Sudan rejects Ethiopia's accusation as fighting continues in Afar

Sudan's army rejected Ethiopia's claim that it is backing the armed groups fighting federal troops, countering that Addis Ababa is itself facilitating operations by the Rapid Support Forces — an accusation Khartoum has pressed since relations deteriorated sharply in May. An informed Egyptian source had already dismissed allegations of Cairo's involvement on 26 September.

On the ground the Afar front remained the most active. Its weight is strategic: an advance through Afar threatens the corridor from Djibouti that carries virtually all of Ethiopia's international trade, including fuel.

The opening week has left the 2022 Pretoria agreement in severe strain. Its provisions were never fully implemented — the interim administration for Tigray was never established, and around one million people displaced by the last war remain unable to return home. Coalition figures argue that the renewed fighting follows from that failure, not from any collapse of their own commitment to a political settlement.