Drone Strike Kills 16 at Ethiopian Displacement Camp as Congo Asks Russia for Help on Rwanda

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A drone struck a camp for displaced people in northern Ethiopia on October 29, killing at least 16 civilians and injuring 22, Anadolu reported, citing local media and conflict monitors. The camp, Hayiq Jari 2 Turk near the town of Hayiq about 430 kilometers northeast of Addis Ababa, holds more than 1,800 people, many of whom fled violence in Oromia, Anadolu reported. A witness told Addis Standard the drone hit the camp “five times, at least, at intervals of 15 minutes.”

Key figures: 16 civilians killed in the hayiq camp strike · 119,782 displaced in sudan’s blue nile state · 37 miners who died in nigerian custody

Why it matters: the strike shows how the fighting in Ethiopia’s Amhara region keeps reaching people who have already fled once, and it came on a day when conflicts across Africa, from eastern Congo to Sudan’s Blue Nile state, drew new appeals to world powers and new warnings from aid agencies.

No one claims the Amhara strike

No party has claimed the attack. Federal forces and Fano militias have fought in Amhara since 2023, and drone strikes have been part of the military’s operations there, Anadolu noted. No investigation or finding had been announced by October 30.

Congo turns to Moscow

At the Russia-Africa summit in Moscow, Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi asked Russia to “support the implementation of Security Council resolutions as well as mediation efforts,” his office said, Anadolu reported. “Our choice is that of a lasting peace,” he said. Resolution 2773, adopted in February 2025, condemns Rwanda’s alleged support for the M23 rebels and calls for Rwandan troops to leave Congo.

His appeal came a day after the United States sanctioned Rwanda’s Defence Ministry and the Zigama Credit and Savings Society. “Rwanda must halt its support for M23 and withdraw its troops from eastern DRC,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said, according to the Treasury Department. Our earlier report on the US sanctions on Rwanda’s Defence Ministry explains the measures.

Sudan’s Blue Nile empties out

In Sudan, the International Organization for Migration said 119,782 people from 23,598 families were displaced across Blue Nile state between January 11 and October 15, up 21 percent from its August count, Anadolu reported. Fighting in the state has escalated after attacks by the Rapid Support Forces and their ally, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North. Separately, senior RSF commander Siddiq Ander said he had defected, in a video obtained by Al Jazeera.

Diplomacy at the G20

The continent’s place at the G20 also became an issue. China said it supports South Africa’s continued part in G20 events after reports that South Africa was left out of the foreign ministers’ meeting in Atlanta. “China supports South Africa in continuing its participation in G20-related activities,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said, Anadolu reported. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is hosting that meeting on October 30 and 31, with freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea near the top of the US agenda, Naharnet reported; today’s trade war story covers the shipping debate.

Deaths in custody in Nigeria

In Nigeria, a presidential panel found that overcrowding, extreme heat, dehydration and neglect caused the deaths of 37 artisanal miners held by the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps in Minna in September, Anadolu reported. The panel recommended 1.4 billion naira, about $1 million, in compensation, and families said on October 30 that money could not make up for their loss.

A Boston trial, decades after Rwanda’s genocide

The 1994 genocide in Rwanda also reached a US courtroom. A federal jury convicted Eric Tabaro Nshimiye, 54, on four counts of perjury and one of obstruction for lying about his role in the genocide during a 2019 trial in Boston, the Justice Department said. He is due to be sentenced on January 26, 2027.

By the numbers

The IOM figures mean each displaced family in Blue Nile averages about five people (119,782 people in 23,598 families), a TBR calculation. The Nigerian compensation works out to roughly 37.8 million naira per miner if shared equally among the 37 families, also a TBR calculation; the panel did not say how it would be divided.

What comes next

Watch for any claim or investigation into the Hayiq camp strike, whether Russia answers Tshisekedi’s appeal at the UN, new displacement figures from Blue Nile, and whether South Africa takes part in the next G20 events. Today’s Iran war story has more on the G20 meeting in Atlanta.

Sources

• Anadolu Agency: At least 16 civilians killed in drone attack on displacement camp in Ethiopia
• Anadolu Agency: DR Congo urges Russia to back UN demand for Rwanda to withdraw troops
• U.S. Department of the Treasury: Treasury Sanctions Rwandan Ministry of Defence and Financial Institution Supporting M23
• Anadolu Agency: Nearly 120,000 displaced in Sudan's Blue Nile state since January: UN agency
• Al Jazeera: Sudan RSF commander defects from Hemedti's forces
• Anadolu Agency: China backs South Africa to attend G20 meetings as US set to host top diplomats
• Naharnet: Rubio hosts G20 ministers as Iran, Ukraine wars divide members
• Anadolu Agency: 'Money won't bring them back': Families of 37 miners who died in Nigerian custody demand justice
• US Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs: Ohio Man Convicted for Lying About His Involvement in the Rwandan Genocide