Tag: Africa

Africa

Ethiopia: drone strikes on Addis Ababa

EthiopiaIf Ethiopia's federal government thought Addis Ababa was insulated from the conflict in its restive Tigray and Amhara regions, drone strikes have forced a reappraisal. Blasts targeted the military's headquarters in the west of the city, and another military camp in the south. The seven-member opposition "Alliance for Survival" claimed responsibility. Meanwhile, as fighting worsens, the federal army and pro-government militia are said to be advancing toward northern Tigray's main city of Mekelle. (Map: Political Geography Now)

Africa

Malian forces, Wagner Group accused of war crimes

WagnerAmnesty International condemned the Malian Armed Forces (FAMa) and its partners from the Russian private military company Wagner Group for perpetration of war crimes, including the murder and torture of civilians. Summary executions and massacres appear to have targeted ethnic Fulani men, in what is described as a campaign of ethnic cleansing. A landmark human rights case has been filed before the African Court on Human & Peoples' Rights (ACtHPR) by TRIAL International, the Pan African Lawyers Union (PALU) and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) against FAMa and Wagner for their role in repeated atrocities and massacres, most famously that at Moura in March 2022. (Photo via Lansing Indstitute)

Africa

Somaliland offers Trump a deal on recognition

SomalilandBreakaway Somaliland is pulling out the stops to win US recognition, offering access to its strategic Berbera port, mineral deals, and even a Trump Tower. Recognition may not immediately be in the cards, but Berbera is particularly significant at the moment. It sits close to the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, the global shipping lane that Yemen's Houthis can potentially close at will. Somaliland is juicing its proposal with the prospect of a base for US forces (there have already been US military visits), and potentially for Israel—the only country to recognize its independence. The conservative Hudson Institute, among other voices in the US political establishment, is pushing Somaliland's case as a "bulwark" against the Houthis—and even Chinese influence. (Map: Somalia Country Profile)

Africa

ICC convicts CAR warlord of crimes against humanity

Central African RepublicThe Trial Chamber VI of the International Criminal Court (ICC) found Mahamat Said Abdel Kani guilty of crimes against humanity committed in the Central African Republic (CAR) in 2013. Abdel Kani, a former commander of the Séléka militia coalition, was accused of orchestrating widespread attacks against civilians during the conflict in the country—and particularly abuse of detainees at the Office Central de Répression du Banditisme (OCRB), a detention center in the capital, Bangui. He faced charges including imprisonment, torture, prosecution, and other inhumane treatment directed at individuals perceived as supporters of former President François Bozizé. (Map via Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection)

Africa

UN Mission: foreign support fuels Sudan war

SudanThe UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Sudan released a new report detailing how external support networks fuel the conflict and escalate civilian harm in the country. The Mission found that foreign-sourced weapons and personnel have significantly expanded the military capabilities of both the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), intensifying the conflict's scale and lethality. Although the UN Security Council has long imposed an arms embargo on Sudan, the Mission believes the RSF sources artillery, air-defense systems, drones, and other military equipment from individuals and entities in the United Arab Emirates, Chad, Libya and Somalia. The report stated that arms suppliers who violate the embargo contribute to crimes under international law. (Map: PCL)

Africa

Ethiopia: Tigray fighting flares again

EthiopiaClashes between the Ethiopian army and Tigrayan forces have led to hundreds of civilians crossing into neighboring Sudan, marking another serious threat to a 2022 peace agreement. Heavy artillery and drones were used during the fighting, which was concentrated in contested western Tigray. Both sides have been amassing troops in recent months and there has been a significant recruitment drive in Tigray, where regional authorities have forcibly conscripted civilians, including children, according to Human Rights Watch. Close to a million Tigrayans have been unable to return to their homes despite the peace deal, and have struggled to recover from the ethnic cleansing and siege campaign carried out by the Ethiopian army and its allies during the 2020-2022 conflict. A return to war would likely involve Eritrea, and could pull in Sudan, merging two of the deadliest conflicts in recent history. (Map: Political Geography Now)

Africa

Shell documents reveal ‘negligence’ in Nigeria oil spills

Niger DeltaAmnesty International called on Shell PLC to answer for decades of pollution in the Niger Delta following release of a report detailing how oil pollution has damaged water, farmland, fisheries, health and livelihoods, while the company continued to profit and deny responsibility. The report, titled "Lifting the Lid: Internal documents expose Shell’s negligent oil operations," examines company records that appear to confirm the long-standing complaints of residents of the Niger Delta. Amnesty reports that the documents also loan weight to concerns raised by the Nigerian army over neglectful conduct and "complicity" in oil theft that has led to spills. Amnesty is the first group to report on these disclosed documents following legal proceedings in the UK last summer. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

Africa

South Sudan in border clashes with Ugandan forces

South SudanMore than 10,000 civilians are reported displaced in South Sudan’s Central Equatoria state following clashes between government troops and Ugandan forces. The fighting marks a sharp escalation in a long-running border dispute. Talks are underway at the scene to try to resolve the conflict over the contested area in Kajo-Keji county, along the frontier with Uganda's West Nile region. (Map via PCL)

Africa

Russian mercenaries run opioid empire in CAR

Central African RepublicRemnants of the Russian mercenary group Wagner apparently not integrated into Moscow's new Africa Corps have gone rogue in the Central African Republic, financing their operations through narco-trafficking. According to a Wall Street Journal report, the mercenaries are running an opioid empire, supplying tramadol to the national army, local militias, its own forces, and workers in gold mines the group operates. A painkiller in normal doses, tramadol acts as a stimulant in higher doses that can reduce fear, exhaustion and hunger in users. Proceeds from tramadol distribution, including exports, have helped the Wagner remnants in CAR maintain independence from Moscow. (Map via Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection)

Africa

Nigerian jihadists turn to AI

ISWAPThe technical prowess of jihadi groups in West Africa is well documented—from the use of surveillance and attack drones to Elon Musk's Starlink and cryptocurrencies. The adoption of generative AI, then, should come as no surprise. New research details how the jihadist movement in Nigeria has become adept at using AI operationally in attack planning, weapons calibration, and the design of explosives. Initial training was delivered through transnational jihadist networks, but Nigerian groups now have dedicated AI teams staffed by trusted personnel drawn from senior operational and technical roles, including bomb-makers, gun specialists, and engineers. "Trial and error can kill you. AI gives you accuracy," a recently demobilized ex-combatant explained to researchers at the Cambridge Programme on AI Science & Policy (CASP). (Photo via TNH) 

Africa

US blocks funding for AU mission in Somalia

AUSSOMThe blocking by the US of UN funding to African Union (AU) forces in Somalia starting next year is a body blow to a mission that has long been on financial life-support. The UN Support Office in Somalia (UNSOS) provides the logistical backing critical to the functioning of the AU mission. Without that underpinning, it's hard to see how the AU's 11,800-strong force can continue. That became evident when Washington vetoed the application to Somalia of UN Resolution 2719 on peacekeeping cost-sharing. The AU's near two-decade mission has done significant work. Despite heavy casualties, it succeeded in ousting al-Shabab from Mogadishu—a daunting task the UN and the rest of the international system was unwilling to take on—and continued to protect Somalia's fractious political elite from the jihadist insurgency. But the inability of Somalia to grow and deploy its own security forces to consolidate territorial gains secured by the AU resulted in deadly mission creep and effectively tore up any putative exit plan. Instead, the AU has soldiered on in the absence of a workable political strategy, and with ever-shrinking sources of financing. (Photo: AUSSOM)

Africa

UN investigation finds genocide in Sudan

SudanThe UN fact-finding mission for Sudan has produced a follow-up to its February investigation into atrocities by the Rapid Defense Forces (RSF) in El Fasher, finding at least three of the "material crimes" of genocide "overwhelmingly present." After a prolonged siege, the UAE-backed paramilitary army launched an October 2025 assault on El Fasher, which was the last major Darfur city where the Sudanese army and allied forces were in control. Since the February publication, the mission said it has received new information, especially on the abduction and mass rape of women and girls. It says survivors were raped by RSF forces in the presence of corpses, including of family members, and were targeted along ethnic lines. The mission also received new information on the high number of people—up to tens of thousands—who remain missing or unaccounted for. With the RSF planning a new assault on the North Kordofan capital, El Obeid, the mission said the same patterns are repeating, and called for the lessons of El Fasher not to be ignored. (Map: PCL)