Rwanda-backed Rebels in Congo Executed Civilians, Human Rights Watch Says
Rwanda-backed M23 rebels in Democratic Republic of Congo executed at least 21 civilians over two days in February in the eastern city of Goma, Human Rights Watch said in a report published on Tuesday. The report covers incidents on February 22-23 in a Goma neighborhood, offering a snapshot of the violence during the latest escalation of the decades-long conflict…M23 rebels have seized eastern Congo’s two largest cities, Goma and Bukavu, in an offensive that began in January. The unprecedented advance has killed thousands of people and forced hundreds of thousands to flee. The 21 slain civilians included six men and one woman shot in the head near Katindo military camp in Goma on February 22. HRW said M23 were responsible, citing a witness. In a separate incident, M23 killed people and dumped their bodies at a construction site less than 100 metres away from the camp. These included a 15-year-old who was taken from his home and later found dead at the site, HRW said, citing a relative and a neighbour. Goma’s Kasika neighbourhood was targeted because it had previously housed Congolese army barracks, HRW said. Reuters
Women and Girls ‘Not Safe Anywhere’ as Darfur Suffers Surge in Sexual Violence
As Sudan’s Darfur region has been overrun by militias, women are facing the constant threat of sexual violence, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has reported. The medical charity said in the South Darfur region alone its workers treated 659 sexual violence survivors between January and March this year, more than two-thirds of whom had been raped…“These attacks are heinous and cruel, often involving multiple perpetrators. This must stop. Sexual violence is not a natural or inevitable consequence of war, it can constitute a war crime, a form of torture, and a crime against humanity,” [Claire San Filippo, MSF emergency coordinator, said.] Several women who gave testimonies to MSF described raids where fighters killed all the boys and men in a place before raping women and girls. MSF said that 56% of the sexual violence they documented was perpetrated by non-civilians. Women and girls having to walk long distances to gather food and water put them in particular danger, the report said. A third of women and girls were attacked while travelling to or working in fields. The Guardian
Sudan: Accusations Fly after Aid Convoy Destroyed in North Darfur
North Darfur’s government and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) traded accusations on Tuesday over an attack that destroyed a World Food Programme (WFP) aid convoy in Al-Koma of North Darfur. Ibrahim Khater, Director General of the Ministry of Health in North Darfur state, told Sudan Tribune the RSF militia “set fire to trucks carrying relief materials in Al-Koma city.” He said the fire was in retaliation for the army targeting RSF military gatherings in the town last Saturday. Khater denied accusations that the Sudanese army was behind the incident, adding that the army “has no interest in burning aid and targeting humanitarian convoys.” He said the militia committed the crime “to choke the residents of El Fasher.” He stated that most of the convoy was en route to El Fasher, but the RSF had impounded the trucks for more than 10 days, preventing them from leaving for the North Darfur capital. The WFP in Sudan had announced on May 14 the departure of a convoy from the Al-Debba area in Northern State, heading to El Fasher, carrying food and nutritional supplies. Sudan Tribune
Somalia: Puntland Forces Make Gains against ISIS Terrorists
The Puntland Counter-Terrorism Forces have continued to make immense gains in eastern regions, with the ISIS militants suffering numerous setbacks, including the latest deaths of at least 10 fighters, who had planned an attack against the security teams. According to Puntland Counter-Terrorism Forces, the ten militants were hiding in the Shaakaalooyin area before they faced off with the military teams that were pursuing them in Miraale and Baalade valleys in the Bari region…And on Tuesday morning, the fighting resumed within the same region, leading to fierce clashes with casualties reported as well. The Puntland air and ground forces within Miraale areas were activated and are responding with equal force, officials said…At night on Monday, fresh airstrikes were carried out by the US Africa Command in support of the Puntland Counter-Terrorism operations, with four locations also targeted. The Miraale area was one of the targeted regions during the onslaught. ISIS fighters were fleeing from the area while running to nearby caves to shield themselves from the airstrikes in the vicinity. Garowe Online
Revolving Doors at Somalia Spy Agency as Shabaab Threat Mounts
Somalia has fired its spy chief, just one year after appointing him to the role, turning to its old spymasters for help, as it has done in the past. This decision was made following an emergency Council of Ministers meeting on Sunday, according to a statement from Prime Minister Hamza Barre’s office. Mahad Mohamed Salad is the new director general of the National Intelligence and Security Agency (Nisa). Salad replaces Abdullahi Mohamed Ali, popularly known as Sanbaloolshe, who was appointed in April last year. According to the Federal Government of Somalia, a change at the top of the agency was necessary to counter a growing internal threat, primarily from the militant group Al-Shabaab. Salad’s return to Nisa headquarters comes at a time when Somalia is grappling with a diplomatic challenge posed by Somaliland, which has stepped up its efforts to gain international recognition as a sovereign state…At Nisa, Salad’s role will be to advise on the best response to rising militant activity. The East African
Militants attack Mali Army Bases as Junta Struggles to Contain Jihadist Threat
[Militants] launched an assault on a Malian army base in Timbuktu, according to military sources and local officials, a day after it claimed responsibility for another attack near the border with Burkina Faso…The news came as the group Jama’a Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin (JNIM) claimed responsibility for an attack on an army base in Boulkessi, near the border with Burkina Faso. The Malian authorities are yet to give casualty figures from Sunday’s attack, but sources have told Reuters that as many as 30 soldiers were killed. Since 2012, a swarm of jihadist groups including most notably the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS) and JNIM have been fighting Malian security forces. When Mali’s junta seized power in 2020, it cited the deteriorating security situation as a major reason for its coup and promised to act decisively to stabilise the country. Experts and civil society figures say there has barely been any improvement in the situation, while indiscriminate killings by Malian security forces have increased in tandem with the arrival in the country of Russian mercenaries operating at first under the banner of the Wagner group and then Africa Corps. The Guardian
Top ISWAP Commander Abu Fatima Killed by Nigerian Troops
Abu Fatima, a high-ranking commander of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) and one of Nigeria’s most wanted terrorists, has been killed by troops of the Nigerian Army’s Operation Hadin Kai. Abu Fatima had a ₦100 million bounty on his head. He was killed along with two of his key lieutenants in Aleru village, Kukawa Local Government Area of Borno State. The Nigerian Army officially confirmed the operation on its Facebook page earlier Friday. According to sources, Abu Fatima coordinated ISWAP’s attacks in northern Borno, particularly around the Baga axis. He was reportedly captured alive but succumbed to excessive bleeding. This decisive operation, which also saw the recovery of motorcycles, AK-47 rifles, and bomb-making materials, marks a major setback for ISWAP operating in the region. For residents of Baga, Kukawa, Cross, Doro, and surrounding areas where fishermen and farmers were killed by his group, Abu Fatima’s death is as significant as that of Abubakar Shekau, the former Boko Haram leader. Premium Times
Nigeria Flooding Death Toll Jumps Past 200
Flash flooding in north-central Nigeria last week killed more than 200 people, the Niger state humanitarian commissioner said Tuesday, while hundreds more remain missing and are feared dead. The town of Mokwa was hit with the worst flash flood in living memory Thursday from overnight rains, with more than 250 homes destroyed and swathes of the town wiped out in a single morning…Given the number of people still missing nearly a week later, the toll from a single morning of flooding in Mokwa could be worse than all of 2024 combined, which saw 321 deaths from flooding across the country…Water had been building up for days behind an abandoned railway track that runs along the edge of the town, residents told AFP. Floodwaters would usually pass through a couple of culverts in the mounds and run into a narrow channel. But debris had blocked the culverts, forcing water to build up behind the clay walls that eventually gave way. Floods in Nigeria are often exacerbated by inadequate drainage, the construction of homes on waterways and the dumping of waste in drains and water channels. AFP
Media Appeal for Information on Missing Guinea Reporter
More than 100 journalists and organisations defending press freedom on Monday urged Guinea’s ruling junta to shed light on the fate of journalist Habib Marouane Camara, missing since December. Camara, who runs website Lerevelateur224, was arrested in early December by uniformed men in a suburb of the capital Conakry, amid increasing attacks on freedom of expression by the ruling junta which seized power in 2021. “It has been six months since his abduction — his location is unknown,” 105 journalists and press freedom NGOs stated. The signatories, including 94 journalists and 11 organisations, voiced concern over Camara’s health as he has an ailment requiring daily medication…The junta has increasingly come in for criticism from the opposition and civil society for its authoritarian exercise of power. AFP
Jail For Activist Accused of Criticising Benin Government
A Benin court on Monday sentenced a prominent activist to two years in prison following accusations that he criticised the Benin authorities online. Steve Amoussou, a digital activist, was convicted on charges of “politically motivated insult” and “spreading false information”. Amoussou, who denies the accusations, was also sentenced to pay a fine of two million CFA francs (3,048 euros, $3,500). He was imprisoned in Benin in August after his lawyers said he was “kidnapped” from neighbouring Togo. The trial was held in Cotonou at the Court for the Repression of Economic Offences and Terrorism, which has imposed heavy sentences on several dissidents in recent years. The digital activist is suspected of being behind the account named “Frere Hounvi”, that posted viral audio commentaries to 75,000 subscribers. The posts criticised the actions of the Benin authorities under President Patrice Talon, in power since 2016. Throughout the trial, Amoussou denied that he was the owner of the account. AFP
Violence Against Journalists Rises as Uganda Heads into General Elections
Violence against journalists, long a threat and often a reality, has worsened as Uganda heads toward general elections in January 2026…Emmanuel Kirunda, secretary general of the Uganda Journalists Association, says that 33 journalists were attacked by armed forces during a two-day period in March, while they covered [a local election]. “This forced many media organizations to suspend covering the election, calling [in] their reporters because it wasn’t safe anymore,” he says…Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba, chief of the Defence Forces — and President Yoweri Museveni’s son – in 2022 promised in a post on X that journalists “will feel us soon. We will crush you.”…Violence against journalists in Uganda dates back many decades. In 1944, Daudi Mukubira, founder of Buganda Nyaffe, a publication that accused the British colonial regime of enslaving black Africans through unjust policies, was arrested and tried. The attack on press freedom and journalists continued even in post-independence governments with the closure of media organizations and murders of journalists during the Milton Obote and Idi Amin regimes of the 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s. There’s no indication that control of and violence toward media will end now, even in light of a 2024 High Court ruling that attacks on journalists are unconstitutional, says Kirunda, of the Uganda Journalists Association. There is “little or no will from armed forces to protect journalists,” he says. Global Press Journal