Dakar Hosts 10th Peace Forum amid Rising Tensions across Africa
The Senegalese capital Dakar is hosting the 10th International Forum on Peace and Security in Africa on Monday and Tuesday – an anniversary edition taking place against a backdrop of major geopolitical shifts across the continent and competition over the continent’s resources. Thirteen years after its launch, the forum is being held in what organisers describe as a significantly altered security environment. The G5 Sahel has been dissolved, while the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) has been weakened by the withdrawal of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger. Meanwhile, jihadist groups are expanding towards coastal states in the Gulf of Guinea, including Benin, Togo and Ghana. Around 100 experts are gathering in Dakar for the two-day event. Discussions will focus on several key themes, including the governance of natural resources. Particular attention will be paid to rare earths and critical minerals. … Other topics on the forum’s agenda include political transitions, cybersecurity and the restructuring of regional security forces. RFI
Sudan’s Burhan Receives Defecting RSF Commander Qubba in Northern State
The Chairman of the Sovereignty Council, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, received dissident Rapid Support Forces (RSF) commander Major General Al-Nour Ahmed Adam, known as “Al-Qubba,” in Northern State on Sunday. The breakaway commander arrived in Dongola from the Kutum locality in North Darfur, marking one of the most significant defections from the paramilitary group since Abu Agla Keikel joined the army in October 2024. … A founding member of the RSF, the splinter general played a prominent role in the conflict that erupted in April 2023. He was a key commander in the battles for El Fasher alongside Ali Yaqoub, who was killed in action, and Gedo Ibn Shouk, a relative of the RSF leader. Military sources told Sudan Tribune that Qubba’s defection followed internal disputes after he was passed over for the military governorship of North Darfur in favour of Ibn Shouk following the fall of El Fasher in October 2025. … The general’s escape began on April 9 from the town of “Qubba” near Kutum, narrowly avoiding an RSF unit sent from El Fasher to arrest and deport him to Nyala on charges of rebellion. Sudan Tribune
Sudan: Rising Civilian Toll in South Kordofan as Fighting Intensifies, Drone Strike Kills Three at West Darfur Hospital
At least 100 civilians have been killed in Delling, South Kordofan, since February, including 35 in early April alone, as heavy fighting and aerial bombardment intensify, a protection group of international organisations and UN agencies has reported. More than 25 people have also been injured in recent weeks, with indiscriminate shelling and air strikes repeatedly hitting residential areas without warning. The violence has placed over 50,000 civilians at severe risk. Delling has become an active conflict zone despite remaining under Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) control. The city is effectively encircled and repeatedly attacked by paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and their allied force, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement North led by Abdelaziz El Hilu (SPLM-N). Around 37,000 residents and 14,000 displaced people are now trapped with limited access to food, healthcare, and aid. The security situation remains highly volatile, with frequent drone strikes, shelling, and ground attacks. Dabanga
Pope Visits Equatorial Guinea on Last Stop of Africa Tour
Pope Leo XIV left on Tuesday for the final leg of his African tour in Equatorial Guinea, where his increasingly vocal defences of human rights will be closely watched in one of the most closed-off states on the continent. After taking off from Angola in the morning following a three-day visit, the US-born pontiff is due around 1100 GMT in the Central African country, ruled since 1979 by Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, 83, the world’s longest-serving head of state who is not a monarch. Leo follows in the footsteps of John Paul II, who 40 years ago became the first pope to visit Equatorial Guinea, an oil-rich country of two million people, 80 percent of whom are Catholic, a legacy of Spanish colonisation. Throughout his African tour, the pope has criticised tyranny and exploitation while promoting peace and social, swapping his previously reserved style for a tougher tone. … The Equatorial Guinean authorities are regularly singled out by international NGOs for endemic corruption and repression of the opposition, marked by arbitrary detentions and curbs on public freedoms. AFP
Chad Will Deploy 1,500 Troops to Haiti to Help Combat Gang Violence
Chad will deploy 1,500 troops to Haiti as part of the United Nations security force to the Caribbean country to combat gang violence, according to a letter from the president to the legislature. In the letter read out to lawmakers of the Central African country on Monday, Chadian President Mahamat Déby Itno said two battalions of 750 troops each will be deployed from this month for one year, following a request by the United Nations. “A contingent of 400 men has already been sent to Haiti as part of this mission that honors Chad and its defense and security forces,” the president said. Last year, the U.N. Security Council approved the expansion of the Kenya-led multinational force in Haiti to 5,500 troops, called the Gang Suppression Force, and expanded its power to include arresting suspected gang members, which the previous force did not have. The previous mission, launched in 2023, was envisioned to include 2,500 personnel and was led by the Kenyan police, but it was handicapped by a lack of staff and funds. AP
Nigerian Air Force, Ghana Deepen Airpower Ties as AFIT Begins 2026 Joint Training
The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has intensified its mission-focused training strategy with the inauguration of the 2026 Sundry Military and Aviation Fuel Handling Courses at the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT), Kaduna, underscoring a renewed emphasis on operational readiness and inter-service collaboration. Speaking at the inauguration, the Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Sunday Kelvin Aneke—represented by the AFIT Commandant, Air Vice Marshal A.K. Ademuwagun—said the courses were deliberately structured to meet evolving operational demands. … The training programme features participation from personnel of the Nigerian Army, alongside international students from the Ghanaian Air Force, reflecting a strengthening culture of inter-service cooperation and regional military collaboration. The development further reinforces AFIT’s growing reputation as a centre of excellence in military and aviation training beyond Nigeria. PR Nigeria
Nigeria Air Force Airstrike Kills Militants in Sambisa Forest — Official
The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) says it has killed several [militants] in a precision air strike in the Yuwe axis of the Sambisa forest in Borno State. The strike, conducted on 19 April by the Air Component of Operation Hadin Kai, a joint task force in the North-east, followed credible intelligence supported by Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR), which confirmed the presence of [militants] hiding in “fortified structures and bunkers” within the area. According to a statement issued on Tuesday by NAF spokesperson Ehimen Ejodame, the air assets deployed precision-guided munitions to engage the targets, destroying the structures and neutralising multiple fighters. Key logistics facilities used by the group were also reportedly eliminated. Premium Times
Fears over Ethiopia Peace Deal as TPLF Restores Tigray Government
Tigray’s main political party has announced that it is taking back control of the region’s government, effectively ending a peace deal between Ethiopia’s federal government and the northern region. The Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) made the announcement in a Facebook post on Sunday, sparking fears of a resumption of the deadly conflict that raged between the government and regional forces between 2020 and 2022. The TPLF said its central committee “has decided to reinstate the Tigray Government Assembly (parliament), which had been suspended in the name of peace”. The statement accused the federal government of violating the 2022 Pretoria Agreement, which ended the war, and of provoking armed conflict within the Tigray region. It also accused the government of withholding funds to pay local civil servants. Getachew Reda, the party’s former spokesman and an adviser to Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, said the TPLF’s statement constituted “a clear repudiation” of the post-war structure created by the Pretoria Agreement. Al Jazeera/AFP/Reuters
UN Warns of Arms and Parallel Oil Flows in Libya
UN Secretary-General António Guterres has warned Libyan actors against continued violations of the arms embargo and the persistence of parallel oil networks, which are seen as destabilising, according to a report submitted to the Security Council. … The document highlights the country’s fragile political, economic and institutional stability, as UN-led mediation efforts continue in a context marked by persistent divisions. … The report also expresses particular concern over repeated violations of the arms embargo. Guterres noted that its effectiveness remains limited, allowing the continued flow of military equipment and strengthening non-state armed actors. Such dynamics, he warned, keep Libya in a state of instability with potential repercussions for regional and international security. … In this context, the Secretary-General called for a comprehensive audit of the assets of the Libyan Investment Authority to better assess their value and improve governance mechanisms—an essential step toward sustainable normalization. APA
Ugandan and Congolese Troops Free 200 Captives from ADF Militants
Ugandan and Congolese soldiers rescued at least 200 civilians in a raid on an Islamist militant camp in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo last week, Uganda’s military said on Monday. The captives had been held by the Allied Democratic Forces, a Ugandan group operating in eastern Congo. The ADF has killed thousands of civilians in eastern Congo since stepping up attacks in 2014, according to U.N. figures. Congo’s army has said the group was responsible for kidnapping large numbers of civilians and forcing young female captives into marriages with fighters. … Uganda sent troops to Congo in 2021 to help the Kinshasa government fight the ADF. The ADF took up arms against Ugandan authorities in the mid-1990s from bases in western Uganda but was routed in the early 2000s, forcing its members to flee across the border into Congo. Reuters
South Africa Police Chief Fannie Masemola in Court over Alleged $21 Million Unlawful Contract
South Africa’s top police officer, Fannie Masemola, has appeared in court in relation to a corruption scandal that has seen at least 12 other senior police officers arrested and charged by prosecutors. Masemola, who remains in his position as head of the police, faces four counts of violating the Public Finance Management Act, a law that regulates the government’s awarding of contracts, in relation to an allegedly corrupt 360 million-rand ($21 million) contract to provide health and well-being services to police officers. He made his first appearance on Tuesday to be formally charged after he was summoned to appear in court earlier this month. He is yet to plea to the charges, and could face up to five years in prison or a fine if found guilty. It is alleged that the contract was irregularly awarded and some of the police officers received bribes from the winning bidders. … The contract is the subject of a commission of inquiry appointed by President Cyril Ramaphosa last year to probe wide-ranging allegations of corruption within the police service. Lawmakers have also conducted a separate parliamentary probe into the allegations. AP
Zambia’s Copper Smelters Plan Extended Shutdowns, Squeezing Output and Chemical Supplies
Two of Zambia’s largest copper smelters and sulphuric acid producers will shut for extended maintenance later this year, two industry sources said, further squeezing copper output and supplies of the chemical used to process copper and cobalt. The Iran war has disrupted global supplies of the critical acid and other leaching chemicals, prompting mines in neighbouring Congo – the world’s top cobalt and second-largest copper producer – to cut usage or consider output cuts. Copper smelters in Zambia – Africa’s No.2 producer of the metal vital for clean energy technologies – generate about 2 million metric tons of sulphuric acid a year, mostly as a byproduct used by local mines, the mines ministry says, with excess exported to the Democratic Republic of Congo. The southern African country’s own sulphuric acid stocks are so depleted there is effectively no capacity to export, the Zambia head of Canada’s First Quantum Minerals told Reuters separately, as miners in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo also struggle with tightening chemical supplies. Reuters