China Widening Influence in Africa through Expanded Security Engagements
China’s overarching security concept known as the Global Security Initiative is guiding China’s expanded security engagements in Africa. These engagements are integrated with deepening political support for selected ruling parties and the promotion of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) security norms and governance practices. China, thus, aims to gain favor with ruling elites, secure preferential treatment for its companies, and enlist African support for its geopolitical ambitions. China’s expanding security engagements have not been without problems. Chinese arms have at times fallen into the hands of militants in conflict zones such as Mali, Darfur, South Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Provided with few oversight regulations, Chinese arms and surveillance equipment have been used by some African governments to harass and suppress political opponents. Such outcomes from expanding Chinese security engagements are fueling negative sentiments by some segments of African public opinion of China, which is often criticized for entrenching illiberal practices in Africa. It also poses a dilemma over the divergence in African citizen interests from China’s widening security and geostrategic ambitions on the continent. Africa Center for Strategic Studies
Egypt’s Crackdown Drives Sudanese Refugees on New Route to Libya and Beyond
[A small but growing number of Sudanese refugees] are giving up on Egypt and taking their chances in Libya, rather than returning home where civil war has been raging since April 2023, according to migrants, smugglers, aid workers and activists…Although Egypt initially allowed visa-free entry for all but working-age Sudanese men, it limited entries after a surge in arrivals, leading to more refugees using smuggling routes to reach the country, according to migrants, migration lawyers and aid workers. Securing residency in Egypt – a crucial step for obtaining access to basic services such as health and education – also became increasingly difficult, with significant delays and financial barriers, they said…For many, the process, which required a deposit of about $1,000 under an August 2023 decree, was unaffordable, leaving them living on the fringes of society…Rights groups and migration lawyers said there has been an increase in deportations from Egypt since the passage of a new asylum law at the end of 2024 which placed refugee approval and registration under government control instead of the UNHCR. Reuters
Hunger and Shelling Kill Scores in Sudan’s Besieged El Fasher, Medics Report
At least 179 people were killed by shelling and another 12 died from hunger in the besieged city of El Fasher in May, a Sudanese doctors’ network said on Tuesday, warning of a “frightening” spread of malnutrition. The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have besieged El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, since April 2024, blocking food and humanitarian aid from entering the city of nearly one million people. Residents now line up to obtain ‘Umbaz’, a peanut residue used as animal feed, which has become the only food available for many to survive. In a statement, the Sudan Doctors Network said the 179 deaths were a result of “deliberate rocket shelling by the RSF”. The group issued an urgent appeal to save more than 350,000 children at direct risk of severe acute malnutrition due to the “deliberate siege” …It called for an immediate humanitarian corridor, warning that any delay “constitutes genocide for the nearly one million citizens besieged” in the city. Sudan Tribune
DRC: Patients Struggle as War Unravels Lubero’s Health Care System
Months of violence between government forces and M23, an armed group with backing from neighboring Rwanda, have spurred looting and closures of medical clinics around Lubero territory. Facilities that remain open are grappling with supply shortages, staff departures and mounting difficulties transporting patients…Blockades on key roads have complicated medical transfers and resupply of area pharmacies, where stocks of malaria medicines are dwindling…Common antibiotics have nearly doubled in price in recent months, while other medications, like insulin, have disappeared from the market altogether…M23’s advance to capture the city of Goma earlier this year led to looting of warehouses holding aid supplies. Some humanitarian groups evacuated staff. Fighting also forced the closure of Goma’s airport along with the main road leading north, shutting off a major resupply route to the rest of North Kivu province. Global Press Journal
Nigerian troops kill ISWAP commander, many other terrorists in Borno, Yobe – Official
Troops of Operation Hadin Kai (OPHK) have killed a notorious ISWAP commander, Malam Jidda, along with scores of his fighters in a coordinated air and ground operation in Gujba Local Government Area of Yobe and the Timbuktu Triangle in Borno…According to [a statement from the army], the operation was launched on 9 June in the Ngazalgana area of Gujba LGA, with close air support from the Air Component of OPHK…The statement noted that some [militants] escaped with gunshot wounds, while others were neutralised during a follow-up encounter in the Timbuktu Triangle, where troops conducted a snap ambush operation…It listed recovered items to include: AK-47 rifles, motorcycles, rocket-propelled gun tubes, magazines, large quantities of ammunition, hand grenades, hand-held radios, and other logistical items. News Agency of Nigeria
Attacks In Central Nigeria Kill At Least 20
Attacks in north-central Nigeria’s Plateau state have killed at least 20 people this week, local government and humanitarian sources said Wednesday, in the region’s latest flare-up of violence. The three separate assaults across the Mangu local government area followed a series of attacks and reprisals that appear to have started while people were mining in the tin-rich region, local government council chairman Emmanuel Bala told AFP. Muslim ethnic Fulani nomadic herders have long clashed with settled farmers in Plateau, many of whom are Christian, over access to land and resources. Attacks in the region often fall across ethnic and religious lines, leading to indiscriminate sectarian reprisals…Land grabbing, political and economic tensions between locals and those considered outsiders, as well as an influx of hardline Muslim and Christian preachers, have heightened divisions in recent decades. When violence flares, weak policing can mean reprisal attacks follow which often occur across communal lines. A spate of attacks across Plateau and neighbouring Benue state left more than 150 people dead in April alone. AFP
Russia Hired African Farmers to Make Shampoo, then Sent Them to War
While the great majority of [Russian military] recruits are still poor Russians, the relentless need for new manpower has led the Kremlin to recruit elsewhere, as well as import 10,000 soldiers from North Korea. Africans have been lured by the promise of money or have been duped or forced into signing contracts, according to accounts and intelligence reports seen by The Telegraph. Cameroon’s government is so worried about the numbers of soldiers thought to be deserting its army and travelling to Russia that in March it tightened restrictions on military personnel leaving the West African nation. Many African recruits have not returned, becoming victims of suicidal infantry tactics which are currently seeing Russian forces take an average of more than 1,100 casualties each day for only small territorial gains. One tally of Cameroonian social media obituaries suggests the country has already seen more than 60 men killed in the war. The gap between Cameroon’s meagre military wages and the promise of hefty Russian pay is thought to have worsened a long-standing problem with desertion in the Cameroonian military. The Telegraph
Kenyan Forces Foil Al-Shabaab Plot, Kill Two Militants in Pre-Dawn Raid
The multi-agency security teams, acting on credible intelligence, launched a pre-dawn operation on Al-Shabaab militants who were planning to terrorise Kenyans using the Alungu-Elwak road, Mandera County, officials said, while confirming the incident, Tuesday. According to the officers, the [militants] were also in the final stages of placing explosives on the main road targeting civilian vehicles. It is the norm of the militants to plant explosives on major link roads within the northeastern parts of the country…The incident comes a day after the Mandera County leadership held a high-level meeting with the regional administration of Jubbaland in Kismayo, with security within the region featuring predominantly during the encounter. Jubbaland’s First Vice President, Mahmoud Sayid Aden, met with the Governor of Mandera County, Adan Khalif, in Kismayo to discuss shared security concerns along the porous frontier, where the al-Shabaab militant group continues to threaten lives, trade, and regional stability. Garowe Online
Kenyan Blogger Was Hit and Assaulted to Death, Autopsy Reveals
[Albert] Ojwang, a digital creator who microblogged on X and Facebook on topical political and social issues, was arrested in Homa Bay, a town in western Kenya, on Friday. The 31-year-old, who is also said to be a teacher, was detained over a post on X that was allegedly critical of Deputy Inspector General of Police Eliud Lagat. He was subsequently transferred over 350km to the capital, Nairobi, and booked into the Central Police Station on Saturday. Police said he was later found unconscious in his cell with self-inflicted injuries. But an autopsy, conducted by five pathologists who released a unanimous report, revealed that Mr Ojwang had severe head injuries and suffered neck compression and multiple soft tissue trauma. Dr Midia, who led the team of pathologists, said that Mr Ojwang did not hit himself on the wall, as police had said in a statement on Sunday. He said if Mr Ojwang had done this, the pattern of injuries would have been different, and frontal bleeding on the head would be seen…”There were also multiple soft tissue injuries spread all over the body, including the head, neck, upper limbs and the trunk and lower limbs… these were injuries that were externally inflicted,” he added. The injuries were consistent with “external assault” and there were also signs of a struggle, according to the pathologists. Kenya’s Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) has also ruled out the possibility that Mr Ojwang might have killed himself. The agency added that its premilitary findings showed that CCTV systems at the Central Police Station had been interfered with. BBC
Police Detain Prominent Ethiopian Journalist, Tesfalem Waldyes, Again; Accuse Him of ‘Disseminating False Information’
Tesfalem Waldeyes, a prominent journalist and founder/editor-in-chief of the online media outlet “Ethiopia Insider” (managed by Hak Media and Communication), was arrested by security forces on Sunday, 8 June. The police accused of “disseminating false information,” according to a statement released by Hak Media and Communication [yesterday]. According to the statement, Tesfalem was detained by plainclothes security forces at the Gion Hotel in the capital Addis Abeba…Although the court granted him release on bail of 15,000 birr, as of this reporting, he remained in police custody…Haq Media and Communication said it has paid all required fees and submitted the court’s release letter to the Kirkos Sub-City Police Department to ensure Tesfalem’s bail is respected. Despite these efforts, the letter has not been signed by the relevant police officer, preventing his release…Tesfalem is a victim of repeated detention by the police…Tesfalem was last seen working at the Irreecha Hora Finfinnee where he had posted a viral video on Ethiopia Insider’s Facebook page showing Oromo youth protesting and demanding the release of Oromo prisoners. Addis Standard
Togo’s President Faces Calls to Resign after Protests over New Role Allowing Indefinite Rule
Togo’s President Faure Gnassingbé is facing growing pressure following a government clampdown on protests calling for his resignation over recent changes in the constitution that could effectively keep him in power indefinitely. Activists on Tuesday condemned the arrest and alleged maltreatment of dozens of people following staged protests late last week in Togo’s capital, Lomé, and on social media. The Togolese leader, who has ruled since 2005 after the death of his father, was in May sworn in as President of the Council of Ministers. The powerful role has no official term limits and he is eligible to be re-elected by parliament indefinitely…In addition to the release of the remaining detainees, “what the Togolese now want is the end of this regime which can no longer offer anything to the people after 20 years of absolute and repressive power of Faure Gnassingbé,” said a coalition of political groups known as “Hands Off My Constitution”. AP
Police Stakeout of Cameroon’s Presidential Hopeful Ends
Police have ended their two-day stakeout of an apartment block in which Cameroon’s main opposition leader Maurice Kamto had been staying after he returned from France, where he had held a political rally that inflamed the ruling CPDM party. On Sunday law enforcement officers blocked the 71-year-old from leaving the building in the main city of Douala for a meeting with members of his Cameroon Renaissance Movement (CRM) party. He later called off plans to hold the meeting on Monday, and left for the capital, Yaoundé. Kamto plans to contest the presidential election later this year, hoping to end 92-year-old Paul Biya’s four-decade grip on power…Kamto spent nine months in detention after contesting the 2018 poll, when the authorities accused the former law professor of insurrection following protests by his supporters who claimed that the poll had been rigged in favour of Biya…As the election approaches, rights groups have condemned the government’s crackdown on dissent in the Central African nation. BBC
Scrap Chagos Islands Deal and Agree New One, UN Panel Urges UK
A UN panel has urged the UK to renegotiate a deal returning the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, saying it “fails to guarantee” the rights of the Chagossian people. The deal, signed last month, returned sovereignty of the Indian Ocean archipelago to Mauritius, but the UK retained the right to run a military base on Diego Garcia, the largest of the Chagos Islands. By preventing the Chagossian people from returning to Diego Garcia, “the agreement appears to be at variance with the Chagossians’ right to return,” the UN experts wrote. A Foreign Office spokesperson said the UK-Mauritius deal had been “welcomed by international organisations including the UN secretary general”. The panel of four experts were appointed by the UN Human Rights Council, but are not UN staff and are independent from the UN. BBC