Sudan Army Launches Offensive near Ethiopian Border, Captures Rebel Stronghold
The Sudanese army launched a large-scale clearing operation on Tuesday in the Geissan district of the Blue Nile region, capturing a key rebel stronghold near the Ethiopian border, military officials said. The operation, carried out by the 13th Infantry Brigade of the Fourth Infantry Division, targeted areas extending past Abu Dugla and Ashambo, located just one kilometre from the international border. Government forces stormed and seized control of the Al-Bar area, a major outpost for the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) faction led by Joseph Touka. Battles have intensified in the strategic border districts of Kurmuk and Geissan, where the Sudanese army is fighting a coalition consisting of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the SPLM-N. Sudan has accused Ethiopia of providing logistical support to the alliance in the Blue Nile region. … The army statement added that the operation resulted in the capture of several rebel fighters and the seizure of weapons and military equipment. The military offensive aims to blunt rebel movements toward Geissan and recapture the strategic border town of Kurmuk, which has been controlled by the joint RSF and SPLM-N forces since March. Sudan Tribune
U.S. Warns Rapid Support Forces against Attacking Sudan’s El Obeid
The United States has warned the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) against launching an attack on the city of El Obeid in North Kordofan state, amid growing concern over a mobilization of troops around the area. U.S. State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said in a statement on Monday that Washington was gravely concerned by reports of the RSF and its allied forces massing around El Obeid, noting that it significantly increases the risk of violence against civilians. … The mobilization coincides with an escalation in RSF drone strikes targeting critical infrastructure in El Obeid, including power and fuel stations, which have cut off electricity and disrupted drinking water supplies. The statement warned that these actions threaten the lives of some 563,000 civilians and 105,000 displaced people in the strategic city, which connects central Sudan to Kordofan and the Darfur region. Pigott reiterated that there is no military solution to the conflict, urging the warring parties to seek a negotiated settlement without preconditions. Sudan Tribune
Egypt Detains Hundreds near the Sudan Border in a Crackdown on Illegal Gold Mining
Egyptian security forces detained hundreds of people, including foreigners, on the country’s border with Sudan, accusing them of illegal gold mining and smuggling, the military said Monday. Egypt’s southern region is rich with gold mines and the government has launched big mining projects there including the Sukari megaproject. The military statement said the detainees included 87 Egyptians and 136 other foreigners, without naming their countries. The operation included the seizure of “large amounts of equipment and devices used in illegal mining operations,” the military statement said. The region borders Sudan, which is also rich with gold mines, and with the chaos of Sudan’s three-year war, much of the mining there is unregulated. More than 50% of gold mined in Sudan was smuggled out of the country, according to a U.N. Panel of Experts Report in 2024. Gold accounts for 70% of the country’s revenue. … Gold has been a central part of the war in Sudan between the military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces who have smuggled out thousands of tons of gold from the Darfur and Kordofan regions to fund themselves. AP
Nigeria: Troops Rescue 47 Boko Haram Captives in Borno
Troops of the Joint Task Force (North East), Operation Hadin Kai (OPHK), have rescued 47 persons, mostly women and children, who were held captive by Boko Haram/Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) insurgents in Kukawa Local Government Area of Borno State. The military said the victims were rescued from Kangarwa village in the Lake Chad region following sustained ground and air offensives against insurgent enclaves. The Acting Media Information Officer of Operation Hadin Kai, Mohammed Goni, disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday. According to him, the rescue was made possible by intensified military operations that forced the insurgents to abandon their positions. … According to the military, the latest rescue demonstrates ongoing efforts not only to weaken insurgent groups operating in the North-east but also to secure the freedom of civilians abducted during attacks on communities across the region. Kangarwa and other communities in Kukawa Local Government Area lie within the Lake Chad basin, one of the areas most affected by the Boko Haram insurgency over the past decade. The region has witnessed repeated attacks, abductions and displacement of residents, forcing thousands to flee their homes and depend on humanitarian assistance. Premium Times
Armed Group in Nigeria Kills at Least 20 People and Exchanges Gunfire with Police
An armed group killed at least 20 people in a community located in the north-central region of Nigeria, police said Monday. The attack occurred Sunday in the Kawel community located in the Bokkos area of Plateau State, police spokesman Alfred Alabo said in a statement. Police officers quickly arrived at the scene and exchanged gunfire with the assailants, forcing them to retreat, Alabo said. No arrests were reported. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack in a region that has experienced a recurring pattern of violence. An insurgency in northeastern Nigeria has killed thousands of people and displaced millions over the years, according to the United Nations. Armed gangs are also active in the northwest and north-central parts of the country. A nighttime attack in March, killed 20 people in Gari Ya Waye community in Plateau. AP
Ethiopia’s Ruling Party Retains Parliamentary Majority in Election Marred by Insecurity
Ethiopia’s ruling party has maintained an overwhelming majority in parliament following the June 1 election, according to final results on Sunday. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s Prosperity Party won 438 seats out of 501 in the House of Representatives, the National Election Board of Ethiopia said. The new parliament is expected to convene in October to reelect Abiy for another five-year term. The election was marred by a crackdown on dissent. Insecurity in the Oromia and Amhara regions resulted in 143 polling stations failing to open, the election board said. Fighting between the Fano armed group and the federal government in Amhara, and the Oromo Liberation Army rebels in Oromia, has been the main cause of instability as the government seeks to disarm the groups. Turnout was 94%. More than 50 million people, out of Ethiopia’s estimated population of 130 million, were registered to vote, the board said. The Tigray region, where hundreds of thousands of people had died in the war between the federal forces and regional groups, was again excluded from the election, denying it a voice in parliament and further pushing it to the margins. The region has not had federal representation for six years. … The election faced criticism, with most of the ruling party opponents prevented from participating, while its most prominent critics were imprisoned, in exile, or had disappeared. Those who chose to run in the election complained that it was neither free nor fair and that the political environment was rife with fear and intimidation. AP
Libyan Warlord Convicted over Abuses at Detention Center, Officials Say
A Libyan warlord has been convicted of human rights violations reportedly committed at a detention facility in the country’s west, authorities said, over a year after Italy deported him despite an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court. Ossama Anjiem, also known as Ossama al-Masri, who led the Tripoli branch of the Reform and Rehabilitation Institution, was sentenced to seven years and four months in prison for “violating the rights of inmates” who reported “torture, cruelty and degrading treatment,” according to a statement Sunday by the attorney general’s office. The facility is part of a network of detention centers run by the government-backed Special Defense Force, or SDF. It functions as a military police unit tasked with combating crimes such as kidnappings, murders and illegal migration, but it has been implicated in atrocities during Libya’s civil war. The institution didn’t respond to requests for comment. In January 2025, the ICC issued an arrest warrant for al-Masri on suspicion of “crimes against humanity and war crimes, including murder, torture, rape and sexual violence, allegedly committed in Libya from February 2015 onwards.” AP
Burkina Faso: Rights Groups Urge Release of Disappeared Journalist
It has been two years since Serge Oulon, an investigative journalist and editor was taken from his home in Ougadougou, Burkina Faso’s capital, by armed men claiming to be state agents. An investigation by Reporters without Borders (RSF) has revealed that Oulon is in detention in a private property in the capital and has been subjected to torture. His abduction came after a story exposing corruption in the security forces. “Oulon has been specifically targeted for his journalistic work by the regime and was subjected to different kinds of abuses and detained without any contact with a lawyer or family members,” said Sadibou Marong, RSF’s Sub-Saharan Africa director. “Oulon’s family and friends have the right to know what happened to him and obtain justice,” Marong added. Rights organizations say Burkinabe security forces converted dozens of villas in Ouaga 2000, a neighborhood of Ouagadougou, as well as other properties on the outskirts of the capital into unofficial detention sites where they have secretly and unlawfully detained hundreds of people, including government critics, political opponents, and others perceived as enemies of the authorities. Since Captain Ibrahim Traore seized power in a 2022 coup, Burkina Faso has suspended several media outlets – particularly foreign ones – accusing them of hampering junta attempts to tackle jihadist violence. Burkina Faso authorities have also suspended political parties, student unions and members of the judicary, using a 2023 emergency law introduced to support counterinsurgency operations. Africanews
Uganda Deports Martha Karua, Declares Her Persona Non Grata
Senior Counsel Martha Karua returned to Kenya on Monday after Ugandan authorities denied her entry and declared her persona non grata, escalating tensions around one of the region’s most politically sensitive court cases. Speaking on arrival at Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), Ms Karua said she had been held incommunicado at Entebbe International Airport shortly after landing in Kampala. Ms Karua is lead counsel for veteran Ugandan opposition politician Dr Kizza Besigye and Hajj Obeid Lutale, who are facing treason charges in a case that has drawn regional and international attention. She had travelled to Kampala to support the defence team led by former Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago. She said immigration officials confiscated her phone during the detention and later returned it. However, she declined to take it back, saying she feared it may have been tampered with. … She said the immigration officers remained with her until she boarded the return flight and that she was handed a letter declaring her persona non grata while already on the aircraft. … Mr Lukwago, a prominent constitutional lawyer and opposition politician, is charged with misprision (intentionally concealing a serious crime or failing to report it to authorities) of treason. Prosecutors allege he failed to disclose information relating to an alleged treason plot involving Dr Besigye. … The treason case has attracted regional scrutiny following the controversial repatriation of Dr Besigye and Hajj Lutale from Nairobi to Kampala, an episode that triggered debate over cross-border legal processes, due process and human rights protections within the East African Community. The East African and Daily Monitor
South Sudan Says It Will Hold First-Ever Election in December after Repeated Delays
Authorities in South Sudan on Monday set the date of Dec. 22 for the country’s first general election since independence in 2011. Elections have been repeatedly postponed amid recurring armed conflict. There is also a long-standing political dispute between President Salva Kiir and opposition leader Riek Machar, who was suspended as the country’s first vice president last year after he faced treason charges. While the National Elections Commission says preparations for the election are underway, the opposition and some observers note legal issues and logistical hurdles. Machar’s group, known as Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-in-Opposition, or SPLM-IO, said unresolved disagreements with Kiir’s administration make the pursuit of elections a dangerous matter. … While Kiir is expected to be a presidential candidate in December’s election, it remains unclear if Machar, who still faces criminal charges, would be allowed to stand. South Sudanese government troops have been fighting opposition forces since a 2018 peace deal broke down over a year ago. While fighting persists in some remote areas, Machar is under house arrest in Juba, the capital, occasionally appearing in a cage to answer charges his group says are politically motivated. A U.N. inquiry has found that South Sudan’s leaders are “systematically dismantling” the 2018 peace agreement, signed to end a civil war and return Machar to a unity government with Kiir. AP
IMF Director Says Iran War Fallout Creating ‘Difficult Moment’ For Africa
The International Monetary Fund’s Africa director on Monday warned that the economic fallout of the Iran war was creating a “difficult moment” for the region, and that it would take months for Gulf energy production to ramp back up. “We are now in a difficult moment for the region, in particular after the war in the Middle East,” Zeine Zeidane told reporters at the IMF’s headquarters in Washington. “Even though there is a ceasefire today, we know that the disruption will take time to be resolved,” he said. The Fund has in recent weeks ramped up its programs for African countries hit by high energy and fertilizer prices caused by the war. … Speaking of sub-Saharan Africa, Zeidane lauded government reform programs undertaken in recent years as giving regional economies more resilience to the current energy supply shock. Nevertheless, several African countries have approached the IMF for technical advice or financial assistance in the wake of the conflict. AFP