Africa

Drones now leading cause of civilian deaths in Sudan

UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk issued a high alert on the widening use of drones in the conflict in Sudan. Türk warned that unless the international community takes action without delay, the conflict in Sudan could enter a new, even deadlier phase. The Sudan team at the Human Rights Office found that upwards of 80% of all civilian deaths from January to April—numbering at least 880—can be attributed to drone attacks. Türk warned: “This increasing reliance on drones allows hostilities to continue unabated in the approaching rainy season, which in the past has brought about a lull in ground operations. An intensification of hostilities in the coming weeks, as the parties seek to gain or consolidate control of territory amid shifting conflict dynamics, risks hostilities expanding even further to central and eastern states, with lethal consequences for civilians across enormous areas.” (AI-generated image of various drones used in Sudan, via Sudan Tribune)

Africa

Podcast: West Africa escalates toward genocide

Alarming reports that Nigeria has established “concentration camps” for the Fulani ethnic minority cast an ironic light on Nigeria’s tension with the Sahel states of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso to the north. These three regimes have broken from the Western imperial camp (to embrace the nascent Russian imperial camp)—but are likewise subjecting their Fulani minorities to persecution and massacre. With the recent shock rebel offensive in Mali, the “terrorist” stigma that attaches to the Fulani and Tuareg peoples across the imperial camps makes their position more precarious than ever. Meanwhile, prominent voices on the both the right and the (supposed) “left” are spreading propaganda about the struggle in West Africa that is alarmingly wrong, because it exclusively views the crisis through a campist lens. In Episode 327 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg tries to provide some clarity on these fast-escalating and grossly under-reported conflicts. (Photo: Az-Zallaqa via LWJ)

Africa

ICC orders reparations for Timbuktu war crime victims

The International Criminal Court (ICC) delivered an order on reparations for the victims of war crimes and crimes against humanity perpetrated by Al Hassan Ag Abdoul Aziz in Timbuktu between April 2012 and January 2013, when the Malian city was occupied by jihadist forces. Al Hassan was convicted by the ICC in 2024, and sentenced to 10 years imprisonment. He is to bear financial liability for €7,250,000 in reparations to impacted communities and individuals. (Photo: WikiMedia Commons)

Africa

Shock rebel offensive driven back in Mali

Russia’s Africa Corps launched air-strikes and helicopter assaults to drive back a dramatic rebel advance on Mali’s capital Bamako. Former rival insurgent groups, the jihadist Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) and the Tuareg separatist Front de Libération de l’Azawad (FLA), came together for the joint offensive against the ruling military government, with simultaneous attacks on Mopti, Gao and Kidal as well as the capital. Mali’s defense minister, Lt. Gen. Sadio Camara, the key liaison between the army and Russian mercenary forces, was killed in an apparent suicide truck bombing on his residence outside Bamako. (Map: PCL)

Africa

Forced mass evacuations in South Sudan

South Sudan’s military and opposition forces have blocked humanitarian access and unjustifiably ordered civilians to evacuate populated areas, Human Rights Watch found. The country’s military has issued multiple evacuation orders since late 2025, at least three of which have been “sweeping in nature.” Over the same period, opposition forces occupying areas of the country have also issued at least three such orders. As a result, hundreds of thousands of civilians have been forced to flee their homes. Following some evacuation orders, the government launched indiscriminate aerial bombings of the cleared areas. The government has additionally imposed “no-flight” zones that effectively limit humanitarian-worker access to opposition-held areas. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

Africa

Pope wins pause in Cameroon conflict

While Pope Leo XIV’s castigation of warmongers has so far failed to turn around the hawks in the current US administration, it has won Cameroonians a temporary reprieve from secessionist violence. To mark the pope’s visit, anglophone separatist groups said they would pause their fighting and allow the free movement of people. The pontiff may have stopped short of trying to mediate the nearly decade-long conflict in the majority French-speaking country, but he did urge President Paul Biya to root out corruption—and then lashed out at foreign exploitation of the continent. Leo also returned to his spiritual feud with the US administration. “Woe to those who manipulate religion and the very name of God for their own military, economic and political gain, dragging that which is sacred into darkness and filth,” he told a gathering at Saint Joseph Cathedral in the city of Bamenda, within the conflicted region. (Photo: Jesuit Historical Institute in Africa)

Africa

RSF border attacks bring Sudan’s war to Chad

Sudan’s paramilitary-turned-rebel Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have repeatedly attacked the Darfur border town of Tina, with more than 123 injured people arriving at a hospital supported by Médecins Sans Frontières near the Chad frontier. A drone strike—with responsibility still unclear—also killed 17 people on the Chadian side of the border. Tina has been hosting large numbers of displaced Darfuris fleeing RSF attacks elsewhere. (Map: PCL)

Africa

Belgian court orders trial in murder of Lumumba

A Belgian court ordered 93-year-old former diplomat Etienne Davignon to stand trial for his role in the 1961 assassination of the first elected prime minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Patrice Lumumba. Davignon, who was a junior diplomatic intern at the time of the assassination, is the first person to be prosecuted in the case. He is the last living suspect among 10 Belgian diplomats who allegedly assisted in the unlawful abduction and transfer of Lumumba that led to his death. The Belgian federal prosecutor’s office charged Davignon with “participation in war crimes.” (Photo: Harry Pot/ANEFO via Wikimedia Commons)

Planet Watch

WFP: mass food insecurity if Middle East conflict continues

The World Food Programme (WFP) warned that the escalating hostilities in the Middle East could lead to record levels of food insecurity, and the largest disruption in the global economy and humanitarian efforts since the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to the heavy reliance of food and aid distribution on energy, the skyrocketing price of oil has placed heightened strain on already over-stretched aid supply lines. WFP chief operating officer Carl Skau said: “If this conflict continues, it will send shockwaves across the globe, and families who already cannot afford their next meal will be hit the hardest.” Skau urged the international community to mount an adequately funded humanitarian response. Sudan and Somalia were named as particularly vulnerable. (Photo: Alex Blokha via Wikimedia Commons)

Africa

Nigeria: ISIS franchise steps up insurgency

At least 65 soldiers—including three senior officers—have been killed in jihadist raids on military garrisons in Nigeria’s northeast this month. Five bases were overrun by the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP)—four of them in a single night, showing a notable level of coordination. Military equipment was also torched or captured, including armored vehicles. ISWAP’s “Burn the Camps” offensive began last year, and is accelerating against an overstretched military. (Photo via TNH)

Africa

Mali: al-Qaeda franchise in new ‘war crime’

Human Rights Watch confirmed that an al-Qaeda-linked armed group summarily executed 10 long-haul truck drivers and two teenage apprentices in late January in southwestern Mali as part of the group’s attack on a fuel convoy and deemed the acts “apparent war crimes.” Mali’s truck driver union staged a nationwide strike in response to the attack, demanding recovery of victims’ bodies to ensure their families can have proper burials. The group responsible for the attack was Jama’a Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin (JNIM), which describes itself as the official branch of al-Qaeda in Mali. (Map: PCL)

Africa

Ethiopia accused of backing Sudan’s RSF

Sudan has accused Ethiopia of allowing drones to be launched from its territory to carry out attacks against Sudanese government forces. This marks the first time Sudan has directly accused its neighbor of involvement in the three-year civil war against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). In a statement, Sudan’s Foreign Ministry warned of unspecified consequences. The drone accusation follows reports of the construction of an RSF training base in northwest Ethiopia, paid for by the United Arab Emirates. (Map: PCL)