Adapting Benin’s Battle with Violent Militant Groups
Benin has become a key front for violent militant Islamist groups operating from neighboring Burkina Faso and Niger seeking to expand their operations into coastal West Africa. Since the first attack in Benin in 2019, the security threat to districts in the north has steadily expanded and fatalities increased, reaching an estimated 575 deaths in 2025. These attacks are a spillover from the unmitigated militant Islamist threat in the Sahelian countries of Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger that have experienced a sevenfold increase in fatalities since 2019 and are now threatening each of the coastal West African countries. … Militants thrive where the state is absent or perceived as arbitrary. Reversing this dynamic requires placing civilian protection, credible justice, and service delivery at the center of strategy. Benin’s path forward requires aligning short-term measures—such as troop expansion and equipment procurement—with the accelerated implementation of reforms that strengthen leadership, accountability, and interagency cooperation, while anchoring security in the protection of communities. Africa Center for Strategic Studies
Goma in Eastern Congo Is Hanging by a Thread a Year After the City Fell to Rwanda-Backed Rebels
One year after M23 militants stormed into Goma, the rebel group still controls the main city in eastern Congo and is tightening its grip. The scars from the fighting between the Congolese army and M23 in January 2025 remain visible, but life has gradually returned to normal: Markets are functioning and people are adapting, but there is no real economic recovery. Bank closings, followed by the shutdown of the international airport, have severely crippled economic activity, plunging thousands of households into poverty. … In downtown Goma, the banking district is one of the most striking symbols of the new reality, with once-bustling buildings now shuttered. ATMs are out of service, and the bank signs are off. … According to [Deo Bengeya, an economics professor at the university in Goma], without banks, recovery remains impossible: no credit, no investment, no safeguarding of savings. Households consume what they have, when they can, without any prospects. “The economy of the city of Goma after its fall is in a very critical state,” Bengeya told The Associated Press. AP
Nigerian Military Officers To Face Trial Over 2025 Coup Plot
Nigeria’s military will try several officers over an alleged plan to oust President Bola Tinubu last year, it said Monday, acknowledging a plot the government had initially denied. In October, the military said 16 officers had been arrested over “issues of indiscipline”. Despite official denials, sources across the Nigerian government and military had told AFP they were arrested over a coup plot. If successful, this would have brought an end to a quarter-century of democracy in Africa’s most populous country. … “The Armed Forces of Nigeria (AFN) wishes to inform the general public that investigations into the matter have been concluded,” Major General Samaila Uba, a spokesman for the Defence Headquarters, said in a statement Monday. “The findings have identified a number of the officers with allegations of plotting to overthrow the government,” he said. “Those with cases to answer will be formally arraigned before appropriate military judicial panel to face trial.” AFP
“I Didn’t Know How to Shoot”: How African Men Have Been Tricked into Fighting for Russia
A growing number of people from Africa – including Kenya, Uganda and South Africa – and elsewhere have been lured to the frontline as Russia seeks manpower to sustain its war. Late last year, Ukraine’s foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, said more than 1,400 citizens from 36 African countries were fighting for Russia in Ukraine. Many are being held in Ukrainian camps as prisoners of war. Kenya’s ministry of foreign and diaspora affairs said more than 200 of its nationals may be in Ukraine, having been tricked by recruitment networks that post fake job adverts online. … The recruitment networks, which include local employment agencies that promise Kenyans foreign jobs, are capitalising on the east African country’s high youth unemployment rate and its push to send its citizens to work abroad. Denis Muniu, a security and foreign policy analyst, said the networks target unemployed youth who qualify for general labour and infantry roles and former security personnel who can be deployed with minimal training. They leverage what he termed weak oversight of employment agencies. The Guardian
Sudanese Army Breaks RSF Siege of Dilling in South Kordofan State
The Sudanese army said on Monday it had broken the siege of Dilling, the second-largest city in South Kordofan state, after fierce fighting against the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and allied SPLA-N fighters. The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and allied Joint Forces launched an operation early on Monday, making rapid gains on the South Kordofan front. The army said it had broken the blockade by linking Dilling to North Kordofan via the eastern road and seizing the strategic town of Habila. … By breaking the siege, the army has restored supply lines and opened vital corridors from North Kordofan. Military analysts view the move as a precursor to an advance on the state capital, Kadugli, which remains under a tightening blockade. Videos circulated on social media by army supporters showed large crowds in Dilling welcoming military convoys, marking the end of the city’s isolation. The siege of major cities in South Kordofan has severely exacerbated the humanitarian crisis since the conflict began. Famine has been recorded in Dilling due to acute food shortages and a lack of humanitarian aid. Sudan Tribune
US, EU Query Conduct of Uganda Polls
The US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations and Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) have separately called into question the conduct and results of the January 15 presidential elections in Uganda. The two groups called for an independent, impartial, and transparent investigation into the credibility of the election results as well as reported killings, acts of violence, and human rights violations committed before, during, and after the polls. They also cited preliminary reports by the election observer missions from the African Union (AU), the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, and the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development, as well as civil society groups that said: “the elections did not meet basic democratic standards.” … Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho), the chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, described the Ugandan elections as a “hollow exercise staged to legitimise President Museveni’s seventh term and four decades in power.” … The MEPs indicated that the arbitrary arrests of Opposition politicians, and a nationwide Internet shutdown, followed months of voter suppression, including restrictions on opposition activities, harassment and detention of political activists, violent attacks on Opposition campaign rallies, voter intimidation, and severe limitations on freedoms of assembly, expression, and movement, made the election process fall below democratic standards. Monitor
Interpol Arrests More Than 3,700 Suspects in Global Trafficking Crackdown
A global crackdown on human traffickers and migrant smugglers coordinated by Interpol led to the arrest of more than 3,700 suspects and aided over 4,400 potential trafficking victims around the world, the law enforcement organization said Monday. … Interpol highlighted cases involving South Americans and Asians in Africa, saying there appeared to be an emerging change in human trafficking that contrasts with past patterns of African victims being trafficked abroad. Trafficking scams remained a serious concern, with migrants intercepted from dangerous routes along the coasts of Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, Morocco and Algeria and land networks in Peru, Brazil and other countries, Interpol said. Authorities in the West and Central African countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Senegal and Sierra Leone reported law enforcement action that rescued more than 200 victims and disrupted “multiple recruitment and exploitation hubs.” Victims in Africa often are recruited through the pretext of foreign employment. AP
People Cling to Treetops as “Worst Floods in a Generation” Sweep Mozambique
Tens of thousands of people in Mozambique are being rescued as rising waters continue to devastate the southern African nation – the worst flooding in a generation. Teams from Brazil, South Africa and the UK have been helping with life-saving rescue operations. … At least 642,122 people have been affected since 7 January by flooding – particularly in southern and central regions, with 12 deaths recorded so far, according to provisional data from the National Institute for Disaster Risk Management and Reduction. In total 125 people have died in Mozambique since the rainy season began in October. … Some aerial views show water as far as the eye can see. Hundreds of families remain cut off. All vehicles have now been banned from roads between the provinces of Maputo and Gaza to the north. Transport Minister João Matlombe said it was because main roads, in particular the N1 highway which runs the whole length of the country and is the only link to the north, were flooded. The suspension is already leading to shortages and price hikes, including of basic foodstuffs, coconut and fuel – even as far away as the north-western city of Tete, more than 1,500km from Maputo. BBC
UN Fears Hundreds of Migrants Missing or Dead in Med Shipwrecks Since Start Of 2026
Hundreds of migrants may be missing at sea or feared dead following reports of multiple deadly shipwrecks in the central Mediterranean in recent days, the UN’s migration agency warned Monday. The International Organization for Migration said it was “deeply concerned” by the reports, which it is currently verifying. … The agency warned that severe weather was significantly hampering search and rescue operations. … The reported wrecks involved boats that were believed to have departed from Tunisia and Libya, according to Merna Abdelazim, a data analyst with the IOM’s Missing Migrants Project. … The incidents, which occurred as Cyclone Harry hit the Mediterranean, “once again underscore the lethal consequences of migrant smuggling and trafficking networks that continue to operate with impunity, deliberately sending people to sea on unseaworthy and overcrowded boats”, the agency said. AFP
Morocco and Senegal Pledge to Stay Friends and Boost Trade After Africa Cup Soccer Tensions
Refusing to let a tumultuous soccer game strain diplomatic and economic ties, Morocco and Senegal pledged Monday to give fresh momentum to their relationship and boost trade and investment between the two African nations. The prime ministers of Morocco and Senegal signed 17 agreements in the Moroccan capital Rabat on increasing investments in sectors like agriculture, infrastructure, fisheries and mining. … For Senegal, a heavily indebted West African nation, Morocco is a leading African investor. Senegal is seeking to attract investment from abroad, and Morocco has poured hundreds of millions of dollars into Senegal’s banking, energy and agricultural sectors. … For Morocco, Senegal is a key export destination. Morocco shipped more than $200 million worth of goods to Senegal in 2024, and has sought to expand its economic and diplomatic footprint across Africa as part of a broader strategy to strengthen its continental influence. AP
‘Our Children Are Next’ Fear Kenyans As Drought Wipes Out Livestock
In drought-hit northeastern Kenya, villagers have been forced to drag their dead livestock to distant fields for burning to keep the stench of death and scavenging hyenas away from their homes. Mandera county along Kenya’s borders with Ethiopia and Somalia has seen no rain since May and is now on the point of a full-blown water emergency. … More than two million people across 23 counties in Kenya are facing worsening food insecurity after the October–December short rains failed, with rainfall two-thirds below average. … The National Drought Management Authority has placed about nine counties on alert, while Mandera County is at the “alarm” phase, one step short of an official emergency. The Famine Early Warning Systems Network recently said 20 to 25 million people in Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia need humanitarian food assistance, more than half because of drought. AFP