Guinea Votes in Presidential Election Expected to Cement Doumbouya’s Rule
Guinea voted on Sunday in a presidential election widely expected to hand Mamady Doumbouya, who seized power in a 2021 coup, a seven-year mandate. … The former special forces commander, thought to be in his early 40s, faced eight other candidates in a fragmented field with no strong challenger. Ousted President Alpha Conde and longtime opposition leader Cellou Dalein Diallo remain in exile. … If elected, Doumbouya “will likely utilise his position to further entrench his power and that of the military over Guinea”, said Benedict Manzin, lead Middle East and Africa analyst at risk consultancy Sibylline. … Political debate has been muted under Doumbouya. Civil society groups accuse his government of banning protests, curbing press freedom and restricting opposition activity. The campaign period “has been severely restricted, marked by intimidation of opposition actors, apparently politically motivated enforced disappearances, and constraints on media freedom,” U.N. rights chief Volker Turk said on Friday. Reuters
Al-Shabab Extremists Are Greatest Threat to Peace in Somalia and the Region, UN Experts Say
The al-Shabab extremist group remains the greatest immediate threat to peace and stability in Somalia and the region, especially Kenya, U.N. experts said in a report released Wednesday. Despite ongoing efforts by Somali and international forces to curb operations by al-Shabab, “the group’s ability to carry out complex, asymmetric attacks in Somalia remains undiminished,” the experts said. They said the threat comes not only from al-Shabab’s ability to strike — including within the capital, Mogadishu, where it attempted to assassinate the president on March 18 — but from its sophisticated extortion operations, forced recruitment and effective propaganda machine. … The experts said al-Shabab’s goal remains to remove Somalia’s government, “rid the country of foreign forces and establish a Greater Somalia, joining all ethnic Somalis across east Africa under strict Islamic rule.”AP
UN Extends African Union Mission in Somalia through 2026
The UN Security Council on Tuesday adopted a measure extending authorization for the African Union-led force in Somalia through 2026. The African Union Support and Stabilization Mission (AUSSOM) is deployed in the troubled Horn of Africa country to back Somali security forces and combat the Al-Shabaab jihadist group. It replaced a previous “transition” mission in January, which itself was a transformation of an African Union force initially launched in 2007. Despite gains by the Somalian and AUSSOM forces against Al-Shabaab in 2022 and 2023, the [militant] group has gone on the offensive since last year. … In August, Somalia’s armed forces and AUSSOM recaptured the strategic town of Bariire, home to a military base and located around 100 kilometers (60 miles) west of the capital Mogadishu. The resolution adopted Tuesday maintains the AUSSOM’s maximum number of uniformed personnel at 11,826, including 680 police officers. AFP
Sudan: UN Assessment Mission Arrives in El Fasher
The United Nations humanitarian agency (OCHA) said on Saturday an assessment team had reached El Fasher in North Darfur, the first such mission since the city fell to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) following months of siege and heavy fighting. The mission aims to evaluate humanitarian needs and document violations against civilians, including the destruction of markets, water infrastructure, and attacks on the offices of international aid organizations. OCHA said the visit followed “extensive humanitarian negotiations” and comes after months of a blockade that forced trapped residents to eat animal feed to survive. Hundreds of thousands of people have fled the city and surrounding areas since the conflict intensified. Sudan Tribune
Drone Attack Kills Two Soldiers in Chad near Sudan Border, Sources Say
A drone attack killed two Chadian soldiers at a military camp near the Sudan border before dawn on Friday, local authorities and a security source said, adding it was not immediately clear who was behind the strike. Two people were killed and one seriously injured in the attack on the border town of Tine, said Hamit Hassan, prefect of the department that includes Tine. He said he had no information on who was responsible. A Chadian military intelligence officer told Reuters the drone came from Sudan but it was unclear whether it was launched by the country’s army or paramilitary Rapid Support Force. … Tine serves as a transit camp for Sudanese refugees who later move on to safer camps away from the border, though humanitarian sources say a lack of funds to provide water, sanitation and shelter at inland camps has slowed relocation efforts. Reuters
Cholera Kills Eight as DR Congo Refugees in Burundi Face ‘Chaos’: Source
At least eight Congolese refugees have died of cholera, an aid worker said Wednesday, warning that thousands faced ‘catastrophic’ conditions after fleeing to Burundi following the latest advance by the Rwanda-backed M23 armed group. Some 80,000 people who poured into Burundi to escape the militant advance launched in early December are now facing chaotic conditions in refugee camps that are lacking aid, the worker said. “The situation is catastrophic… because we’re facing tens of thousands of refugees who desperately lack everything –- food, shelter, water, medicines”, said the aid worker who requested anonymity. … Some 150 cases of cholera have been recorded so far, the aid worker said. … Since the M23 began its latest offensive on December 2, the fighting has internally displaced 500,000 people in the DRC’s South Kivu province alone, including 200,000 within Uvira territory, according to the UN refugee agency. AFP
Nigeria: 35 Injured, 5 Killed in Mosque Suicide Bombing in Maiduguri
A suicide explosion occurred at Al-Adum Jummat Mosque in Gamboru Market area of Maiduguri, northeastern Nigeria, on Wednesday, Dec. 24. … The Borno State Police Command confirmed that 5 persons lost their lives while 35 others sustained varying degrees of injuries. “Preliminary investigations further suggest that the incident may have been a suicide bombing, based on the recovery of fragments of a suspected suicide vest and witness statements recorded, while investigations are ongoing to establish the exact cause and circumstances,” said ASP Nahum Kenneth Daso, Police Public Relations Officer of the Borno State Police Command. People praying outside the mosque were also wounded after debris and shattered glass were scattered across the area. … The explosion marks the most serious incident reported in Maiduguri in recent times. Since the Boko Haram insurgency began over a decade ago in the city, suicide bombings like this one have been recorded across major cities in public places like worship areas and motor parks. The insurgency has killed over 35,000 people directly so far. HumAngle
Libyan Army Chief Killed in Plane Crash near Turkiye’s Capital
The Libyan army’s chief of staff, Mohammed Ali Ahmed al-Haddad, died in a plane crash near the Turkish capital, Ankara, shortly after the private jet he was travelling in took off from an airport there. The crash on Tuesday killed everyone on board. The other victims were four high-ranking Libyan military officials as well as three crew members. Turkish officials told Al Jazeera that initial investigations have ruled out sabotage and instead point to a technical failure as the cause of the crash. … Al-Haddad was the top military commander in western Libya and played a crucial role in the ongoing United Nations-brokered efforts to unify the country, which has been divided since 2014 following the NATO-backed revolt that toppled and killed longtime ruler, Muammar Gaddafi. … The Libyan delegation was in Ankara for high-level defence talks aimed at boosting military cooperation between the two countries, according to Turkish officials. Al Jazeera
Russia Sends Arms Shipment to Madagascar’s Military Government
Russia has sent arms to Madagascar’s military government, which assumed power in an October coup. A Russian airforce plane carrying 40 military personnel and 43 crates of weapons landed at the international airport near Antananarivo, the capital, on Dec. 20, National Assembly Speaker Siteny Randrianasoloniaiko said in a statement [last week]. … Russia has been boosting its military cooperation with Africa, signing military cooperation agreements with a number of governments and deploying troops from its Africa Corps division to conflict-ridden countries including Niger and Mali. … The equipment delivered to Madagascar included a range of assault and sniper rifles as well as anti-tank rocket launchers, Randrianasoloniaiko said. Bloomberg
Another 1,100 Refugees Cross into Mauritania from Mali: UN
More than 1,100 people fleeing insecurity in Mali crossed into Mauritania [last] week, the UN refugee agency reported Friday, saying conditions were “difficult” for the newcomers. UNHCR said 7,310 refugees had now fled to Mauritania in the two months since a jihadist blockade upended daily life in Mali’s capital Bamako and other regions. Mali has seen several such blockades in recent months, carried out by jihadists from the Support of Islam and Muslims group (JNIM). The group has committed violent acts since 2012, plunging Mali into an ongoing state of insecurity which has been compounded by criminal gang activity. … Civilians are often targeted in retribution by the army, its Russian allies or by jihadists, each side accusing them of collaborating with the enemy. Since late October there has been a steady influx of refugees into Mauritania from Mali where the security situation remains “very unstable”, according to UNHCR. The agency counted 188 families entering Mauritania [last] week and 1,161 families since October 24, but added that the actual numbers were probably higher. AFP
Hundreds of Thousands Newly Displaced as Islamic State Insurgency Expands in Mozambique
More than 300,000 people have been displaced by an Islamic State insurgency in Mozambique since July, amid growing fears that authorities lack a workable plan to end the fighting. … Neither the Mozambican army nor a Rwandan intervention have managed to quell the insurgency, which has ravaged northern Mozambique since October 2017, when militants from Islamic State-Mozambique carried out their first attacks, in Mocímboa da Praia in Cabo Delgado province in the north-east. The group drew global attention in March 2021 with an attack on the town of Palma. More than 600 people were killed in the assault and the military’s subsequent recapturing of the town, according to Armed Conflict Location and Event Data, a non-profit conflict monitor, including foreign workers on a multibillion-dollar Total liquefied natural gas (LNG) project. Rwanda, whose military is better equipped and trained than Mozambique’s, deployed 1,000 troops to Cabo Delgado in July 2021, initially pushing back the militants. Rwanda now has an estimated 4,000 to 5,000 military personnel in the country. However, violence against civilians has never fully abated and has increased this year, according to Acled. The Guardian
Guinea-Bissau Junta Releases Six Opposition Politicians Held Since Coup
Guinea-Bissau’s ruling junta said on Tuesday it has released six members of the political opposition who had been detained since a coup last month. The six people freed were close associates of Domingos Simoes Pereira, head of the PAIGC party that led the country to independence in 1974. Pereira has been in custody since the coup. … The army seized power on November 26 after ousting outgoing president Umaro Sissoco Embalo in the wake of a presidential vote. The military then suspended the electoral process and announced it was taking control of the west African country for a period of one year. … On Sunday, Senegal’s foreign minister led a delegation to Guinea-Bissau, where he met with detained opponents and requested their release. AFP
Ghana Arrests Dozens of Nigerians over Online Fraud Ring
Ghanaian police and security authorities have arrested nearly 50 Nigerians in a sting operation against online scammers, Accra said Wednesday. A nighttime raid on the outskirts of the capital “resulted in the arrest of 48 suspected cybercrime operatives… believed to be Nigerian nationals”, information minister Sam George said. Nigeria, home to a bustling fintech sector, also has a reputation for internet fraudsters known in local slang as “Yahoo Boys”. At the same time, Nigeria itself has also become a target for foreign scammers, with a massive raid in Lagos last year leading to the arrest of 792 people, 148 of whom were Chinese nationals. Those arrested in Ghana — 46 men and two women — are accused of conducting “romance scams, online investment fraud, impersonation schemes and illicit online gold trading,” George said in a post on X. AFP
From Gunshots to the Africa Cup, Sudanese Players Endure Brutal War to Bring Hope
The [war in Sudan] has killed more than 40,000 people according to U.N. figures, but aid groups say the true number could be many times higher. More than 14 million people have been displaced, as disease outbreaks and famine spread in parts of the country. But the Sudanese national team, known as the Falcons of Jediane, is persevering, and it qualified for the Africa Cup despite training and playing every qualifying game abroad. Sudan even defeated Ghana, denying the African powerhouse qualification for the four-week tournament. For many Sudanese, the team has become a symbol of hope and unity and a rare source of joy to escape wartime hardship. Ahead of their team’s opening match against Algeria in the Moroccan capital Rabat, Sudanese supporters erupted in celebration, waving national flags and honking car horns. AP