7 Security Forces and 5 Rangers Killed in Benin National Park as Jihadi Violence Takes Root
At least seven members of Beninese security forces and five rangers working with a conservation nonprofit have been killed in an attack by an armed group in Benin’s National Park W that is overrun by militants, according to the conservation group. The attack earlier this week on Wednesday happened not far from the Mékrou River in the 10,000-square-kilometer (3,800-square-miles) park which straddles the borders with Burkina Faso and Niger, the African Parks group said in a statement on Saturday. Authorities in Benin have not yet spoken about the attack, which is common with the government and the military. It is the latest in a surge in violence in which jihadis from the conflict-battered Sahel region that is south of the Sahara Desert have spread further into West Africa, targeting coastal states like Benin. AP
Warring Parties in Sudan Accused of Carrying Out Wave of Rapes
Fighters on both sides of Sudan’s civil war have carried out a wave of rapes, including attacking women in front of their families, sexually assaulting them in the hospital and fatally injuring them during gang rapes, according to a report by Human Rights Watch released on Monday. The victims were between the ages of 9 and at least 60, and some were held captive over extended periods so they could be repeatedly raped, the report says…The HRW report accuses both the Sudanese military and the RSF of committing rapes and focused on assaults that occurred in the capital, Khartoum. The report relies on testimony from 42 people who tended to the women, including health-care providers, counselors and social workers, because the war prevented HRW researchers from traveling to Sudan to speak with survivors. The group notes that most of its research focused on events that occurred in areas under RSF control but that rapes by the military increased after it took control of the city of Omdurman, across the Nile River from Khartoum… The report says some men had also been sexually abused…The report says both warring parties had threatened and detained doctors, nurses and emergency-care responders because of their work, including providing support to survivors of rape. The military blocked the provision of medical supplies to RSF-held areas, the report says, a complaint repeated by other medical aid groups. The report says RSF fighters had also sexually attacked health-care providers and arrested and threatened to kill a health worker who documented rapes. The Washington Post
Sudan Army Weighs Swiss Talks with RSF, Awaits U.S. Envoy
Sudan’s army will inform the United States of its decision on whether to participate in proposed talks with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Switzerland, military sources said on Sunday. The decision will be communicated during a meeting in Port Sudan with U.S. envoy Tom Perriello, who is expected to arrive in the city next month, the sources added. Perriello confirmed on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, that he had held consultations in Djibouti with international and regional parties on resolving the conflict in Sudan. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken invited the army and the RSF to Switzerland for talks starting on Aug. 14 under the auspices of the United States, the United Arab Emirates, and Egypt. The military sources said a joint committee formed by the army and the Sovereign Council, Sudan’s interim governing body, was preparing a report on the invitation. The army has not yet decided on participating in the talks, a military source said. Sudan Tribune
Rebel Coalition in Mali Claims to Have Killed Dozens of Soldiers and Russian Wagner Mercenaries
A coalition of armed groups in Mali’s predominantly Tuareg north claimed Saturday that it killed dozens of government soldiers and Russian mercenaries from the Wagner group in a battle near the border with Algeria. On social media, amateur videos showed the lifeless bodies of several white men and Malian soldiers scattered on the ground alongside destroyed vehicles. The rebel claim came after the Malian army issued a statement Friday night saying two soldiers had been killed and 10 wounded in a rebel attack that also disabled two armored vehicles and two pickup trucks. The army claimed its troops killed approximately 20 rebels and destroyed several vehicles. Neither side’s account could be independently confirmed…If true, it would be the biggest blow inflicted on Wagner mercenaries by Tuareg rebels in Mali. AP
Russia’s Wagner Says It Took Losses in Heavy Fighting against Rebels in Mali
Russia’s Wagner mercenary group said on Monday that its fighters and Malian soldiers took losses in heavy fighting against Tuareg rebels near Mali’s border with Algeria. Mali, where military authorities seized power in coups in 2020 and 2021, is battling a years-long Islamist insurgency. It has said Russian forces there are not Wagner mercenaries but trainers helping local troops with equipment bought from Russia. The rebel movement, the Permanent Strategic Framework for Peace, Security and Development (CSP-PSD), said on Saturday that it had seized armoured vehicles, trucks and tankers in the fighting at the border town of Tinzaouaten. Wagner, in a rare statement, said its forces had fought alongside Mali soldiers from July 22-27 and that Wagner fighters were commanded by Sergei Shevchenko, whose callsign was “Pond”, near Tinzaouaten…Wagner said Shevchenko was killed. Reuters
Libyans Arrested at SA Security Training Firm Linked to Group Which Once Tried to Topple UN-backed Tripoli Government
The 95 Libyan nationals arrested in a raid on what appeared to be a security training site converted into an illegal military training base on a farm near White River, Mpumalanga, are reportedly on the payroll of eastern Libyan military strongman General Khalifa Haftar, who has also been a close ally of the private Russian military company Wagner and of the Russian government more generally. Russia, and in particular, Wagner, have been highly active in Libya since 2018, fighting on the side of the Libyan alternative government based at Benghazi and Tobruk in the east of the country, which once tried to topple the United Nations-backed government in the west of the country with its capital in Tripoli. The Libyan nationals will appear in the White River Magistrates’ Court on Monday, 29 July. They will face charges relating to the contravention of the Immigration Act after they entered South Africa with visas that were acquired through misrepresentation in Tunis, Tunisia, according to the Department of Home Affairs. They are being held in custody. Daily Maverick
Libyan Court Jails 12 Officials over Deadly Floods
A Libyan court has jailed 12 officials in connection with the collapse of a series of dams in Derna last year that killed thousands of the city’s residents, the Attorney General said on Sunday. The officials, who were responsible for managing the country’s dams, were sentenced to between 9 and 27 years in prison by the Court of Appeal in Derna. Four officials were acquitted. Derna, a coastal city with a population of 125,000, was devastated last September by massive floods caused by Storm Daniel. Thousands were killed and thousands more were missing as a result of the floods that burst dams, swept away buildings and destroyed entire neighbourhoods…”The convicted officials have been charged with negligence, premeditated murder and waste of public money,” a judicial source in Derna told Reuters by phone, adding that they had the right to appeal against the verdicts. A report in January by the World Bank, United Nations and European Union said…the dams’ collapse was partly due to their design, based on outdated hydrological information, and partly a result of poor maintenance and governance problems during more than a decade of conflict in Libya. Reuters
Nigeria: Court Convicts 125 Terrorism Suspects in Mass Trial
The Nigerian government has secured the conviction of 125 Boko Haram suspects of terrorism offences, including terrorism financing. The Federal High Court handed down the conviction in a mass trial held at the military detention facility in Kanji, Niger State. The trial, conducted over two days, saw defendants face charges ranging from financing terrorism to committing crimes under the International Criminal Court (ICC) statutes. The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice (AGF), Lateef Fagbemi, announced the convictions on Friday through a statement released by his spokesperson, Kamarudeen Ogundele. Mr Fagbemi stated that 85 individuals were convicted of financing terrorism, 22 for ICC-related crimes, and the remaining defendants for various terrorism offences…The Head of Strategic Communication for the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC-ONSA), Abu Michael, stated on Wednesday that the ongoing trials align with the international criminal justice system. He said that at least 300 suspects are on trial, represented by lawyers from the Legal Aid Council of Nigeria. Premium Times
Nigeria Bids to Placate Youth to Avert Looming Inflation Protests
Days before a nationwide protest over bad governance and a high cost of living, Nigeria is offering its young people jobs in the state-oil company and billions of naira worth of grants among other incentives to discourage the action. Nigerian activists have been looking to emulate youth-led protests elsewhere in Africa which have rocked the government in Kenya and prompted a tough security response in Uganda. Nigeria’s state oil firm, which seven years ago warned job seekers against falling prey to fraudulent messages about job placements in the company, published on Friday nationwide job vacancies in a post on X for the first time in nearly a decade…Nigerians are organising online for nationwide protests next week in response to a cost of living crisis that has seen inflation rise to a 28-year-high of 34.2% which followed President Bola Tinubu’s removal of fuel subsidies and a currency devaluation. Reuters
Chad’s Largest Online News Website Suspended
Access to Chad’s largest online news platform has been suspended since Friday, an organization for Chadian online media reported on Sunday. The group said the website for Tchadinfos.com, the leading news organization in the Sahel country, had been taken offline after it refused to comply with a request from former adviser to the Chadian President Abakar Manany. “A few weeks ago, M. Manany demanded via his lawyers that Tchadinfos remove all articles written about him — we refused to take them down because these are factual articles,” the website’s general manager Mamadou Djimtebaye told AFP. “He then reached out to our U.S.-based host via his lawyers in South Africa to suspend us,” Djimtebaye added. The Organization for Online Media in Chad in a statement denounced “serious attacks on press freedom and the freedom to inform,” asking that an independent probe be launched into Manany and his “potential accomplices”…Tchadinfos runs a website as well as a radio station and a television channel in Chad. AFP
US, Tanzania Begin Talks on Dealing with Mozambique Threat
The United States this week began talks with Tanzania on potential support interventions to quash insurgency threats from neighbouring Mozambique just as Chinese troops arrived in Dar es Salaam for joint military drills for the same purpose. “We think there are opportunities to strengthen our security partnership to help deal with the terrorist challenges on Tanzania’s southern border,” said US State Department’s acting under-secretary for political affairs John Bass in Dar on Wednesday while winding up an African trip that included Chad. Mr Bass’s statement coincided with the arrival of three Chinese warships at the port of Dar es Salaam, also on Wednesday, carrying troops to conduct joint counter-terrorism exercises with both Tanzania and Mozambique on land and at sea…The insurgency has claimed more than 4,000 lives and displaced 946,000 people since 2017, and Mozambique deployed Southern African Development Community forces and Rwandan troops to help rein in the militants and stop them from wreaking further havoc. The EastAfrican
Kenya, Uganda Eye Lwakhakha Border Post Upgrade
Plans are underway to upgrade the Lwakhakha border post between Kenya and Uganda to ease congestion at Malaba and Busia. The process will include the construction of the One-Stop Border Post (OSBP), stationing of immigration officers from both countries and other major institutions to decongest the Busia and Malaba posts. The transformation of the Lwakhakha border into an OSBP seeks to streamline customs procedures, reduce clearance times for goods and vehicles, and enhance collaboration between border agencies from both Kenya and Uganda. The upgrade is expected to reduce the traffic from Malaba and Busia OSBPs boost trade along the Northern Corridor and improve cross-border security. The EastAfrican
South Sudan: W. Bahr El Ghazal Women Demand Participation in Politics
A cross-section of women politicians and activists in Western Bahr el Ghazal State on Friday gathered at the peace square in Wau to advocate for their freedom to engage in politics and the opening of political space across the county as the elections slated for December 2024 near. The event, organized by the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), brought together female representatives from different political parties, civil activists, and female members of the armed forces in the state among others. Speaking at the event, Western Bahr el Ghazal State Governor Sarah Cleto Rial said the function lit a light in the hearts of South Sudanese women…“We currently stand at 35 percent for women presentation and we are pushing to reach 65 percent and it is a responsibility of the political parties to ensure that the 35 percent representation of women is applied in all offices,” Cleto stated. Radio Tamazuj