Ethiopia
Things are starting to move fast in Ethiopia. The government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has declared a state of emergency after TPLF rebel forces captured two key towns that open a route to the capital Addis Ababa. The group’s fighters are also reported to have to met up with the forces of a smaller rebel group, the Oromo Liberation Army, with the intent of fighting side-by-side. TPLF spokesman Getachew Reda today told Al Jazeera that, if it was necessary to capture Addis in order to break a government-imposed blockade on the Tigray region, the group would do so.
More from Al Jazeera here.
Afghanistan
Another attack on the Taliban. The Islamic State Khorasan (ISIS-K) armed group, the ISIS affiliate in Afghanistan, claimed an attack on a military hospital that killed at least 25 people, including a senior Taliban commander. Officials said the attack was carried out by a suicide bomber, who detonated his vest at the entrance to the hospital before gunmen streamed in. The Taliban has been struggling to contain regular attacks from its ISIS-K rivals since taking control of Kabul in August.
More from the New York Times here.
Israel-Palestine
Four families in occupied East Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood today rejected an agreement that would have blocked any eviction or demolition attempts for 15 years, but that would have forced them to, at least temporarily, accept settlers’ claims on their homes and pay them rent. Sheikh Jarrah has become a flashpoint in the Israel-Palestine conflict and was the spark for Israel’s 11-day bombardment of Gaza in May.
More from the New Arab here.