Night of Chaos in Niamey as Heavy Gunfire Erupts at Niger’s International Airport
Heavy gunfire and loud explosions were heard throughout Wednesday night near the Diori Hamani International Airport in Niamey, the capital of Niger, before a tentative calm returned on Thursday morning, according to local residents. Niger, which has been plagued by recurring Islamist violence, is currently led by Gen Abdourahamane Tiani. Tiani took power in a July 2023 coup that overthrew the democratically elected president, Mohamed Bazoum. Witnesses in neighbourhoods surrounding the airport said the shooting began shortly after midnight. …The airport is located about 10km from the presidential palace and serves as a strategic hub. It houses a Nigerien air force base, a recently constructed drone facility, and the headquarters of the joint force established by Niger, Burkina Faso, and Mali to combat the regional insurgency. While the cause of the clashes remained unclear overnight, footage filmed by local residents showed long streaks of light across the night sky, indicating the use of anti-aircraft weapons, possibly targeting drones. AFP
Dozens Killed in RSF Drone Strike in Sudan’s South Kordofan
Dozens of civilians were killed, and others injured on Wednesday in a drone strike by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) targeting a gathering in the city of Dilling, South Kordofan, local sources and medical groups said. The attack involved suicide drones and struck various parts of the city, including the main market and the headquarters of the Sudanese army’s 54th Brigade, sources said. The strike comes two days after the Sudanese army announced it had broken a siege on Dilling by reconnecting it to North Kordofan State to the east. The breakthrough followed intense battles between the army and its allies against the RSF and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) led by Abdel Aziz al-Hilu. Since the siege was lifted, the city has faced repeated drone attacks that have caused numerous casualties and destroyed service facilities. Sudan Tribune
UN Warns of Crisis in Sudan’s Dilling as Isolation Persists
The humanitarian situation in Dilling, South Kordofan’s second-largest city, has reached crisis levels as prolonged isolation and severed access routes choke off essential supplies, a United Nations spokesperson said on Wednesday. Speaking at a noon briefing, Stéphane Dujarric, spokesperson for Secretary-General António Guterres, described the conditions in the city as “highly volatile.” He noted that while half of Dilling’s civilian population fled last year, those remaining face critical shortages of food, healthcare, and basic necessities. … The conflict continues to drive mass displacement across the region. According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), more than 88,000 people were displaced across Kordofan between late October and mid-January. The warning follows a major shift in the city’s military status. On Jan. 26, the Sudanese army announced it had officially broken a long-running siege of Dilling. … The breakthrough followed a successful military operation that secured the eastern road link to North Kordofan, regaining control of strategic locations including the town of Habila. Sudan Tribune
ECOWAS Lifts All Sanctions Against Guinea
The West African regional bloc ECOWAS on Wednesday removed all outstanding sanctions imposed against Guinea following the 2021 coup, after last month’s election of former junta leader Mamady Doumbouya. ECOWAS imposed a raft of sanctions on the mineral-rich but poor country after Doumbouya ousted President Alpha Condé. In February 2024, ECOWAS eased some of those sanctions — lifting the restrictions on financial transactions with its member institutions. … [Doumboya] toppled Guinea’s first freely elected president, Condé, in 2021 and has since cracked down on civil liberties and banned protests. Political opponents have been arrested, put on trial or driven into exile. Africanews
Ethiopia: PM Abiy Receives US Deputy Secretary Christopher Landau, AFRICOM Commander as Ethiopia, US Agree to Deepen Security Cooperation
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said he received a courtesy visit from US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher T. Landau and the Commander of the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM), General Dagvin Anderson, describing the engagement as warm and constructive and underscoring the importance of continued collaboration and mutual respect between the two countries. The visit comes as part of a regional tour by Deputy Secretary Landau that includes Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Djibouti, scheduled to run from 24 January to 1 February. … During their stay, Landau and General Anderson also visited the International Aviation Expo organized by the Ethiopian Air Force, according to the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF). … Following the visit, the US delegation met with Minister of Defense Aisha Mohammed. In a joint statement issued after talks with General Anderson, the Minister said Ethiopia and the United States had agreed to work together to safeguard their national interests and elevate their existing diplomatic and military ties into what she described as a higher strategic partnership. … In Addis Abeba, Landau is also expected to meet African Union Commission Chairperson Mahmoud Ali Youssouf to discuss regional peace and security, commercial engagement, and humanitarian challenges across the continent. Addis Standard
Ethiopian Police Arrest 22 in Human Trafficking Crackdown
Ethiopian police have arrested 22 people accused of smuggling nearly 2,000 migrants, in a network that reportedly caused at least two deaths and earned millions for those involved. Ethiopia is a key departure point for migrants heading to the Gulf and Europe and is known for human trafficking and scams. Authorities said the suspects ran “criminal gangs” and gave migrants false promises of a better life in Europe after crossing through Libya. Instead, migrants were held in warehouses, forced to contact their families for ransom, and effectively kept hostage until payment. The gang is believed to have made over 2.16 billion birr ($13 million) from smuggling around 1,800 people, resulting in at least two deaths and 15 disappearances. In August, Ethiopia sentenced five traffickers to death, though the country has not carried out an execution since 2007, according to the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty. Africanews
Kenya Proposes Inclusive South Sudan Peace Talks
Kenya is pushing for inclusive peace talks in South Sudan that would bring together all parties and stakeholders, with the aim of concluding an inclusive peace process culminating in elections, diplomatic sources said. Diplomatic sources told Radio Tamazuj on Wednesday that Kenya proposed inclusive peace talks between the government in Juba and opposition groups, bringing together the various parties to the conflict. The proposal was discussed during high-level talks held in Nairobi in the presence of Tumaini Initiative Chief Mediator Lazarus Sumbeiywo. The Tumaini Initiative was suspended in February last year. … Kenyan President William Ruto on Wednesday met South Sudan’s Presidential Special Envoy Tut Gatluak Manime at State House in Nairobi. The South Sudanese government delegation included Foreign Minister Monday Semaya Kumba. Separately, the sources confirmed that a meeting was held with senior opposition officials who were part of the Tumaini Initiative to brief them on the plan for inclusive talks. … South Sudan is witnessing escalating fighting between government forces (SSPDF) and SPLA-IO fighters loyal to detained opposition leader Riek Machar in northern Jonglei state and other parts of the country. Radio Tamazuj
Activist Bireete Granted Bail, Not to Leave Uganda Without Court’s Permission
Renowned seasoned lawyer and human rights activist Sarah Bireete has been granted bail after spending nearly a month in prison on charges of unlawfully obtaining or disclosing personal data (specifically, National Voter’s Information). The Executive Director for the Centre for Constitutional Governance (CCG) was on Wednesday granted a cash bail of Shs1 million and ordered to deposit her passport with the court. She was also ordered not to leave Uganda without the permission of the court. … Ms Bireete was arrested on December 30, 2025 and subsequently remanded to prison, where she has been since. Her earlier attempts to secure bail had been denied. … Bireete has been outspoken on the human rights violations inflicted on Ugandans and the misuse of public funds. She is a founding partner and executive director for Center for Constitutional Governance (CCG), a Uganda constitutional watchdog (non-governmental organisation) based in Kampala. Monitor
Huge Mozambique Gas Project Restarts After Five-Year Pause
French energy giant TotalEnergies officially relaunched Thursday a massive gas project in northern Mozambique after a five-year pause imposed following a jihadist attack that claimed hundreds of lives. Reportedly the largest private investment in Africa’s energy infrastructure, the Mozambique LNG project is expected to generate thousands of jobs and help make the country one of the world’s biggest LNG exporters. TotalEnergies chief executive Patrick Pouyanne announced the restart of the work at a ceremony attended by President Daniel Chapo. … The $20-billion project in the northern Cabo Delgado province on the border with Tanzania was suspended following the 2021 attack that killed an estimated 800 people. … Northern Mozambique has been battered by a bloody jihadist insurgency since late 2017. While the region has not experienced an attack on the scale of the one in 2021, there are regular attacks on civilians and troops blamed on jihadist insurgents. AFP
Ghana Moves to Rewrite Mining Laws for Bigger Share of Gold Revenues
Ghana is preparing to overhaul its mining laws to increase its share of the revenues generated by the surge in the precious metal’s price, sparking concern among foreign mining companies in Africa’s top gold producer. By revising its mining code, which currently offers foreign mining firms favourable tax and royalty terms, leaving the state with a limited stake, Ghana is following in the footsteps of other African countries. They are looking to tighten control over natural resources as global demand for gold and critical minerals such as cobalt soars. … Under proposed reforms expected to be presented to parliament by March, mining royalties would jump from the current three to five percent range to between nine and 12 percent, depending on global gold prices, Tandoh said. … The reforms would scrap development agreements entirely and review stability clauses that shield investors from future policy changes, a move authorities say reflects Ghana’s growing experience in managing the sector. … Alongside fiscal reforms, Ghana has tightened gold trading rules, particularly in the small-scale sector, to curb smuggling and improve transparency. AFP
Corruption Trial of Nigeria’s Ex-Oil Minister and Former OPEC Chief Opens in London
[Diezani Alison-Madueke OPEC’s first female president] is charged with multiple counts of bribery between 2011 and 2015, when she served as oil minister under Nigeria’s former president Goodluck Jonathan. The 65-year-old has been on bail since she was first arrested in London in October 2015 and was formally charged in 2023. Prosecutors say she accepted financial rewards from companies wanting oil and gas contracts with Nigeria’s state-owned petroleum corporation. … Alison-Madueke is accused of accepting “financial or other advantages” from individuals linked to the Atlantic Energy and SPOG Petrochemical groups. Several properties owned by Alison-Madueke valued at millions of dollars have been seized by Nigerian authorities. Two others are also charged with bribery offenses, including Alison-Madueke’s brother. All three defendants had a British address at the time of the alleged crimes. They deny all the charges. Africanews with agencies
Rwanda Seeks Arbitration Over Cancellation of Asylum Deal With UK
Rwanda has filed an arbitration case against Britain over the cancellation of an asylum deal by Prime Minister Keir Starmer in 2024, the government of the East African nation said. Under the scheme, signed before Starmer took office, Britain agreed to pay Rwanda to take in migrants who had arrived illegally in Britain. It only managed to send four people voluntarily to Rwanda as legal challenges stalled the plan. Rwanda has submitted a notice to the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration, arguing Britain had breached the financial arrangements of the “migration partnership”, its government said in a statement on X on Tuesday. It added that Britain had asked it in 2024 to forgo two payments of 50 million pounds ($69 million) due in April 2025 and April 2026 in anticipation of the formal termination of the treaty underlying the deal. Rwanda said it was prepared to agree, provided the treaty was terminated and new financial terms were negotiated and agreed. … A spokesperson for Starmer told reporters on Tuesday: “The Rwanda scheme was a complete disaster, it wasted 700 million pounds of taxpayer cash to return just four volunteers.” … Relations between Britain and Rwanda soured last year when London paused some aid over the Rwandan role in the war in Democratic Republic of Congo. Reuters