Child Malnutrition Hits Catastrophic Levels in Parts of Sudan
Acute malnutrition among children has reached catastrophic levels in parts of Sudan’s North Darfur and Greater Kordofan, UN-backed analysts warned on Thursday, as conflict, mass displacement and denials of aid push the country deeper into a famine-risk emergency. According to an alert from the IPC, a global food security monitoring system, thresholds for acute malnutrition were surpassed in two new areas of North Darfur – Um Baru and Kernoi – following the fall of the regional capital, El Fasher, in October 2025 and a massive exodus. December assessments found acute malnutrition levels among children of 52.9 per cent in Um Baru – nearly twice the famine threshold – and about 34 per cent in Kernoi. The IPC stressed that the alert does not constitute a formal famine classification but warned that conditions are deteriorating rapidly – and action is urgently needed. … Um Baru and Kernoi are in remote areas of northwestern North Darfur, near key displacement corridors leading toward the Chadian border. Both areas have absorbed large numbers of civilians fleeing fighting in and around El Fasher, where conflict has shattered markets, disrupted livelihoods and sharply curtailed humanitarian access. UN News
UK Sanctions Sudan Commanders, Colombian Mercenary Network
Britain on Thursday imposed sanctions on six people for fuelling Sudan’s civil war, including commanders allied to both warring factions and individuals running a foreign mercenary recruitment network. The measures – asset freezes, travel bans and director disqualifications – were announced as the United Kingdom holds the presidency of the United Nations Security Council for February. Those sanctioned include Abu Aqla Mohamed Kaikal, head of the Sudan Shield Forces and a senior commander in the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF). Kaikal, a former RSF commander, is accused of overseeing violations of international humanitarian law targeting the Kanabi people based on their ethnicity or religious beliefs. The government also designated Hussein Barsham, a Rapid Support Forces (RSF) field commander, alleged to be responsible for promoting mass atrocities, including targeted executions. Mustafa Ibrahim Abdel Nabi Mohamed, a financial adviser to the RSF and director of Alkhaleej Bank Co Ltd, was sanctioned on suspicion of providing financial services that enabled RSF military operations, including the siege of El Fasher. In a significant expansion of the sanctions regime, Britain targeted a network of Colombian nationals accused of recruiting foreign mercenaries to fight alongside the RSF. Sudan Tribune
89 Kidnapped Nigerian Christians Released: Authorities
The last 89 Christians held captive since criminal gangs attacked three churches in northern Nigeria in mid-January were released on Thursday, according to local officials and an AFP journalist. The worshippers, dressed in yellow, arrived on a bus escorted by security forces, and were received by the governor of Kaduna state, Uba Sani, who said 183 people were initially abducted. They were snatched from three churches during Sunday services on January 18, in the latest in a wave of mass abductions targeting both Christians and Muslims in Nigeria. … The governor said he had been in regular contact with President Bola Tinubu over the kidnappings. The president “has been with us from day one, working closely with me. He has called me more than 45 times since this incident happened,” he said. AFP
“Burned Inside Their Houses”: Nigerians Recount Horror of Massacre
First, the jihadists sent a letter saying they were coming to the village to preach, said Nigerian chief Umar Bio Salihu. When no one attended, they went on a rampage, killing people and torching houses, he said. Salihu is the traditional chief of Woro, a small, Muslim-majority village in west-central Nigeria where alleged jihadist gunmen perpetrated a massacre late Tuesday. Details are still emerging from the attack in Kwara State, but it is one of the country’s deadliest in recent months. According to the Red Cross, the death toll stands at 162 people, and the search for bodies is ongoing. Badly shaken, Salihu recounted the night of terror he survived as the attackers killed two of his sons and kidnapped his wife and three daughters. … Woro, a village of several thousand people, sits near a forest region known as a hideout for jihadist fighters and armed gangs, groups that have fuelled nearly two decades of violence in Africa’s most populous country. It is a Muslim community, but its residents want nothing to do with radicalised jihadist groups, said Salihu. … Kwara is racked by violence by armed “bandit” gangs and jihadist groups that have been extending their range from northwestern Nigeria farther south. AFP
M23 Rebels: UN Sees Progress in Talks but Warns Violence Persists
Qatar is facilitating discussions between the Congolese government and the M23 armed group, which controls large areas of North Kivu and South Kivu provinces. The latest developments follow months of intense fighting that has displaced civilians and destabilised the region. However, the UN warns that despite diplomatic momentum, the security situation on the ground remains volatile. M23, also known as the March 23 Movement, controls large areas of North Kivu and South Kivu provinces. In January 2025, after a rapid offensive, the group seized Goma, the capital of North Kivu. Weeks later, it captured Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu. Since then, the rebels have set up parallel administrations in areas under their control. The UN says the group is supported by the Rwandan armed forces, an allegation Kigali has repeatedly denied. On 2 February, the Congolese authorities and M23 signed a document setting out the terms of reference for a ceasefire monitoring and verification mechanism under the Doha Framework Agreement, signed in November 2025. The Doha talks are being mediated by Qatar. Separate discussions have also taken place between the DRC and Rwanda, with mediation by the United States. UN News
Why Has Burkina Faso Banned Political Parties, and What’s Next?
After several years of suspension, political parties in Burkina Faso have been formally dissolved by the military government, which has also seized all their assets in a move analysts say is a major blow for democracy in the West African nation. … Before the 2022 coup, which brought the current military leadership to power, Burkina Faso had more than 100 registered political parties, with 15 represented in parliament after the 2020 general elections. … Landlocked Burkina Faso is currently grappling with several armed groups which have seized control of land in the country’s north, south and west, amounting to about 60 percent of the country, according to the Africa Center for Strategic Studies (ACSS). … Fatalities have tripled in the three years since Traore took power to reach 17,775 – mostly civilians – by last May, compared with the three years prior, when combined recorded deaths were 6,630, the ACSS recorded. … All political activities were first suspended immediately after the coup. In April 2024, the government also took aim at the media, ordering internet service providers to suspend access to the websites and other digital platforms of the BBC, Voice of America and HRW. Meanwhile, authorities have forced dozens of government critics into military service and sent them to fight against armed groups. Al Jazeera
UN Warns Islamic State Threat Growing, Situation Urgent in West Africa, Sahel
Acting Undersecretary-General of the U.N. Office of Counter-Terrorism Alexandre Zouev told the Security Council on Wednesday that the threat posed by the Islamic State group has increased steadily and remains multipolar and increasingly complex, with the situation in West Africa and the Sahel especially urgent. “The group and its affiliates continued to adapt and demonstrate resilience despite sustained counter‑terrorism pressure,” said Zouev. “The group continued to recruit foreign terrorist fighters, and to enhance their use of new and emerging technologies.” The group has also been able to maintain access to funding streams through opportunistic fund‑raising, unlawful taxation, and kidnapping for ransom, according to Zouev. In the Lake Chad Basin, Zouev said that the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) has further expanded its prominence. Africanews with AP
Turkey Boosts Air, Ground Military Support to Back Somalia’s War on Terror
Türkiye has strengthened its military deployment in Somalia, expanding air and ground units tasked with supporting the northeastern African country’s fight against terrorism, Turkish security officials said, as attacks intensify in and around the capital, Mogadishu. The Somali-Turkish Task Force and Türkiye’s Air Component Command continue to improve Somalia’s counterterrorism capacity through military assistance, training, and advisory activities, Turkish security officials said on Thursday. … In recent months, al Shabab has stepped up its attacks on government institutions, security forces, and public gathering places, underscoring the group’s ability to exploit security gaps even as Somali authorities push ahead with a nationwide offensive. … Türkiye has emerged as one of Somalia’s closest security partners, operating a major military training base in Mogadishu and providing extensive support to the Somali National Army. Turkish instructors have trained thousands of Somali troops, and Ankara has supplied equipment, technical assistance, and operational guidance. Garowe Online
Aid Workers Missing After Airstrikes Hit South Sudan Hospital
An unknown number of aid workers are missing after air strikes hit a hospital in South Sudan, near the Ethiopian border, a charity group says. The hospital, run by medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in Jonglei state, “was hit in an air strike by the government of South Sudan forces during the night on Tuesday”, MSF said. … In a separate attack, MSF said its health facility in Pieri, also in Jonglei state, was on the same day looted by unknown assailants, leaving it “unusable for the local community”. “Our colleagues had to flee with the community and their fate and whereabouts are still unknown,” the medical organisation said. There has been a resurgence in fighting in Jonglei state recently between government forces and those loyal to First Vice-President Riek Machar, who has been suspended from his post after being accused of plotting to overthrow President Salva Kiir. There are fears that the fighting could re-ignite a full-blown civil war in the world’s youngest nation. BBC
Congo-Brazzaville’s Veteran President Declares Re-election Run
Congo-Brazzaville’s 82-year-old President Denis Sassou Nguesso said Thursday he would run for a new term in elections next March, seeking to extend his more than four decades in power. Sassou Nguesso’s cumulative 42 years in power — minus a five-year break — make him one of Africa’s longest-ruling leaders, after Paul Biya of Cameroon, in office since 1982, and Equatorial Guinea’s Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, who took power in a 1979 coup. Congo-Brazzaville, an oil-rich central African country of six million people, is scheduled to hold presidential elections on March 15. … The country relies heavily on imported food, leaving the population vulnerable to international price fluctuations. Rights groups say basic freedoms are heavily restricted in the country, and have condemned threats against opposition figures. If Sasso Nguesso wins a new five-year term, it will be his last under the current constitution, which sets a limit of three. Sassou Nguesso first ruled the country under a single-party system from 1979 to 1992, before losing the first multi-party elections to former prime minister Pascal Lissouba. AFP
When War Destroys the Internet Economy
At least 11 countries witnessed conflict-related internet shutdowns in 2024, according to #KeepitOn, a coalition of more than 300 civil society groups led by digital rights group Access Now. The number of such shutdowns rose to 103 in 2024 from 74 in the previous year. In Sudan, the civil war that began in 2023 severely damaged telecom infrastructure, a crisis that continues to cripple local startups. Nina Saeed, founder of Sudanese fintech Cashi, now runs what she calls a “light footprint” operation from Dubai, with on-ground teams constantly adjusting to shifting threats. “There continues to be a lot of disruption to trade into the economy, and we continue to struggle with huge inflation and devaluation of the currency,” Saeed told Rest of World. “There continues to be a risk of the theater of war expanding and cities falling, drones attacking infrastructure. … So you’re reluctant to invest in growth in new parts of the country and even in existing parts.” … Sudan’s startup ecosystem has also been forced into distributed survival mode, with founders and teams scattered across borders. Rest of World
African Students Win Global Prize for AI Education System Without Internet
In many parts of the world, access to education is still held back by poor internet connectivity and the lack of smartphones. To help close this gap, students Happy Niyorurema and Mame Niang from Texas Christian University have created a system that delivers educational content via ordinary phone calls, removing the need for a smartphone. Their innovation was recognised in Dubai, where they received the Global Best M-Gov Award. … The system operates via standard voice calls, giving learners access to educational resources whether they are in major cities or remote rural areas. “It’s extremely easy to use – you don’t need a smartphone. I think this solution is innovative because we tend to assume people have access to smartphones and the internet. But with this, you can use even the most basic phone. We’ve already started our pilot programme in Rwanda, and we’re planning to expand across Africa, starting with Senegal, Zambia and other countries on the continent,” said Mame Niang. The World Government Summit in Dubai brought together government representatives from around the globe to discuss innovation, technology and ways to improve public services. This year’s edition concluded on Thursday. Africanews