuing on the city of El Obeid (Source: Sudan War Monitor, Sudan Tribune).

• The UN Refugee Agency warned of a twentyfold jump in the numbers fleeing from Sudan to Chad — more than 400 people a day during the past week — at a time when funding did not exceed 18% of the year's needs of $1.6 billion (Source: Reuters).

• The International Organization for Migration warned that the stocks supporting the humanitarian pipeline in Sudan could run out within two weeks due to lack of funding (Source: Africa Eye, citing the International Organization for Migration).

• South Sudan: Egypt's national team technical staff, led by Hossam Hassan, excluded Mohamed Salah from travelling to Juba to face South Sudan on September 29 in the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers because of the artificial turf of Juba Stadium; Egypt had drawn goalless with Angola on Friday (Source: Reuters).

• The acting Governor of Central Equatoria State, Augustino Jadalla, called for unity and cooperation as the elections scheduled for December 22 approach, after President Salva Kiir dissolved the transitional government on September 22 (Source: Radio Yei).

• The World Food Programme warned of a worsening food crisis in South Sudan: 7.8 million people face acute food insecurity, with an October deadline to secure additional resources before another one million people are deprived of life-saving assistance (Source: World Food Programme).

— Editorial Team