UN: Deaths near 3,000 in Fighting for DRC’s Goma
A senior U.N. official in the Democratic Republic of Congo said Wednesday that nearly 3,000 people have been killed in a fighting between M23 militants and the national army over control of a key eastern city. Vivian van de Perre, the deputy head of the United Nations mission in the DRC, told reporters in a video call from Goma that U.N. teams are “actively helping” the M23 to collect the dead from the city’s streets. She said that, so far, 2,000 bodies have been retrieved and 900 others are in hospital morgues. “We expect this number to go up,” she said. “There are still many decomposing bodies in many areas. The World Health Organization is really worried about what kind of epidemic outbreaks that can contribute to.”…She said nearly 2,000 civilians are sheltering at U.N. peacekeeping bases in Goma and that “our bases are full, full, full.” She said they cannot handle any more people, and they are concerned that the overcrowding and unsanitary conditions could lead to disease outbreaks at the bases. Water and electricity had been cut off to the city during the intense fighting but have been partially restored. Markets are also reopening, but van de Perre said prices have skyrocketed. She said peacekeepers with the U.N. mission, known as MONUSCO, are operating under limited movements imposed by the M23. They are not patrolling the city, but they are able to resupply their bases. VOA
Hundreds of Women Raped and Burned to Death after Goma Prison Set on Fire
Hundreds of women were raped and burned alive during the chaos after a Rwandan-backed rebel group entered the Congolese city of Goma last week. The female inmates were attacked in their wing inside Goma’s Munzenze prison during a mass jailbreak, according to a senior UN official. The deputy head of the UN peacekeeping force based in Goma, Vivian van de Perre, said that while several thousand men managed to escape from the prison, the area reserved for women was set on fire…Although details of the incident are scarce, the atrocity appears to be the worst of the recent M23-led conflict in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. UN peacekeepers, however, have been unable to visit the prison to investigate further because of restrictions imposed by the M23 rebels, meaning the identity of the perpetrators remains unclear. The Guardian
Sudan Army Advances On Central Khartoum: Military Source
Sudan’s military advanced on central Khartoum “from multiple axes” on Thursday, an army source told AFP, with troops nearing the paramilitary-controlled Republican Palace…On Wednesday, the army said it had “cleared out” the neighbourhoods of al-Remila and the Industrial Area in central Khartoum — only three kilometres (1.9 miles) from the RSF-held Republican Palace. But eyewitnesses on Thursday said army troops had to make their way through RSF snipers posted on high-rises in what used to be Khartoum’s business and government district…Further south, witnesses reported clashes between the army and the RSF around Soba Bridge — a key southeastern entry point to the capital. In recent weeks, the army has surged through the capital, breaking a nearly two-year siege by the RSF on its headquarters and pushing the paramilitary to the edges of Khartoum North, also known as Bahri. The army’s advance on the capital is its biggest victory in a year, since it regained Omdurman across the Nile River which, together with Khartoum North and the city centre, makes up greater Khartoum. AFP
Scores Killed in Somalia in Clash between Security Forces, Islamic State
Nearly 70 people were killed and up to 50 others wounded during 24 hours of fighting between Islamic State fighters and security forces from Somalia’s Puntland region, officials said Wednesday. At least 15 Puntland soldiers and more than 50 militants were slain in the fierce fighting around the Dharin and Qurac areas of the Cal Miskaad mountains in Puntland’s Bari region, multiple Puntland security officials told VOA, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media…These latest clashes came just days after U.S. warplanes targeted the Islamic State affiliate in Somalia, hitting what officials described as high-ranking operatives in the terror group’s mountainous stronghold. VOA
Chadians Who Worked for Now-departed French Troops Appeal to Government for Jobs
More than 400 civilians rendered jobless by the departure of French troops from Chad are asking the government to hire them and provide the job benefits they had when they worked for the French. The last French troops left Chad on January 31, following an order by President Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno. Chadian officials say hundreds of civilians who were employed by the French assembled in the capital N’djamena on Monday to ask the government to immediately give them jobs. French forces departed Chad at the order of the central African state’s president…Mbaitoubam Bruno, the spokesperson for civilians who worked at the French military bases, spoke to VOA from N’djamena via a messaging app. He said Chad’s government should immediately recruit them because at least half of the over 400 Chadians who lost their jobs as French troops departed are already in precarious situations that do not permit them to support their families…The former workers mostly held jobs in hospitals, schools and dining facilities that served the French troops. Others provided humanitarian assistance to those who lived around the bases. VOA
At Least 10 Nigerien Soldiers Are Killed in an Ambush, the Army Says
An ambush by a “group of criminals” killed at least 10 Nigerien soldiers near the country’s border with Burkina Faso this week, Niger’s ruling military junta said. An intervention unit was sent to the west of the country on Monday to catch criminals stealing cattle in Takzat, a village in western Niger, according to a military statement said broadcast on Wednesday night. “It was during the operation that a group of criminals ambushed the detachment of the internal security forces which resulted in the loss of 10 of our soldiers,” it said. It did not specify who the criminals were…Following military coups in all three nations in recent years, the ruling juntas have expelled French forces and turned to Russia’s mercenary units for security assistance…But the security situation in the Sahel, a vast region on the fringes of the Sahara Desert, has significantly worsened since the juntas took power, analysts say, with a record number of attacks and civilians killed both by militants and government forces. AP
Niger Junta Expels Red Cross Citing Sovereignty, Offers No Explanation
The military junta in Niger has ordered the International Committee of the Red Cross to leave the country…The Foreign Affairs ministry asked the ICRC to leave the country after denouncing certain agreements, a civil society source in Niger told RFI. Some foreigners working with the NGO in Niger have already begun to leave the country, and the delegation’s office has been closed since Tuesday, according to the AFP news agency. No official reason was given for the decision to shut down the ICRC…The ICRC, which published a report on its activities in Niger during the first half of 2024 on Tuesday, the day its expulsion was announced, has not yet reacted publicly. In the report, the ICRC says it has been present in Niger since 1990, and highlights its provision of healthcare to over 120,000 victims of armed conflict last year. RFI
Tunisian President Sacks Finance Minister, Names a Judge as New Minister
The Tunisian president on Wednesday sacked Finance Minister Sihem Boughdiri and named Michkat Khaldi, a judge, as new finance minister. Khaldi took the oath before the president at Carthage Palace, the presidency said in statement. Boughdiri has been in office since 2021. Boughdiri’s dismissal comes as the North African country’s public finances face a severe crisis that has led to shortages of key commodities including sugar, rice, coffee and cooking gas. Khaldi, a judge has been since last year the head of the Criminal Reconciliation Committee, which was established by the president to try to reach a settlement with businessmen accused of corruption in exchange for returning funds to the state. Reuters
Tunisian Court Hands Lengthy Prison Terms to Top Politicians
A Tunisian court sentenced a number of top politicians, former officials and journalists to long prison terms on Wednesday, defence lawyers said, the latest move in what critics say is an attempt to stamp out opposition to President Kais Saied. Among those sentenced on charges of conspiring against state were Rached Ghannouchi, veteran head of the Islamist-leaning Ennahda party, who was handed a 22-year term, and former Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi, who received 35 years. Ghannouchi, 83, has been in prison since 2023, receiving two sentences of a total of five years in separate cases. Mechichi has been living abroad since 2021, a few months after Saied sacked him and shut the elected parliament, a step the opposition described as a coup…A total of 41 people were charged in the case. Jmai said the court handed a 27-year sentence to journalist Chahrazad Akacha, who has fled abroad, and gave a five-year sentence to another journalist, Chadha Haj Mbarak, who was already jailed. Reuters
South Sudan: Hope Grows as Tumaini Talks Move Forward
Civil society activists in South Sudan have expressed optimism that the country could be ushered into a new era of peace if delegations representing the government and holdout opposition groups continue to negotiate in good faith at the Kenyan-led Tumaini (hope) Initiative. The talks, which are aimed at forging sustainable peace in South Sudan, have been ongoing in Nairobi, Kenya, since January 20, 2025. Seen as a critical step toward resolving the country’s prolonged political and security crises, the talks offer renewed hope for lasting peace in the country. These discussions, which began in May 2024, involve the Revitalized Transitional Government of National Unity (RTGONU) and the opposition United People’s Alliance (UPA), formerly known as the South Sudan Opposition Movement Alliance (SSOMA). After resuming last month, the talks experienced a brief deadlock when the opposition declared the Tumaini Initiative a stand-alone agreement. This position was rejected by the government delegation, which insisted that Tumaini should be an annex to the 2018 Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS), which established the current government. Radio Tamazuj
South Sudan: Gen. Simon Gatwech ‘Approves’ Peace Deal with Government
South Sudanese rebels led by Gen. Simon Gatwech Dual have approved a peace deal with Juba that was signed on Sunday in Port Sudan, the Sudanese army’s wartime capital. Sudan’s military government has been instrumental in brokering the talks between South Sudan’s two warring parties. Yahya Mohammed Othman, a senior diplomat at the Sudanese Embassy in Juba, told Radio Tamazuj on Tuesday that the rebel group SPLA-IO Kit-Gwang faction, led by Gen. Simon Gatwech, had signed a key document aimed at ending the war on Sunday…According to a document seen by Radio Tamazuj on Tuesday, Gen. Gatwech informed his supporters that the SPLA-IO Kit-Gwang forces will be integrated into the national army and other organized forces within a 12-month timeline. Gen. Simon Gatwech, according to the document, will be appointed as the Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the SSPDF before his arrival in Juba…It remains unclear why Gen. Gatwech chose to reach a peace deal with the South Sudan government separate from the ongoing Tumaini Initiative talks in Nairobi, Kenya. Radio Tamazuj
Zimbabweans Pinning Hopes on VP Chiwenga to Stop Mnangagwa’s Term Extension
As members of Zimbabwe’s ruling ZANU-PF push for an extension of the president’s term, opponents of the plan are pinning their hopes on Vice President Constantino Chiwenga to launch a campaign to stop Emmerson Mnangagwa from hanging onto power. Analysts say that though Chiwenga is getting the backing of influential war veterans, just like Mnangagwa did in 2017, he needs different actors to oppose the president’s pro-term extension campaigners, known as the 2030 Movement. Chiwenga is a prominent figure opposed to the movement. He has denounced corruption and refused to chant slogans demanding the extension of Mnangagwa’s term beyond 2030. This comes at a time when civic space is closed, forcing most civil society groups to operate in darkness…Speaking at the Heroes Acre in the capital Harare, Chiwenga denounced corruption, particularly by rich individuals known as mbingas in Shona, whom he accused of looting the country’s resources at the expense of the masses…Chiwenga is also one of the few ZANU-PF leaders who is publicly against the ruling party’s plans to remove term limits from the constitution. The Africa Report
Blogger Killed, Editor Missing as Mozambique’s Press Freedom Crisis Deepens
[Recent attacks on] three journalists, the latest violations against Mozambican media, are symptomatic of the deterioration in conditions for journalists ever since a disputed October 2024 election. All three journalists commented on or reported the nationwide protests that followed the elections, during which security personnel were accused of using excessive force, resulting in the death of at least 300 people…The Mozambican chapter of the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) has recently denounced the “growing violations of the rights to information and freedom of expression in Mozambique,” warning of “worsening restrictions on fundamental freedoms” including through “attacks on journalists.” MISA has called for an “independent investigation into the abuses committed” during the post-election period. CPJ