Rights Group Says New Weapons Fuelling Sudan War, Urges Expansion of Arms Embargo
Amnesty International, in a report entitled, New Weapons Fueling Sudan Conflict, shows how recently manufactured foreign weapons have been transferred into and around Sudan, in breach of the arms embargo on Darfur…According to Amnesty International, recently manufactured or recently transferred weapons and ammunition from countries including China, Russia, Serbia, Türkiye, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Yemen are being imported in large quantities into war-torn Sudan, and then in some cases diverted into Darfur…The group revealed that advanced drone jammers, mortars and anti-materiel rifles manufactured in China have been used by both sides of the conflict. However, a variety of recently manufactured armoured personnel carriers from UAE have reportedly been used by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Sudan Tribune
Suspected Islamists Kill at Least 17 Civilians in East DR Congo
Suspected Islamist rebels killed at least 17 people in an attack on civilians working fields in east Democratic Republic of Congo on Tuesday, a local official and a hospital worker said on Wednesday. The attack targeted residents of the town of Oicha in Congo’s North Kivu province, a mineral-rich area that has been plagued with militia violence left over from a civil war that ended at the turn of the century. The victims were tending crops around 20 km (12.43 miles) west of the town. Oicha Mayor Nicolas Kikuku blamed members of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), an Islamic State-linked group originally from neighbouring Uganda that is now in east Congo and frequently attacks civilians…The head of the morgue, Kakule Sekera, said…[s]ome had their heads severed. “The victims have been decapitated with machetes,” Sekera said. Reuters
Congo’s ‘Other’ Conflict Kills Thousands in West Near the Capital
Nine soldiers and 70 militiamen died in clashes on July 13 in Kinsele, a village 80 miles east of Kinshasa, according to the local authorities. It was the latest surge of violence in an area where thousands of civilians have been killed and more than 550,000 displaced since 2022, according to estimates from humanitarian organizations and United Nations agencies. The initial spark for the conflict two years ago was a tax dispute between local ethnic groups, the Teke and the Yaka. It has since billowed into a fight over land access, with a bloody trail of summary executions, burned villages and sexual violence. A militia pretending to defend some of the communities in the area has enlisted child soldiers, forced women to marry their fighters and looted villagers’ crops, sending people fleeing toward Kinshasa, humanitarian groups and U.N. experts say…Mobondo fighters now control large swathes of land, making aid access difficult. The Mobondo also ambush traders and seize crops to feed their fighters or finance their war effort, according to human rights groups and local news reports. They have also tortured local residents and kidnapped them for ransom, according to the United Nations…The Congolese military and police still control the main roads in the region, but Mobondo fighters run military outposts in the villages they’ve seized, according to U.N. experts and humanitarian organizations. To quell the violence, the Congolese military has conscripted about 1,000 of those involved in the conflict, including fighters from the Mobondo militia, according to U.N. experts. They have been sent to north Kivu, at the opposite end of the country in the east, to fight the M23. The New York Times
A Year Has Passed since Niger’s Dramatic Coup. Life Has Become More Dangerous and Desperate
When a group of military officers appeared on state television in Niger one year ago to announce a dramatic coup, they said they deposed the West African nation’s elected government for two key reasons: its security and economic crises. But those challenges have persisted, even worsened. The country’s 26 million people — among the world’s youngest and poorest — are struggling after the junta severed ties with key international partners, who have imposed sanctions and suspended security and development support affecting close to half of Niger’s budget…Niger had been the West’s last reliable partner in the region in battling jihadists linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group…On the streets, where thousands of mostly young people cheered the coup in its early dramatic days, there is growing frustration. But there are no public protests amid concerns about possible retaliation by the junta, which still holds deposed President Mohamed Bazoum in detention. The junta has said he will be charged with treason, to widespread criticism abroad. There’s a “real depressing effect on the ability of the government to provide services and on the ability of businesses to thrive,” said Daniel Eizenga, a research fellow with the Africa Center for Strategic Studies. AP
Uganda Police Arrest More People Protesting Corruption
Ugandan police detained several people in the capital Kampala on Thursday during a second day of anti-corruption protests that are demanding the resignation of the parliament speaker, footage broadcast by local media showed. Drawing inspiration from weeks of youth-led protests in neighbouring Kenya that forced the president there to withdraw proposed tax hikes, young Ugandans began demonstrating this week against alleged graft by elected leaders…Ugandan and Kenyan activists have used audio forums on X as the main platform for organising their protests. In one such forum on Thursday, activists encouraged Ugandans to take to the streets but acknowledged the challenge of mobilising in a country where anti-government demonstrations routinely draw forceful police crackdowns…The protesters’ demands include the resignation of parliament speaker Anita Among, who was sanctioned this year by the United States and Britain for alleged involvement in corruption. Reuters
Kenyan President Ruto Nominates Opposition Members to Cabinet
Kenya’s President William Ruto has nominated four senior ranking members of the opposition ODM party as part of his new broad-based government following sustained countrywide protests that have disrupted economic activities. The President on Wednesday nominated ODM’s John Mbadi to Cabinet Secretary National Treasury; Opiyo Wandayi to Energy and Petroleum; Ali Hassan Joho to Mining, Blue Economy and Maritime Affairs; and Wycliffe Oparanya to the Ministry of Co-operatives and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Development. The nominees are allies of opposition leader Raila Odinga, whom President Ruto defeated in the 2022 election. Young protesters behind six weeks of demonstrations that forced Dr Ruto to withdraw Finance Bill, 2024 had already voiced opposition to a unity government…Besides the four opposition members, President Ruto named five members of the cabinet he dismissed earlier this month in response to protesters’ demands. Last week, the President announced 11 nominations – six of whom were holdovers from the previous cabinet. The EastAfrican and Reuters
Ethiopia: UN Expects Death Toll from Gofa Landslide to Rise up to 500, 257 Bodies Retrieved so Far
The UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that the death toll from the landslide that struck the Gofa zone in South Ethiopia region has reached 257 as of Thursday, 24 July 2024…According to the office, search and rescue operations are still ongoing under the leadership of local authorities with the support from the Ethiopian Red Cross Society and community members – mainly digging through mounds of mud with their bare hands and spades for lack of other options, and local officials expect the death toll to rise to up to 500 people. In its second flash update report since the incident on Monday this week, the UNOCHA said more than 15,000 people, including at least 1,320 children under 5 years of age and 5,293 pregnant and lactating women, are at high risk of further landslides and need to be evacuated to safe zones immediately. Addis Standard
Eritrea Suspends Ethiopian Airlines Flights, Airline Says
Eritrean authorities have suspended all flights by Ethiopian Airlines to the East African nation effective Sept. 30, the airline said on Wednesday. Flights from Ethiopia to Eritrea had resumed in 2018 after two decades, following a peace deal between the two neighbours that earned Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed a Nobel peace prize a year later…State-owned Ethiopian Airlines is ranked the largest in Africa by revenue and profit by the global industry body International Air Transport Association. Reuters
Somaliland Says It ‘Vehemently Rejects Any Potential Deployment of Turkish Naval Forces’ within Its ‘Recognized Maritime Zones
In a statement released [yesterday], the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Somaliland said it “vehemently rejects any potential deployment of Turkish naval forces within Somaliland’s recognized maritime zones.” This comes in the backdrop of the recent announcement that Turkey was poised to send its navy support to Somali waters following an earlier agreement between Ankara and Mogadishu that will allow Turkey to send an exploration vessel off the coast of Somalia to prospect for oil and gas…In February this year, Turkey and Somalia signed a defense cooperation in the wake of Somalia’s rejection of the Memorandum of Understanding signed between Ethiopia and Somaliland earlier in January. Addis Standard
Egyptian Authorities Host Dialogue on Detention after New Wave of Arrests
Egyptian authorities have extended the pretrial detention of at least 125 people and arrested two journalists shortly before holding a national dialogue on Tuesday to discuss pretrial detention policies, rights lawyers and groups say. Most of those detained were swept up in a wave of arrests following calls for protests on July 12 over economic conditions under President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, they said. Although there were no protests, dozens were arrested from their homes and held on accusations including spreading false news, using social media platforms to promote terrorist ideas, and belonging to a terrorist organization, rights lawyer Nabih El-Genady said…Authorities have also arrested two journalists in the past week, one a cartoonist for independent news outlet Al-Manassa missing since plain-clothed officers raided his house on Monday, the other a reporter for the Arabic Post new website, said Ali…Officials say the judiciary acts independently and authorities are taking steps on human rights, though critics have dismissed measures as largely cosmetic. Reuters
More than a Dozen African Migrants Dead, over 150 Missing after Their Boat Capsized on Way to Europe
More than a dozen migrants died and at least 150 others are missing after their boat capsized off Mauritania on their way to Europe, the International Organization for Migration said, triggering a frantic search and rescue operation. There were 300 migrants on the boat that capsized on Monday near the Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott, and 120 have been rescued by the Mauritanian Coast Guard, the IOM said in a statement on Wednesday…A surge of migrants has left West Africa in recent years through Senegal, from where they have to navigate north past Mauritania to reach Spain’s Canary Islands. In the latest case, the migrants were traveling on artisanal fishing boats, known as pirogues, which can be overwhelmed by strong winds and Atlantic currents. While thousands have survived the risky journey, many die or disappear along the way, with remains sometimes washing up on the other side of the Atlantic…Among those so far rescued in Monday’s incident were four unaccompanied and separated children, the IOM said, adding that 10 survivors were referred to hospitals for medical attention. African migrants trying to reach Europe are often fleeing poverty and instability. Although it is their journey to make, the decision to leave is sometimes not personal but made by their families in the hope of positive outcomes. AP
Boat with 45 Refugees Capsizes off Yemen’s Coast, UNHCR Says
A boat with at least 45 refugees has capsized off the coast of Yemen’s Taiz on Wednesday night, and there are only four survivors, the U.N. refugee agency in Yemen said on Thursday. The boat capsized because of strong winds and overloading, the agency added. It said it was working with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to assist the survivors and provide protection. No further details were provided about the rest of the refugees. In June, at least 49 migrants died and 140 went missing after their vessel, which departed from Somalia carrying 260 migrants, capsized of the Yemeni coast. IOM, which runs a tally of migrants who are killed or go missing on migration routes, has since 2014 recorded 1,860 migrant deaths and disappearances along the route running from East Africa and the Horn of Africa to Gulf countries. According to the United Nations, 97,000 migrants arrived in Yemen from the Horn of Africa last year. Reuters
Nigerian Military Rescues Chibok Girl
The Nigerian military has rescued Ehi Abdul, one of the “Chibok girls” whose kidnapping by Boko Haram militants in 2014 generated worldwide attention. Authorities say the rescue operation late last month rescued 330 other captives and highlights the ongoing efforts to combat insurgents and rehabilitate victims in northeastern Borno state. Ehi Abdul, a Chibok schoolgirl kidnapped along with 275 others nearly a decade ago, is finally free. She spent about 10 years in the Sambisa Forest, where she says she was forced to marry eight Boko Haram fighters and bear them two children. Abdul and other former captives were handed over to the Borno state government on Monday after a month of health care and reintegration…Although not completely eradicated, counterterrorism efforts have weakened Boko Haram and reduced attacks. VOA