The Weekly Edition

August 23, 2026 to August 29, 2026

Armed conflicts and attacks

Middle Eastern crisis

2026 Iran war

2026 Strait of Hormuz crisis

Iran claims to have blacklisted 45 tankers in the Strait of Hormuz that breached its rules for crossing the waterway, with the Persian Gulf Strait Authority threatening fines, detainments, and confiscations against the named vessels. (Reuters)

The Iran parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission approves a draft allowing Iran to charge ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz. (Middle East Eye)

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations reports that an oil tanker has been struck by a unknown projectile off the coast of Oman near the strait. No casualties are reported. (AFP via Arab News) (Gulf News)

2026 Iran–Oman negotiations

Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi and Omani foreign minister Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi say that Iran and Oman have discussed a proposal to establish a temporary joint shipping route for ships in the Strait of Hormuz. (CNBC)

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps say Iran and Oman have agreed to share revenues from the Strait of Hormuz and define their respective maritime areas, while negotiations continue over reopening the waterway amid the war. (AFP via The Borneo Post)

Iranian deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi says that Iran will not allow military vessels to transit through the strait under the proposed agreement. (AP) (Military.com)

2026 Strait of Hormuz campaign

United States president Donald Trump and the United States Navy say that all mines have been cleared from the Strait of Hormuz. (Al-Monitor)

Gaza war

The Israel Defense Forces and Shin Bet say that they have struck five Hamas weapons storage systems and a launch site in Gaza, including in mosques. (Ynetnews)

The Israel Defense Forces says that they have killed several Hamas members in airstrikes in the Gaza Strip city of Jabalia, including on a structure allegedly used as a storage facility for weapons. (The Jerusalem Post)

Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip

Two Israeli airstrikes kill two people, including a four-year-old boy, in the Gaza Strip in violation of the October 2025 ceasefire. (Reuters)

Aftermath of the Syrian civil war

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces announce they have officially dissolved and completed a merger with the Syrian army following the end of the civil war in 2024. (AP)

Somali Civil War

The Turkish Armed Forces carries out an airstrike in Garmaal, Puntland, killing at least four people, in response to the previous hijacking of a Cameroon-flagged vessel by Somali pirates, which was transporting military equipment to the Camp TURKSOM in Mogadishu. The authorities of Puntland identified the victims as civilian fishermen. (Somali Guardian)

Controversies of Hassan Sheikh Mohamud

At least ten people are killed and several others injured in clashes between federal forces and residents protesting a controversial demolition and forced eviction in Yaaqshid neighbourhood of Mogadishu. (FTL Somalia) (Garowe Online) (Shabelle Media)

Kivu conflict

M23 campaign

The Democratic Republic of the Congo and the M23 rebel group agree on a roadmap for further peace negotiations under the Doha Framework Agreement after talks in Switzerland. (AFP via The Hindu)

Four people are killed after an unconfirmed civilian or military airplane is shot down with a surface-to-air missile near Minembwe, Democratic Republic of the Congo. (Noveau Media)

Sudanese civil war

Sudan's defence ministry says that the country's armed forces (SAF) have shot down a "hostile" drone from Ethiopia entering its airspace, which was seen flying over the Blue Nile region. (Saudi Gazette) (Sudan Horizon)

The SAF-allied Joint Forces says that they have destroyed a Rapid Support Forces convoy in the northern desert bordering Libya, along with capturing several vehicles and drone equipment. (Sudan Tribune)

Darfur campaign

Drone strikes by the Sudanese Armed Forces hits several Rapid Support Forces Paramilitary targets in Nyala, South Darfur, Sudan, hours after a cargo aircraft landed in the area. (Sudan Tribune)

Kordofan campaign

Around 27 people, including four children, are reported to be killed by Sudan People's Liberation Movement–North (SPLM-N) militants in the South Kordofan areas of Kadugli and Abu Hitan. (Middle East Monitor)

Emergency Lawyers, an independent group documenting atrocities in Sudan, reports that eight civilians have been killed in drone strikes in the Sowdari District of North Kordofan. (AP) (Asharq Al Awsat)

War crimes in the Sudanese civil war

Sudan’s Ministry of Human Resources and Social Welfare reports that 224 cases of child sexual violence have been documented since the conflict. (Sudan Tribune)

Blue Nile campaign

Sudan's Rapid Support Forces says that they have seized the Bakori and Surkum Sudanese Army bases in the southeastern Blue Nile region alongside Sudan People's Liberation Movement–North. (Sudan Tribune)

Haitian crisis

At least 47 people are killed and over 50 others are kidnapped by armed gangs in Kenscoff, Ouest department, Haiti, in one of the largest mass kidnappings in the conflict. (AP)

Mali War

The Tuareg-led Azawad Liberation Front releases 22 Malian soldiers, some held for more than three years, in exchange for at least eight of its fighters and several civilian detainees. (AFP via Macau Business)

Mexican drug war

Iván Manjarrez, a La Línea ringleader accused of controlling illegal logging in the Chihuahua Mountains, is killed during a security operation in Bocoyna Municipality, Chihuahua, Mexico. (El Heraldo de Chihuahua in Spanish)

NORAD and the U.S. Northern Command say that the U.S. military used a laser weapon against three drones belonging to Mexican drug cartels. (Military Times)

Operation Southern Spear

United States strikes on alleged drug traffickers during Operation Southern Spear

The United States Southern Command's Joint Task Force Western Hemisphere launches a strike on a vessel in the eastern Pacific Ocean on alleged drug traffickers, killing two people. (CNN) (PBS)

The U.S. military launches a strike against a vessel in the Caribbean Sea allegedly carrying drug smugglers, killing four people. (The Guardian)

Russo-Ukrainian war

Military aid to Ukraine during the Russo-Ukrainian war, Ukraine–United Kingdom relations

British prime minister Andy Burnham, during a visit to Kyiv, confirms that he has approved supplying Ukraine with the classified blueprints to produce Storm Shadow cruise missiles despite Russian threats against such a move, which will give Ukrainian forces the ability to strike key targets deep inside Russian territory. (BBC News) (The Japan Times)

Kharkiv strikes

A Russian missile strike on the outskirts of Kharkiv kills three people and leaves eight others wounded. (TRT World)

Attacks in Russia during the Russo-Ukrainian war

An overnight Ukrainian drone attack "completely destroys" a Wildberries depot in Tambov Oblast, Russia. (Reuters)

A man and a 14-year-old child are killed in Lipetsk Oblast, and a woman is killed in Belgorod Oblast, in Ukrainian drone strikes. The Russian defence ministry says its forces have shot down 426 Ukrainian drones overnight. (Al Jazeera)

Luhansk Oblast campaign

Nine people are killed after a Ukrainian strike on a bus in Russian-occupied Luhansk. (Reuters)

Kyiv strikes

A Russian drone strike hits a supply depot in Bucha, Kyiv Oblast, Ukraine, triggering explosions and a fire, killing at least 37 people and forcing the evacuation of almost 400 residents. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy says explosives stored near homes worsened the disaster. (BBC News) (CNN)

South Sudanese Civil War

Jonglei clashes

Two peacekeepers from Ethiopia of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan are killed in an ambush by unknown gunmen in Jonglei State, South Sudan. Three more peacekeepers, two policemen and two civilians are also wounded. (RFI in French)

Central African Republic Civil War

Cambodia deploys 184 peacekeepers, including 28 women, to the Central African Republic as part of a peacekeeping mission by the United Nations. (Khmer Times) (Xinhua)

Middle Eastern crisis

Gaza–Israel conflict

It is reported that Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu held secret meetings with Hamas during the 2014 Gaza War. The Prime Minister's Office denies the reports. (The Times of Israel) (Ynetnews)

Gaza war

The IDF also confirms that they have recently killed two Hamas militants that invaded the Re'im Base in Re'im during the October 7 attacks in separate strikes in the Gaza Strip, including a body guard to former leader Yahya Sinwar and a Nukhba forces militant. (The Times of Israel)

Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip

Three Palestinians are reported to be killed in strikes in the Gaza Strip, violating the October 2025 ceasefire. (Al Jazeera) (Reuters)

2026 Iran war

2026 Strait of Hormuz crisis

Iran's Supreme National Security Council secretary Mohsen Rezaei says that Iran is preparing a set of conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz after mediators called for them to do so. (Reuters)

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations reports that a tanker in the Strait of Hormuz was hit by an "unknown projectile", causing a fire that was later extinguished. (Marine Insight)

Sudanese Civil Wars

Sudanese civil war

Around 12 people are reported killed in a airstrike near the border with Chad. (Al Jazeera)

Blue Nile campaign

Sudan's army repels a Rapid Support Forces attack on the town of Al-Keli in the Blue Nile region. (Sudan Tribune)

Battle of Khartoum

Sudan's Security Affairs Coordination Committee lifts the curfew and state of emergency on the capital Khartoum after two years. (Middle East Monitor) (BBC)

Sudanese nomadic conflicts

Around 49 people are killed in a cattle raid on the Machar-Pakuek cattle camp in Mading Juer Boma in Tonj North County of South Sudan's Warrap state. (MENA via The New Arab)

Gaza war

Israeli incursions in the West Bank during the Gaza war

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says that they have killed three Palestinian militants, including Islamic Jihad (PIJ) senior member Qais Bitawi, in a drone strike in the Israel-occupied West Bank city of Jenin. The PIJ later confirms Bitawi's death. (Reuters) (The Times of Israel)