Sudan: African Union Envoys Hold First Post-coup Talks in Sudan
An African Union delegation met with top Sudanese officials in Khartoum on Sunday to discuss efforts to end the country’s ongoing conflict, marking the bloc’s first visit since the military seized power in an October 2021 coup. Sudan’s membership in the 55-member continental body was suspended following the 2021 military takeover. The delegation from the AU Peace and Security Council held talks with Sovereign Council leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and Prime Minister Kamil Idris. Mohamed Khaled, the council’s rotating president for this month, said the body respects Sudan’s sovereignty and unity, while expressing concern over the war’s mounting casualties, infrastructure damage, and humanitarian toll. Khaled urged inclusive political dialogue and national reconciliation to pave the way toward free and fair elections, rejecting any external interference or the creation of parallel authorities. The AU is part of a five-member diplomatic mechanism, alongside the United Nations, European Union, the regional grouping IGAD, and the Arab League, aimed at resolving disagreements among Sudanese factions over the format and venue of proposed peace talks. Sudan Tribune
Eighteen Civilians Killed, 300 Families Flee to El Obeid after RSF Attack, Officials Say
At least 18 civilians were killed and 17 wounded on Friday when the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces attacked the town of Um Arada in Sudan’s North Kordofan state, local authorities and officials said. The attack, which targeted the town roughly 25 kilometres (15 miles) southwest of the state capital of El Obeid, forced more than 300 families to flee on foot in the latest surge of displacement, North Kordofan Humanitarian Aid Commissioner Mohamed Ismail told Sudan Tribune. Ismail said the state’s Humanitarian Aid Commission is coordinating logistics to transfer displaced families seeking shelter to established camps. El Obeid hosts approximately 1.3 million displaced people, including about 105,000 distributed across eight designated displacement sites. Massarra Al-Imam, head of development at the North Kordofan Ministry of Health, said the assault on Um Arada and two adjacent villages triggered acute humanitarian distress as residents fled over long distances without transport. … Women displaced from Um Arada said RSF fighters raided the town in the early hours of Friday morning, holding the area for several hours before the Sudanese Armed Forces regained control. Sudan Tribune
Zambia Says It Arrested Opposition Figures on Night of Elections
Zambian police arrested several leading opposition figures on the night of national elections last week, accusing them of posing a threat to state security, the government said. Votes were still being counted on Monday from Thursday’s presidential and parliamentary elections, with partial results showing President Hakainde Hichilema in the lead. The election is widely seen as a test of whether Hichilema’s economic gains since a pandemic-era debt crisis are enough to win him a second term in the major copper producer. His main rival, opposition leader Brian Mundubile, said heavily armed personnel had raided his residence after the election in what he described as an attack on his life. The government said in a statement released late on Sunday that Mundubile had been at the scene when 11 people were apprehended, and that shots had been fired from the premises at law enforcement agents, resulting in an exchange of fire. … The government named six people who it said were in custody, including a spokesperson for Mundubile. The others arrested were “senior members of certain political parties in Zambia,” the statement said. Opposition representatives had been calling for the safe return of some members of Mundubile’s inner circle who they said had been detained or had disappeared. Opposition parties and civil society groups accused the government of growing repression in the lead-up to the election, including placing restrictions on their meetings and campaign activities. The government has denied the accusations. Reuters
West African CIMICO Centre Cell Launched to Strengthen Civil-Military Cooperation Against Terrorism
A new regional platform, the West African Civil-Military Cooperation (CIMICO) Centre Cell, has been launched to strengthen civil-military cooperation and enhance the civilian dimension of the ECOWAS Standby Force (ESF) in addressing terrorism and emerging security threats across West Africa. The launch took place on Wednesday at the ECOWAS Secretariat in Abuja during a Country-Level Engagement on Regional Security, organised by the Centre for Civil-Military Cooperation (CIMICO) in collaboration with the ECOWAS Commission. … The engagement concluded with the adoption of a seven-point communiqué affirming the civilian dimension of the ESF as a strategic pillar of regional counterterrorism. The resolutions endorsed the establishment of the West African CIMICO Centre Cell and called for the sustained replication of country-level engagements across ECOWAS Member States. They also advocated stronger mechanisms for civic engagement, community-based early warning systems, community stabilisation and strategic communication, as well as enhanced civilian capacity through training, research, knowledge exchange and partnerships. PR Nigeria
Nigeria: Army Adjusts Security Architecture in Sokoto after Kebbe Attack
The Nigerian Army has adjusted its security architecture around Kebbe Local Government Area of Sokoto State following Friday’s attack and intelligence that the terrorists involved remained close to the area. The measure followed an operational assessment visit on Sunday by the General Officer Commanding (GOC) 8 Division, Major General Bemgha Koughna, to the Forward Operating Base in Kebbe and surrounding communities. … The Army said Mr Koughna subsequently readjusted the security architecture to prevent further terrorist infiltration and strengthen protection around vulnerable communities along the Sokoto-Kebbi axis. During the visit, the GOC met community leaders and residents to assess the security situation and hear their concerns. The army said Mr Koughna assured residents that troops remained deployed and on alert to protect lives and property. He urged residents to remain calm and continue their lawful activities while cooperating with security personnel. The GOC also appealed to residents to promptly provide credible, actionable information about suspicious activity, saying that community intelligence remained important in detecting and disrupting terrorist activities. The military response followed Friday’s attack on Kebbe town by suspected Lakurawa fighters. PREMIUM TIMES had reported that the Sokoto State Police Command confirmed the attack and said reinforcements were deployed to the area. Premium Times
Somali Troops Push Militiamen Out of Baidoa after Fierce Fighting
Somali federal troops drove opposition forces out of one of the country’s biggest cities, Baidoa, on Monday, following heavy clashes that left many people dead, residents told Reuters. Baidoa, which is home to hundreds of thousands of people displaced by conflict and hunger in other areas, was shaken by hours of fighting between the federal soldiers and opposition forces loyal to the former president of South West state, Abdiaziz Hassan Mohamed Laftagareen. Residents said the clashes in the city centre on Monday were the fiercest since March, when federal forces seized control of Baidoa after Laftagareen’s administration said it was severing ties with the federal government. Laftagareen then resigned from office. Already struggling to contain a two-decade-old insurgency by the al Shabaab militant group and stave off famine, the federal government has been facing growing armed resistance from state governments. State authorities have rejected Mogadishu’s influence over state elections and rejected constitutional changes they say concentrate power in the hands of the executive. Somalia’s defence ministry said in a statement that troops in Baidoa had come under attack before dawn by fighters using vehicles laden with explosives. It said its forces had driven the assailants out of Baidoa, killing about 30 of them. Reuters
A $50 Million Hostage Ransom Funded Militant Islamist Group Offensive in Mali, UN Says
An estimated $50 million ransom paid to free a hostage seized militants in Mali in late 2025 has helped to fund their advances across West Africa and the group’s global network, U.N. experts said. A new U.N. report detailing the use of the ransom did not identify the hostage or say who had made the payment. Three regional sources identified the country having made the payment as the United Arab Emirates. The sources said that an Emirati citizen, as well as two other foreigners who had been kidnapped but were not referenced in the U.N. report, were freed after money changed hands. They did not explain how it had been done. … Most of the money went to fighters operating in the Sahel region, but some also flowed to al Qaeda in Yemen and the organisation’s core leadership, which is likely to be in Iran or Afghanistan, the U.N. report said. … The U.N. report, written by a team that monitors al Qaeda and Islamic State on behalf of the U.N. Security Council, was presented to the U.N. sanctions committee behind closed doors last week, a source with direct knowledge told Reuters. … The U.N. report said that most of the “approximately USD50 million ransom received in 2025 for the release of a hostage” was redistributed among katibas – a term used to describe groups operating across the Sahel region that are part of a coalition of militants known as Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM). … By enabling the militants to pay for the arms, logistics and fighters needed to extend their insurgency across the desert region, the ransom gives them significant influence there, as well as within the global al Qaeda network, experts on the conflict said. Reuters
Burkina Faso Imposes Military Training on Journalists
More than 40 journalists in Burkina Faso have taken part in a military-style “patriotism” training course imposed by the authoritarian ruling junta. Burkina Faso, like several of its neighbours, has for more than a decade been hit by deadly violence by jihadists. Under captain Ibrahim Traore who seized power in a 2022 coup, the military-led authorities now require public and private media outlets to participate in the annual “patriotic immersion”. “This initiative is a new, very worrying signal for press freedom,” Sadibou Marong, sub-Saharan Africa bureau director at media watchdog Reporters Without Borders told AFP on Friday. “Journalists are not soldiers and must not be turned into mouthpieces for the war effort, dressed in military uniforms and with weapons in their hands,” he added. … Traore has pushed an agenda of domestically driven and anti-Western policies with the proclaimed aim of reclaiming national sovereignty. Numerous media outlets have been suspended. According to rights groups, dozens of journalists critical of the junta have been forcibly conscripted and sent to the frontline. … In a video shared on social media by RTB public television, Communication Minister Pingdwende Gilbert Ouedraogo addressed dozens of journalists dressed in military fatigues and holding rifles. “Are you going to be patriotic and professional journalists?” Ouedraogo asked them. “Affirmative,” they replied in unison, standing together at attention. Africanews
China and Egypt Launch Second Joint Air Force Exercise
China and Egypt are set to strengthen military cooperation with a new round of joint air force exercises scheduled to take place in Egypt from mid-August through early September. The exercise, known as “Eagles of Civilization 2026,” marks the second edition of the bilateral training program following the inaugural drills held last year. According to China’s Ministry of National Defense, the exercise will include air combat tactics, air superiority operations, combat search and rescue, and joint force deployment drills designed to improve operational coordination between the two militaries. … The exercises reflect growing defense ties between Beijing and Cairo as both countries expand military cooperation through joint training and strategic exchanges. Africanews
Moroccan Security Forces Arrest Nearly 300 Migrants Trying to Reach Spain’s Ceuta
Hundreds of migrants trying to reach the Spanish exclave of Ceuta by land and sea were arrested by Moroccan security forces, Moroccan state television reported Sunday, as authorities tightened security along the border following calls for a new mass crossing. Moroccan state broadcaster Medi 1 TV said 294 migrants from sub-Saharan Africa were arrested Saturday while attempting to enter Ceuta. Authorities also arrested 61 Moroccans accused of facilitating the migration attempts, the broadcaster reported. The attempted crossings followed a surge in social media posts calling on migrants to make their way to Ceuta, a Spanish city on Morocco’s northern coast. In response, Moroccan and Spanish authorities beefed up security presence and limited movement toward the area. The latest attempt comes two weeks after tens of thousands of would-be migrants, driven by poverty and misinformation, rushed toward Ceuta in one of the deadliest migration crises to hit the region. At least 90 people died on both sides of the border, according to official numbers, while human rights groups reported higher figures. A senior Moroccan diplomat previously said that more than 20,000 Moroccan security personnel are deployed along the border with Ceuta each day, at a cost of hundreds of millions of dollars. AP
Ebola Outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo Becomes Deadliest in Country’s History
The Ebola outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo has killed 2,325 people, government data showed on Sunday, surpassing the toll from the 2018-2020 outbreak to become the deadliest in the country’s history. Congo’s public health institute said in its latest report that confirmed cases had risen to 4,945, including 101 new cases detected in the previous 24 hours. The outbreak, Congo’s 17th, was already the biggest in the country’s history in terms of number of cases – a milestone reached in late July. The latest government data shows that the total number of deaths has surpassed the 2,299 deaths recorded in Congo’s 2018-2020 outbreak, which was previously the country’s worst on record. There are now 4,945 confirmed cases, the data showed. Three months after it was formally announced, the outbreak is now dwarfed only by West Africa’s 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak in which 28,616 cases and 11,310 deaths were recorded across Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, according to the World Health Organization. It took nearly five months from the declaration of that outbreak to hit 1,000 deaths, whereas Congo’s current outbreak hit 2,000 deaths in less than three months. Reuters
Cameroon Claim First Wafcon Title with Victory over Malawi
Cameroon cruised to a 3-0 victory over tournament debutants Malawi to claim their first ever Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (Wafcon) title. Marie Ngah Manga’s close-range header put the Indomitable Lionesses ahead in the 20th minute and Naomi Eto doubled the lead with a stunning volley on the half hour mark in the Moroccan capital Rabat. The Central Africans made it 3-0 in the third minute of first-half added time as Eto rounded Malawi goalkeeper Mercy Sikelo and put the ball on a plate for striker Ngah Manga to score her fifth goal at the finals. Malawi, the lowest-ranked side at Wafcon 2026 at 153rd in the world, reached the final on the back of the attacking prowess of the Chawinga sisters Tabitha and Temwa. However, the two Scorchers stars were well marshalled by the Cameroon defence, who ensured the Southern Africans were unable to secure a fairytale ending to their unexpected run at the tournament. … Fifa president Gianni Infantino was on hand to present the trophy alongside Caf counterpart Patrice Motsepe, and Cameroon – who previously lost three Wafcon finals – also pick up $2m in prize money as they become just the fourth side to win the title after Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea and South Africa. Both sides will feature at the 2027 Women’s Fifa World Cup in Brazil alongside fellow Wafcon semi-finalists Algeria and Morocco. BBC