Militant Islamist Groups in Africa Sustain High Pace of Lethality
There were an estimated 18,900 fatalities linked to militant Islamist violence in Africa in 2024. A sharp decline in deaths involving al Shabaab in Somalia brought the continental total below the record high levels of 2023 (23,000 fatalities). Nonetheless, the average annual total number of fatalities for the past 3 years was still more than a third higher than the period from 2019-2021. The Sahel remained the most lethal theater on the continent for the fourth year in a row. There were an estimated 10,400 deaths linked to militant Islamist violence in the Sahel in 2024. This comprises 55 percent of all related fatalities for the continent. The Sahel also accounts for the most prevalence of violence against civilians…The region accounts for 67 percent (1,840) of these civilian fatalities for the continent. The Lake Chad Basin region was second, comprising 24 percent (670) of such fatalities. Three theaters accounted for 98 percent of the reported fatalities linked to militant Islamist violence on the continent: the Sahel (55 percent), Somalia (24 percent), and the Lake Chad Basin (19 percent). Both Mozambique and North Africa saw increases in violent activity and reported fatalities following steady declines in previous years. Africa Center for Strategic Studies
Residents Say Rwanda-backed Rebels Are Advancing on a Third City in Eastern Congo
Rwanda-backed rebels appeared to be heading toward a third major city in eastern Congo, residents said Tuesday…The M23 rebels on Tuesday attacked all the main Congolese army positions on the road to Butembo, a city of 150,000 people, and the situation was rapidly deteriorating, said Auguste Kombi, a civil society leader in Kitsombiro, a town along the road. Butembo is about 210 kilometers (130 miles) north of Goma, the city of over 2 million people that the M23 rebels seized last month as about 3,000 people were killed. The advance on Butembo means the rebels are spanning out both north and south of Goma. The rebels this week seized another provincial capital to Goma’s south, Bukavu, near Burundi…Also Tuesday, the M23 captured the town of Kamanyola, about 25 kilometers (15 miles) south of Bukavu, after they overcame resistance from the Congolese army in the evening, said Steve Mubalama, a civil society representative in the town. Mubalama expressed fears that the M23 rebels would advance a further 75 kilometers (45 miles) to the south to take the strategic city of Uvira. AP
DRC: Tshisekedi Meets Lourenco as M23 Advances
Angolan President João Lourenço on Tuesday hosted his Congolese counterpart Felix Tshisekedi in the latest discussions on taming the violence in eastern parts of Congo. The Angolan leader, now in a new role as chair of the African Union, has in the past been closely involved in an effort to bring lasting solutions to the instability in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) where Rwanda-backed M23 rebels have fought against the Congolese army in a war based on certain grievances. Angola is still the mediator designated by the African Union for the conflict in the east of the DRC although President Lourenço had said his new role as AU Chair means he may pass the baton to another person. Yet Angola has remained a confidant for Tshisekedi who has met President Lourenco three times in a month. The EastAfrican
Ugandan Opposition Figure Besigye, Looking Frail, Appears in Court as Calls for His Release Grow
Ugandan opposition figure Kizza Besigye appeared briefly in a civilian court Wednesday as attorneys tried to secure his freedom, but a judge said he was too unwell to follow proceedings. A visibly frail Besigye, who has been detained since November, was driven back to a maximum-security prison in Kampala, the Ugandan capital. Besigye’s continued detention is attracting more attention as his supporters, activists and others warn that he needs medical care and should be removed from prison conditions. They say any harm to him while in custody could trigger deadly unrest in this east African country. His family says he has begun a hunger strike to protest his continued detention after Uganda’s Supreme Court ruled last month that military tribunals cannot try civilians…Justice officials say they are studying the evidence against Besigye in order to charge him in a civilian court…His attorney says the charges are politically motivated. AP
Suspected Somali Pirates Seize a New Yemeni Fishing Boat in Second Recent Attack
Suspected Somali pirates have seized another Yemeni fishing boat off the Horn of Africa, authorities said. In a statement late Tuesday, a European naval force known as EUNAVFOR Atalanta said the attack targeted a dhow, a traditional ship that plies the waters of the Mideast, off the town of Eyl in Somalia. It said the attack Monday remained under investigation. It comes 10 days after another pirate attack on another Yemeni fishing boat which ultimately ended with the pirates fleeing and the mariners on board being recovered unhurt. Piracy off the Somali coast peaked in 2011 when 237 attacks were reported…The threat was diminished by increased international naval patrols, a strengthening central government in Mogadishu, Somalia’s capital, and other efforts. However, Somali pirate attacks have resumed at a greater pace over the last year, in part due to the insecurity caused by Yemen’s Houthi rebels launching their attacks in the Red Sea corridor over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. AP
Sudan Paramilitary Group Kills More than 200 People in Three-day Attack, Activists Say
Sudanese paramilitaries have killed more than 200 people in a three-day assault south of Khartoum, according to a lawyers’ network, while the army-backed government put the death toll at more than double that figure. The Emergency Lawyers network, which has documented human rights abuses during 22 months of fighting between the rival security forces, said hundreds more were wounded or missing and feared drowned after the paramilitaries opened fire on villagers as they attempted to flee across the White Nile…The attack on the White Nile state villages of al-Kadaris and al-Khelwat, 100km (60 miles) south of the capital, sent thousands fleeing, witnesses said. A spokesperson for the UN secretary general, António Guterres, said the world body had received “horrifying reports that dozens of women were raped and hundreds of families were forced to flee”. Emergency Lawyers said that for three days RSF fighters had subjected unarmed civilians to “executions, kidnappings, forced disappearances and looting”. The Guardian
Emergency Lawyers: Sudan Army Executing More People in Khartoum
Emergency Lawyers accused members of the SAF of being behind summary executions, arbitrary detentions, and enforced disappearances in the neighbourhoods of the large Sharg El Nil locality, in a statement on its Facebook page yesterday…The targeting is mainly based on lists with names of people posted on social media. The posts contain “unsubstantiated charges related to cooperation with the Rapid Support Forces [RSF],” the Emergency Lawyers Group explained. “These provocative calls, based on unreliable suspicions, which target innocent people, have led to an escalation of violence and threatens the stability of society and human rights.”…The group calls for holding accountable the instigators of violence who published these lists and called for the liquidation of certain people…Summary executions and arbitrary detentions of people, in particular young volunteers helping out the needy, suspected of ‘cooperating with the enemy’ have been reported since the start of the war nearly two years ago. Both the SAF (Military Intelligence) and RSF have been carrying out these illegal actions, often on an ethnic basis. Radio Dabanga
Kenya Slammed For Hosting Sudan Rebels Govt Declaration
The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, at war with the Sudanese army for nearly two years, are preparing to declare a government in territories under their control during an event in Nairobi on Friday…Sudan’s foreign ministry, loyal to army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, criticised Kenya for allowing the event…Kenyan President William Ruto also faced widespread criticism at home. “What Ruto is doing is a reckless abandonment of the traditional caution and dignified approach to Kenyan diplomacy,” Mukhisa Kituyi, a Kenyan politician and former secretary-general of United Nations Trade and Development, told AFP…The RSF’s decision to sign a charter with allied political factions is seen as an attempt to consolidate its hold on Darfur, effectively splitting the nation. The paramilitaries are notorious for ethnic-based mass executions, sexual violence and human rights violations in their territories. In January, the United States determined they had committed genocide in Darfur, sanctioning RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo — as well as army chief Burhan — for war crimes. AFP
South Sudan: Ceasefire Monitors Warn of Truce Collapse amid Violence
Ceasefire monitors in South Sudan have raised alarms over the potential collapse of the country’s fragile truce, as escalating armed clashes between signatories to the peace agreement threaten to derail efforts to end the nation’s prolonged conflict. The country has been formally at peace since a 2018 agreement ended a five-year civil war that claimed hundreds of thousands of lives. However, political tensions remain high as the nation prepares for its first post-independence elections. Major General Yitayal Gelaw Bitew, Chairperson of the Ceasefire and Transitional Security Arrangement, Monitoring and Verification Mechanism (CTSAMVM), issued the warning during a technical committee meeting in Juba on Tuesday. He reported intensified fighting between two signatory groups near the state boundary of Western Equatoria and Western Bahr El Ghazal…Gelaw also highlighted ongoing challenges faced by CTSAMVM teams, particularly in accessing Wonduruba in Central Equatoria State to conduct patrols. Radio Tamazuj
Over 40 People Killed in Mali Mine Collapse
Forty-three people, mostly women, were killed after an artisanal gold mine collapsed in western Mali on Saturday, the head of an industry union said. The accident took place near the town of Kenieba in Mali’s gold-rich Kayes region, Taoule Camara, secretary general of the national union of gold counters and refineries (UCROM), told Reuters. The women had climbed down into open-pit areas left by industrial miners to look for scraps of gold when the earth collapsed around them, he said…Artisanal mining is a common activity across much of West Africa and has become more lucrative in recent years due to growing demand for metals and rising prices. Deadly accidents are frequent as the artisanal miners often use unregulated methods. Thirteen artisanal miners, including women and three children, were killed in southwest Mali in late January, after a tunnel in which they were digging for gold flooded. Reuters
African Refugees Eye Olympics
[There were] over 100 attendees at trials in Kenya last week, where the International Olympic Committee (IOC) was scouting talented runners, judokas and taekwondo athletes to support via scholarships.]…The [Refugee Olympic Team (ROT)] made their inaugural appearance at the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games in 2016…A refugee squad is now being assembled for the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympics – the first major IOC event to be staged on African soil…The ROT trials were held in collaboration with Kenya’s National Olympic Committee (NOC), Athletics Kenya and the UNHCR as well as World Athletics and corresponding judo and taekwondo federations. A range of emotions were on show amid a competitive atmosphere, with anticipation, anxiety and resilience etched on faces. There was also an overwhelming sense of freedom…The latest figures released by the UNHCR show that Kenya is home to over 820,000 registered refugees and asylum seekers. With a civil war continuing in Sudan and fighting escalating in eastern DRC, that figure could grow. “We want to use sports to give them dignity and honour. They are our brothers and sisters, so we need to give them this opportunity to grow their talent and encourage them.” [Paul Tergat, the president of Kenya’s NOC said]. BBC
Netherlands to Return Benin Bronzes to Nigeria
The Netherlands will return 119 Benin Bronzes to Nigeria, marking a significant step in the global movement to restore looted artefacts…Of the 119 objects to be returned, 113 were part of the Dutch State Collection, while the Municipality of Rotterdam held six…The Netherlands’ return of these artefacts follows similar ones by other countries, such as Germany, the United States, and the United Kingdom. In 2022, Germany returned 1,030 Benin Bronzes to Nigeria. The same year, three US museums – the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African Art (NMAfA) and the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) Museum – returned 31 Benin bronzes. PREMIUM TIMES also reported that the Horniman Museum, a London Museum that houses a collection of 72 treasured items, handed over ownership of the artefacts to the Nigerian government…The return of the Benin Bronzes is part of a broader international movement to repatriate African artefacts looted when Western powers colonised African countries. Premium Times